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BaldyRookie

New Member
Dec 4, 2019
3
Mt Baldy, CA
I appreciate any help on this. Too white and loose to be creosote? We're new to wood burning stoves and just moved into a new place with a Defiant 1610 installed in a fireplace. Have gone through about two weeks of using it, and just discovered this pile of gray "rice krispies" behind the stove. I call them that because each grain is about that size with similar texture as the cereal. Crush it with your fingers and it resembles ash. We hear a raining noise every once in a while, and I assume it's more of it coming down. Ash in the bottom tray is nice and fluffy. We've stopped using it until I know what this is coming down the chimney!
 

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I'm not an insert guy, which I think is what were looking at. Is that insulation that someone filled around the chimney liner.
 
It looks to me like it's fiberglass rope (like the kind used for stove door gaskets) around the liner to flat metal sheet/plate. I think rockwool is what is in the back of the fireplace brick.
 
Looks like a poorly done block off plate is leaking poured in insulation from around the liner.
 
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It looks like loose fill perlite to me used to insulate the liner.
 
Thanks for the input- loose insulation fill makes total sense. I assume it's safe to run the stove this way until we get a chance to fix the block off plate, re-seal, and refill the insulation later? Just would lose a bit of efficiency, right?