Mid season cleaning

[Diabel]

I normally clean the flue once per season. This year however, since mid October I have put through the stove some very dry pine and spruce (about 4 weeks of morning and evening fires). Then from mid November to the end of December I have burnt (24/7) some very questionable wood (mostly maple 25%+ MC). In Jan I reached into my three yr old BL and hard maple.

Couple of weeks ago I posted a pic of my filthy cap, few members suggested to run the brush.....ln past yrs my cap has been dirty, but only the cap. The rest of the pipe always ended up pretty clean.

Well, based on suggestions and pure gut feeling, I decided to run the brush. That questionable maple was giving me some uneasy feeling.

Pic #1 is my set up less the last two feet of pipe and the cap.
Pic #2 is the section that is always the dirtiest.
Pic#3 is looking from the bottom of the 2 foot section.
Pic #4 is the filthiest cap I have seen in seven yrs of burning.
Pic #5 first shiny stuff ever on my flue system (last 2" of pipe).
Pic #6 bottom part of the two foot section, cleaned.
Pic #7 creo from the two foot section (pretty black, no cocoa here).
Pic #8 brown flaky creo from the rest of the 22' system.

Before, I mostly used seasoned wood (20% and less). I would then generate this (amount of creo) or most of the time less than this from a full burning season. So, if you gut tells you to clean due to marginal wood.....then clean da pipe

 

[pen]

Life sometimes gets in the way of keeping 2 or 3 years worth of wood on hand and we have to make the best of an otherwise unpleasant situation (burning wood that isn't well seasoned).

Glad to see you give it a sweep. Better to have that stuff in the sack than in the stack. Well done!

pen

 

[Diabel]

Indeed it is hard to keep two three yrs ahead. I was there one point, but fell behind. Kids, kids, kids.....

I am into my good stuff now. But next yr I will only be one yr ahead (c/s/s last fall).