this amount of build up normal?

[gizmos]

Hi guys,
There is a ton of build up inside, on top of the secondary burners. There is a thick cover of white ash. Is this normal?
There is also a thick build up of black soot on the front top lip of the stove.
I attached some photos,

Jotul F3 CB

thanks
Mark

 

[gizmos]

Here is the lid

 

[begreen]

It doesn't seem too bad for a few months of steady burning. Looks like she's been working and maybe wants to burn a bit hotter. Be sure to get the lid back on perfectly square.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Edit. It got sent before I was ready.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The white ash is really fine stuff and is fly ash. That cause no problems. I would definitely clean up the black stuff though and as BeGreen states, be sure to get it back together right.

Is it normal. Yes, somewhat. I think it is too much of the black and I would clean it and then look at the chimney.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

This is the hotter part of the exhaust train. Most people find that the accumulation is near the top of the pipe. This doesn't look like a lot- but definitely check the pipe! If you have accumulation in the hot part- then you definitely need to keep an eye on the cooler parts.

 

[Shari]

When we first started looking for a woodstove we found a really nice smaller VC stove that I really hemmed and hawed over. At the time I didn't know too much about stoves, creosote, etc. The interior walls of this VC we were looking at were totally coated with hard, gloss, creosote about 3/8" thick. We passed on purchasing it because of this. Looking back on it (now that I know so much more) it was obvious on that stove that they were running it too cold. Your stove is not nearly as coated as the one we looked at but I would agree you need to run it hotter and check your chimney for similar deposits.

Shari

 

[btj1031]

How do you go about cleaning the black stuff off? Wire brush? I need to crack mine open and give it a good cleaning at the end of this season.

 

[gizmos]

Ok,
thanks for the information. First season with the new stove and was a little concerned about the thick layer of white fly ash. This was about three months worth of running the stove every day.
Yes, I used a scraper and a wire brush and a shop vac.
Thanks
Mark

 

[BrotherBart]

It looks just fine.