Hi, in the end of Dec I had the chimney cleaned. It had clogged bad after only 3 months of burning. Long story short - the handyman that cleaned it in the summer wasn't thorough. But now, 6 wks after a professional cleaning, it's a bit clogged. Wood is dry, 4 days worth in the house at all times... about 5 feet from the stove. When I add wood (to the Kuma Tamarack) I take it up to 475 or so & in 3 or 4 hours (when it cools down to 280 or 300) I add more. Am I taking it too low or did I get another bad cleaning? Thank you. Laura PS Some pieces do have pitch - could this contribute this much to clogging?
Question about clogging chimney pipe.
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What type of wood do you burn right now? How long has it dried? Yes pitch can be a real problem in wood. Burning to cool can creat a mess in the chimney and make for a lot of cleaning so can wet wood. If it isn't split while drying and let sit for minimum of a year 2 if possible it can leave a lot of creosote behind in the flue.
Pete
Pete
Don't know moisture content. Don't have a flue... do you mean stovepipe temp? If so where on the pipe should I put the thermometer & how low can I take it?
Got the wood in Sept (Doug fir) - just like I did last year. It was only this passed summer that I had another shed built so I can have older wood next winter. But it didn't clog last winter & then the wood WAS wet....it got rained on & the shed 'sweat' after I stacked it in.
So the wood's dryer this year albeit more pitch... & since it's not moldy I bring it in... two round wood racks 5 feet from the stove that hold about 40 logs each. My system is I use 1/2 of a rack, then 1/2 of the other, then put the logs that have been in the house for 2 days on the (half full) rack of logs that's been in the house for 1 day... & then fill the empty rack. House is REAL dry too. Doin my best
Got the wood in Sept (Doug fir) - just like I did last year. It was only this passed summer that I had another shed built so I can have older wood next winter. But it didn't clog last winter & then the wood WAS wet....it got rained on & the shed 'sweat' after I stacked it in.
So the wood's dryer this year albeit more pitch... & since it's not moldy I bring it in... two round wood racks 5 feet from the stove that hold about 40 logs each. My system is I use 1/2 of a rack, then 1/2 of the other, then put the logs that have been in the house for 2 days on the (half full) rack of logs that's been in the house for 1 day... & then fill the empty rack. House is REAL dry too. Doin my best
Flue=stove pipe, if you have single wall pipe you can put the magnetic sensor 18 inches up on the flue (stove pipe) I dont think your wood is dry enough.
Just added wood, took it up to 460 & then put the thermometer so that the middle of it is 18" up. (double wall pipe) Waited 4 minutes pipe is 300. put the thermometer back on stove- waited 4 min. - stove is 440.
Wet or dry get that stove temp up. Burn that sucker at least at 500 stove top. Don't be afraid of 600-700. That bad boy Kuma needs to stretch its legs and burn the stuff in the stove, not stick it in the pipe.
Small or large loads. Get that temp up.
Small or large loads. Get that temp up.
You said you take it up to 475 or so, that isn't very hot as far as a woodstove is concerned. I'm not familiar with your stove, but I try to get a minimum of 550 to 600 degrees out of my stove, that is right about cruise temperature. I think you have some moisture issues with your wood, and I don't think you are running that stove hot enough and that is causing a lot of smoke to go up the flue. Just my opinion.
The Kuma Tamarack is a steel stove. I find it odd that you are not getting the stove above 500 degrees. This seems to indicate you have wet wood.
Exactly BB, I just said more-or-less the same thing.....you beat me to it while I was typing!BrotherBart said:
Well. I'm not TRYING to get it that high... but I can. It's rather hot in here. Also, had everything checked twice but when it hits 500 I smell it - like the ceiling is too hot maybe. This may be due to my extreme sensitivity to odors. So really, is it bad to cruise under 500, is it bad to let it get down to 280-300 before adding. Can't do anything more about moisture content but it's MUCH dryer than last year. Still wonder if I had a bad cleaning job. Last year I crused at 350 & only hit 450 for the cold month.
Well you might have to burn small hot fires so you dont heat yourself out, a warm chimney is key to keeping it clean.
