Question about proper maintainence for the stack....

[Mass Tree Guy]

Hi all I posted a few months ago and got some great support here!

Just would like to say thanks for the support and yet again I have another question..

I'm burning with an old Kent Stove, and have a insert liner inside my chimney..Also I am using some rather green wood, and mixing it with locust..
At first when we opened the stove door to the firebox, never would we get any smoke coming out the door..Not sure what to call that, But it stinks in my house every time I want to put some wood in the stove...I would say I burn the stove warm for a few hours of the day and when me and the wife go to work it gets chocked..

I feel that there might be a buildup of creosote inside the stack around the coolest part of the unit....

Although my ankle if messed up i can locate some brushes from my dad and plan to go up to the roof to sweep the buildup out!

Does this seem like a viable solution?

Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance for any responses


Happy burning

ed

 

[jabush]

When I start to get smoke spillage from the stove door, that's my que to clean the stovepipe and brush the chimney. The buildup reduces your draft over time.

 

[Mass Tree Guy]

hey thanks for the response jabush!


Since I'm pretty much a wood burning newbie could you explain how you clean your stovepipe? I'm assuming a brush, but unsure...Also what do you mean by brush the chimney?

If I understand correctly proper draft on a wood burning stove is exit of the smoke through the stack..Is that correct?


Sorry for all the questions but just want to educate myself on the subject..


again thanks for the quick response!

 

[tcassavaugh]

Having an insert, to me, was a pain. there always seemed to be creasote build up right at the connection. I even had a couple of chimney fires at the smoke shelf. If you have a flexable conneciton pipe, from my experience it has a tendency to clog up and fill with the stuff, especially with slow/low burns. If it stinks, your probably getting build up. I try and clean a couple of times during the season once in the beginning (before starting) and right about now....(reminds me i have to check). If you can burn it a little hotter and use a stove or pipe thermometer to help guide your burn temps, you would probably do better.

jmho

cass

 

[jabush]

I should have checked your first thread. I did not realize your stove sits in the fireplace opening.
I have a free standing stove with stovepipe that exits the back, goes up a couple feet and then through the thimble to the chimney. No fireplace opening. I remove the stovepipe to clean it after I run the brush down the chimney
In your case it sounds like you can let the stove cool, disconnect it from the liner and pull it out. You can then clean the area around the flu collar and the section of pipe/liner that connects to the chimney liner.
While you have the stove pulled out you can then go up on the roof and brush the "stack". You may want to secure a plastic bag around the bottom of the liner to catch the creosote as you brush it.
I imagine someone with a setup more similar to yours will post up as I may be missing some cleaning tips, but the above is what I would do for starters.

hth.

 

[Mass Tree Guy]

insane what we pulled out..

the collar was caked with creosote!

ran the brush through a few times and got this

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Holy crappy creosote! That is a true testament to burning some very poor fuel. To compare, we cleaned our chimney after the 2008-2009 burning season and got about a cup of soot total.

Hopefully you will learn from this. Learn what? Get your wood purchased a long time before you are ready to burn it. Next year's wood should already be split and stacked out in the wind so it can dry. Better still is to have the following year's wood also put up. Then this problem will not happen and you will also find that you will burn less wood and get more heat from what you do burn.

Good luck.

 

[weezer4117]

That is some serious creosote. I havn't seen that much in one sweep in my life!

 

[BrotherBart]

Now, how about a pic of that insert?

 

[Mass Tree Guy]

Now, how about a pic of that insert?

now when you say insert are you talking about the roof stack or the stove inside the fireplace?


and yhea....this wood burning thing we didn't know was happening until the end of august....so from the end of aug- now I split all the wood I got @ work..

( I'm a tree climber and get all the removal wood I can put on the ground and then some)


but yes....I have about 2 chord left and a pile to split in the yard....People out here charge 350 delivered a cord for oak and maple....h0rsesh!t!!

But now I will continue to gather from work and split as much as possible...

I knew burning the green wood wasn't going to end well..Looks like I should sweep every month or so just to make sure nothing crazy happens....

 

[BrotherBart]

Ah. I read the post wrong. Let me try again.

How about hitting us with a pic of that Kent stove?

 

[Mass Tree Guy]

It really ties the room together with the tv couch ect...

this is me holding a lamp totes of wood on right the blower (fan) on left.....
poor cameraphone pic too

 

[remkel]

Good thing you swept that stack. Nice pile of creosote.

Not sure if it is the safety geek coming out of me, but you may want to consider moving the plastic totes a little further from the stove.
Welcome to the world of burning- dryer wood next year will be a big help for you.

 

[weezer4117]

your fan and tote are WAAAAAAYYYY to close!! SOMEBODY HELP!