Valcourt Lafayette 2 blower noise and possible chimney fire

[Woodsman on the Plains]

So my Valcourt blower decided to get really annoying on me and started making a clicking sound. Kinda like when you throw a pebble in a fan. It's hard to describe but it doesn't seem to affect the function of it it's just annoying. Anyone have experience with these? Is there something I need to lubricate or tighten?

Also I was curious if anyone has experience with one these units? The chimney sweep came out in December and said he thinks I've had a chimney fire. Which doesn't make sense because the thing was brand new and barely put a cord and a half of wood through it. Then today I started a fresh load when we got back from being out of town so the fireplace was cold and I decided to pull the baffle out just for the heck of it and it looks pretty much like it did when he said I had a fire. Kinda white-ish gray-ish dusty stuff on the top of the fire box and in the chimney (I took a flash light and stuck my head in there). There is still some brownish colored soot/creosote looking stuff up there but there's a fuzzy light colored stuff on top of that. Anyone have any thoughts? It just seems like ash to me but I don't want to burn the house down if I'm doing something wrong. I'll attach a picture of the chimney cap he said was evidence it burned before as well. I thought once a year was sufficient but maybe I need to clean it every month or two?

 

[begreen]

One can easily have a chimney fire after burning a cord of wood if conditions are right. This can happen if the wood moisture is inconsistent due to stacking issues, differing wood species, etc.

The blower blades could need cleaning. It may have sucked up animal hair or something else. Dust and hair build up can unbalance the fan and cause noise.

 

[Woodsman on the Plains]

I'll pull the blower and see what it looks like. Thanks for the input.

As for the chimney fire. I'm burning elm and Aspen right now. Do the pictures tell a story? Not sure if anyone can tell just from the pictures or not. And any comment on the white-ish gray-ish powdery stuff? Is just ash or is it from creosote being burnt?

 

[begreen]

The wood species is not the issue, it's how dry the wood is inside. The grey powder is probably ash residue.

 

[Woodsman on the Plains]

That makes me feel better about the white-ish stuff.
It was all from dead trees sitting out all summer. It all split really nice but didn't have a meter until recently and it's reading 18-20%. It seems to be burning fine except I did have a few pieces of ash i threw in there that seemed to smolder a bit longer. I think I'm going to get a different opinion from another sweep this spring and see what they say.

 

[begreen]

When testing for moisture, was the wood resplit at room temp and then tested on the freshly exposed face of the wood? This can be challenging with elm due to it's stringy nature.

 

[Woodsman on the Plains]

When testing for moisture, was the wood resplit at room temp and then tested on the freshly exposed face of the wood? This can be challenging with elm due to it's stringy nature.

No I stuck the prongs in as far as I can and tested it. The elm wasn't stringy when I split it either. It just popped apart really easy which made me think it should be pretty good since it split so easily. I just barely touched it with the splitter and it just popped apart. I will split one open and check it out when this cold snap goes away this weekend.

 

[begreen]

Exterior moisture is not valid. The core of the wood may still be damp. It must be tested on a the freshly exposed face of a re-split piece of wood.

Usually elm does not split too easy.

 

[Woodsman on the Plains]

Exterior moisture is not valid. The core of the wood may still be damp. It must be tested on a the freshly exposed face of a re-split piece of wood.

Usually elm does not split too easy.

I know that's why I was thrilled when it just popped apart like that making me think everything was all good. Especially when it's fresh it is usually a stringy nightmare.

 

[AlwaysStacking]

I would not say it is a pebble in a fan noise, but sometimes I get some weird vibration noises when the air is turned down all the way on my Lafayette 2. Next time you get some noise, try putting some pressure on the air lever up or down against the frame and see if it goes away. It took me a little time to figure that one out and now when i hear the noise, I do the push check to make sure it isn't something that I should be worried about.