Exactly. If that stove never reaches 500 degrees, then expect to have problems with creasote because you are never getting any real heat up the chimney, and you are not burning all the fuel (wood vapor) that the wood is letting off, so it will go up that cool flue pipe and cling to the walls, forming creasote. As far as letting the temps go down to 250-300 that isn't a problem because the wood has gassed off by that point, you are no longer putting smoke up the chimney. Reload the stove, leave the draft and/or door cracked opened enough to get that wood going good, and then close off, leaving the draft open enough to get the temps you need (at minimum 500 degrees). you'll see a huge difference in your creasote problem........oldspark said:
If you live in a temperate climate or a well insulated tight house wood heating is an art. I suspect that the answer for you is letting the stove get down to around two hundred degrees before reloading on the coals and then let'er rip early in the burn which will heat the stove fairly gradually while letting the creosote causing volatiles to burn hot and heat the chimney. Then by the time the stove is getting hot you have eliminated most of the creosote causing problems and you can level the stove out around five or five fifty stove top temp and cruise just fine.
You will have to work on learning what size splits and load will allow you to do this.
You will have to work on learning what size splits and load will allow you to do this.
oldspark Small hot fire? Not sure what you mean. Still keep it at 500 but with less wood? I can only fit 2 or 3 logs depending on the width of the logs.
I can let it go down to 200 !?! I thought under 275 was bad but I see why it isn't by Scotty's explanation.
Brother Bart - Yeah. that'll help. See 1/2 the house is sealed off due to mold remediation... & furniture is still in storage anyway. Ok I'll take it down as low as... I still have enough coals to get it going again easily. I'll cruise at 500 or more too... seems to be unamimous. STILL this didn't happen even once last year at low temps with wet wood. What's left besides temp is a bad chimney sweep &/or too much pitch.
I can let it go down to 200 !?! I thought under 275 was bad but I see why it isn't by Scotty's explanation.
Brother Bart - Yeah. that'll help. See 1/2 the house is sealed off due to mold remediation... & furniture is still in storage anyway. Ok I'll take it down as low as... I still have enough coals to get it going again easily. I'll cruise at 500 or more too... seems to be unamimous. STILL this didn't happen even once last year at low temps with wet wood. What's left besides temp is a bad chimney sweep &/or too much pitch.
I would start buying next season's wood right now and get it stacked and covered on top until the dry season. Don't wait until Sept. Doug Fir is nice firewood, but it's high oil content will allow it to burn when not fully seasoned. That can lead one to think it is dry when it's not fully seasoned. I suspect that this might be the case here. Mild weather burning just compounds the issue.
PS: Laura, what make/model stove is this?
PS: Laura, what make/model stove is this?
Put in a smaller load but leave the air opened up more and let it burn hot but safe. ( at least 600 ) Then let the coals do the work and do not reload till the stove is low temps around 150 to 200. If you do that you may be able to stretch your wood farther and stay warm without a ton of creasote build up involved.
Pete
Pete
BeGreen -Actually can't get wood now. Ran out at the end of last winter (March 19) & no wood to be found. Gotta wait til May or so. That's when I ordered this summer & they didn't finish splitting until Sept. Grrrrr. I might have enough for next year now. Don't know yet - only my 2nd winter burning round the clock. Burned once in a while my first winter - 1/2 cord worth. Stove is a Kuma Tamarack. See it's damp here in the foothills & Doug seems to be extra absorbant. So it was dryer in Sept, I can tell by the weight by now, that's why I bring so much in the house. I'll be getting more wood this year that I might not need until winter 2013.
Frankly, winter #1 (1/2 cord) I burned at 325 sopping wet snow-covered pine I dried near the stove (& I didn't clean the chimney afterwards) the 2nd winter at 375 with wet Doug & then got cold... & bold & took it up to probably 425 tops. Then had it cleaned for the first time in the summer (that's summer 2011) & again Dec 2011 ! ! ! :-( & now I smell creosote & when I add wood the smoke billows out the door like it did when it totally clogged. Frustrating that I did everything totally wrong before & now that I'm doing it (closer to) correct - the chimney is worse.
OK Master of Fire I'll let it go as low as I can and 600 or whenever I smell the heat
Frankly, winter #1 (1/2 cord) I burned at 325 sopping wet snow-covered pine I dried near the stove (& I didn't clean the chimney afterwards) the 2nd winter at 375 with wet Doug & then got cold... & bold
& took it up to probably 425 tops. Then had it cleaned for the first time in the summer (that's summer 2011) & again Dec 2011 ! ! ! :-( & now I smell creosote & when I add wood the smoke billows out the door like it did when it totally clogged. Frustrating that I did everything totally wrong before & now that I'm doing it (closer to) correct - the chimney is worse.OK Master of Fire I'll let it go as low as I can and 600 or whenever I smell the heat
I suggest when you load the stove, load it maybe half full and burn it pretty hot until you are down to coals. Then let the coals slowly burn up as the stove and house cool off. When you need heat or when you are getting to the point that you'd better reload now or the fire may not start easily, reload another half load and repeat. This may sound like a lousy scheme but in my house it works out that I can burn load or two in the morning, then mostly let the stove idle on coals plus on or two splits during the day, then start to burn consistently again at night. This way I burn hot and clean but don't overheat the house all day.
