I've been burning my new King 40 wood stove since Fall of 2025 and love it. I have a long vertical 8" I.D. chimney. About 14 ft. of ICC ultrablack and then the ICC Excel through the attic and out the roof. So almost 30 ft. of chimney total up to the deluxe cap.
I'll admit my Spruce & Hemlock wood is not completely seasoned and that may be my main problem. But I have cracked the inner laser welds of my ICC ultrablack sections multiple times now and end up with liquid creosote running down the outside of the ultrablack.
It is 99% humid in Juneau most of the time so it's tough so get my firewood super dry. I'm mostly burning soft woods (Spruce and Hemlock). Very little hardwoods available here.
The King40 burns great and the catalytic combustor appears to still be nice and clean at this time. My cat thermometer is always well into the active zone. I think what's happening is since my chimney is so tall, I'm inevitably getting condensation & liquid creosote on the inside, most likely 20 ft. up the pipe but probably varies depending on how hot I'm running the stove. The first time I cracked the welds there was very little creosote on the inside liner when I took it apart. Just some black dust basically.
Any suggestions or ideas aside from only burning super dry wood? I know Spruce is a very sappy wood and creates a lot of creosote - but it's what I have. It would be great if I could go 4 or 5 years between cracking these lame welds. It's hard to believe a little creosote liquid could eat up a stainless-steel weld in less than a year. The cracking welds are literally the only problem I'm having. Aside from cracking the welds I have no other issues at all from burning the less than perfectly dry soft wood.
I'm going to take my UltraBlack chimney sections apart this weekend and can upload photos of what I find. Maybe I just need to get a different stove with no cat.
Thanks - Austin
I'll admit my Spruce & Hemlock wood is not completely seasoned and that may be my main problem. But I have cracked the inner laser welds of my ICC ultrablack sections multiple times now and end up with liquid creosote running down the outside of the ultrablack.
It is 99% humid in Juneau most of the time so it's tough so get my firewood super dry. I'm mostly burning soft woods (Spruce and Hemlock). Very little hardwoods available here.
The King40 burns great and the catalytic combustor appears to still be nice and clean at this time. My cat thermometer is always well into the active zone. I think what's happening is since my chimney is so tall, I'm inevitably getting condensation & liquid creosote on the inside, most likely 20 ft. up the pipe but probably varies depending on how hot I'm running the stove. The first time I cracked the welds there was very little creosote on the inside liner when I took it apart. Just some black dust basically.
Any suggestions or ideas aside from only burning super dry wood? I know Spruce is a very sappy wood and creates a lot of creosote - but it's what I have. It would be great if I could go 4 or 5 years between cracking these lame welds. It's hard to believe a little creosote liquid could eat up a stainless-steel weld in less than a year. The cracking welds are literally the only problem I'm having. Aside from cracking the welds I have no other issues at all from burning the less than perfectly dry soft wood.
I'm going to take my UltraBlack chimney sections apart this weekend and can upload photos of what I find. Maybe I just need to get a different stove with no cat.
Thanks - Austin
