Pile of ash during chimney cleaning

[dapperistdan]

I was cleaning my chimney liner before the upcoming burning season and noticed a decent amount of ash ( or creosite?) sitting at the end of the horizontal run of pipe. I'm not sure if this is normal, this is my second year with the stove (alderlea t5) and first time cleaning the chimney. First pic is looking into branch of tee, second is looking down the chimney liner, 3rd is cap.

 

[bholler]

Looks pretty normal to me actually it looks allot better than most. The connections through the thimble look pretty sloppy though and the tee snout doesn't look like it is seated very well

 

[dapperistdan]

Looks pretty normal to me actually it looks allot better than most. The connections through the thimble look pretty sloppy though and the tee snout doesn't look like it is seated very well

Thanks for the quick response bholler! Yeah, the thimble to tee branch connection isnt my favorite. I'm not sure if it was my installation inexperience or the stove shops mistake. The branch and thimble had the exact same diameter, so one could not slip into the other...i had to hand crimp the tee branch, resulting in the ugly connection.

How can you tell the snout isnt seated well? is this something to be concerned with? Here is a pic before I fired it up...its hard to tell, it doesnt seem much different

 

[bholler]

of from that veiw i can see it better in a case like yours i hammer that crimp back out smooth after putting the two together and you should have used rivets there not screws. I would just keep an eye on it and make sure everything is staying in place. And the tee snout looks like it is seated correctly it just doest fit as tight as i am use to leaving an edge. Everything looks fine now that i can see it clean but i would keep an eye on it due to the screws being used