You will get cleaner, faster starts if you use smaller pieces of wood. It sounds like your firewood is pretty large - you mention that only three pieces will fit in the stove at once. Split soe of it smaller and you'll be able to burn smaller loads with a hot fire.
I think if you can get some firewood stacked and split now it should be pretty dry by fall. YOu are burning softwoods which season pretty fast, and you are in a very dry summer climate.
You will get cleaner, faster starts if you use smaller pieces of wood. It sounds like your firewood is pretty large - you mention that only three pieces will fit in the stove at once. Split soe of it smaller and you'll be able to burn smaller loads with a hot fire.
I think if you can get some firewood stacked and split now it should be pretty dry by fall. YOu are burning softwoods which season pretty fast, and you are in a very dry summer climate.
Pyro - yeah that's close to what I was doing. I was thinking I shouldn't let it go lower than 275 so that's one difference & I kinda thought it would be better to do a full load so there'd be less start-ups & therefore less times that I have to get the temp roaring hot... & breathe smoke.
The stove inside is square 15 1/4 or 15 1/2 with a 9 1/4 or 9 1/2 ceiling. It's SMALL. If I work it like a puzzle I can fit 4 logs. Boy it was hard to get the vendor to cut em short. Last year I said 16" (put em in diagonal) & I got 16 to 22" & even some 16" that were too fat to put in diagonal. Had to pay someone to split em. This year I told a guy that knows the vendor that I needed 14" so he told him 12 & I got the right size ... only about 1/2 cord was actually 12... & he charged me $20 more a cord for the size. He's the only guy with Doug - everyone else has pine. Soooo, this year will be another fight for short AND skinny. There's not much room for coals with those fat ones I got. They do take longer to get hot & burn longer.
Does it matter whether or not you see flames in the top pipes burning the gas ? It seemed that happened more last year burning wrong. I never opened the vent all the way when I added wood but just waited til the new log caught fire. Had to add one wet log every 20 minutes or it would go out. There were times I had a flame the width of the stove hovering in the air above the wood.
This year I have to TRY to get the gases burning in those pipes. Good or bad for the chimney? Kuma said to take it to 700 & then shut down completely & let it stew. Chimney sweep freaked out at the thought that temp!
The stove inside is square 15 1/4 or 15 1/2 with a 9 1/4 or 9 1/2 ceiling. It's SMALL. If I work it like a puzzle I can fit 4 logs. Boy it was hard to get the vendor to cut em short. Last year I said 16" (put em in diagonal) & I got 16 to 22" & even some 16" that were too fat to put in diagonal. Had to pay someone to split em. This year I told a guy that knows the vendor that I needed 14" so he told him 12 & I got the right size ... only about 1/2 cord was actually 12... & he charged me $20 more a cord for the size. He's the only guy with Doug - everyone else has pine. Soooo, this year will be another fight for short AND skinny. There's not much room for coals with those fat ones I got. They do take longer to get hot & burn longer.
Does it matter whether or not you see flames in the top pipes burning the gas ? It seemed that happened more last year burning wrong. I never opened the vent all the way when I added wood but just waited til the new log caught fire. Had to add one wet log every 20 minutes or it would go out. There were times I had a flame the width of the stove hovering in the air above the wood.
This year I have to TRY to get the gases burning in those pipes. Good or bad for the chimney? Kuma said to take it to 700 & then shut down completely & let it stew. Chimney sweep freaked out at the thought that temp!
See if this link will answer any of your questions, burning the gases of the wood is what the EPA stoves are all about.
http://www.bois-sec-chauffage-firewood.com/dry_firewood/burning_firewood_security.htm
http://www.bois-sec-chauffage-firewood.com/dry_firewood/burning_firewood_security.htm
Solution: burn dry wood, buy an axe to split your own wood. The more of the total process of wood burning you participate in the more you will learn about what works and what does not work. Dry wood is probably the most important thing right now along with getting the temps up high enough.
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