I have a con Dutch west federal airtight that I just started reusing this year. There is a thin layer of hard creosote that is building up. I am looking at Cre away and Anti creosote liquid. Is one preferable to the other? Are there other products that people recommend?
which creosote product?
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Is this creosote building up in the stove or in the chimney?
Some people have claimed that using these anti-creosote compounds has helped to dry out the creosote and makes it easier to sweep.
Some people have claimed that using these anti-creosote compounds has helped to dry out the creosote and makes it easier to sweep.
This stuff doesn't solve any problems, just may make it easier to try and sweep this glaze creosote out.
The glazed stuff is nothing to fool around with and can be quite dangerous if there's a decent accumulation and it lights off.
How thick is it? Is it in the entire chimney system or just at the top? Is this a masonry chimney lined with terracotta? Or is this a SS chimney? What's the diameter of the chimney?
How much have you burned to get these deposits?
In general, this stuff is not a normal part of burning. Something in the equation is not correct. Could be a number of things from the chimney itself, how the stove is being operated, if the wood is seasoned enough, type of installation, etc.
Give us more info and we might be able to help figure out what the cause is.
pen
The glazed stuff is nothing to fool around with and can be quite dangerous if there's a decent accumulation and it lights off.
How thick is it? Is it in the entire chimney system or just at the top? Is this a masonry chimney lined with terracotta? Or is this a SS chimney? What's the diameter of the chimney?
How much have you burned to get these deposits?
In general, this stuff is not a normal part of burning. Something in the equation is not correct. Could be a number of things from the chimney itself, how the stove is being operated, if the wood is seasoned enough, type of installation, etc.
Give us more info and we might be able to help figure out what the cause is.
pen
I have a 45 year old, double ceramic chimney with a fireplace upstairs and a wood stove down in the raised ranch basement. The ceramic liners are 8 by 12 and surrounded by cinder block - they are faced with brick on the inside. The chimney that goes down stairs is 22 feet to the top of the horizontal tile that connects the stovepipe to the chimney. It's tough to see in the bottom part of the chimney but there was some flaky creosote near the bottom that I brushed out and a thin hard glaze near the top, and probably going down most of the chimney, and on the underside of the cement cap; it was tough to brush. You can't look down the whole chimney because there is a bend around the side of the upstairs fireplace.
I looked at the chimney in the fall and there was some carbon powdery like stuff on it which I brushed out, but none of this hard glazed stuff. I have been burning more or less continuously with my Con Dutchwest Fed Airtight, using the cat converter since October. I have burned about 4 or 5 cords in that time - its hard to tell because of the way I stack, which is in Amish rounds. The wood is mostly red oak, split and stacked last April. A fresh split reads at about 18% on my moisture meter. I try to keep the stove pipe at 300 and the stove top at least 600 degrees.
I tried to put a 6" liner in with a buddy who said "it would be easy", but it got stuck 16 feet down around the bend. I was doing this because there was a very thin 4' crack on the exterior wall side of the top two tiles. I called a mason with the idea for punching out a block or two and working the liner through and he suggested that because I had cinder block on the outside of the liner, I should just burn for now and he would patch the ceramic liner in the spring. I am inclined to have him help me put the steel liner in, but in the meantime, I want to use the rest of the winter to clean out the creosote that has accumulated.
I looked at the chimney in the fall and there was some carbon powdery like stuff on it which I brushed out, but none of this hard glazed stuff. I have been burning more or less continuously with my Con Dutchwest Fed Airtight, using the cat converter since October. I have burned about 4 or 5 cords in that time - its hard to tell because of the way I stack, which is in Amish rounds. The wood is mostly red oak, split and stacked last April. A fresh split reads at about 18% on my moisture meter. I try to keep the stove pipe at 300 and the stove top at least 600 degrees.
I tried to put a 6" liner in with a buddy who said "it would be easy", but it got stuck 16 feet down around the bend. I was doing this because there was a very thin 4' crack on the exterior wall side of the top two tiles. I called a mason with the idea for punching out a block or two and working the liner through and he suggested that because I had cinder block on the outside of the liner, I should just burn for now and he would patch the ceramic liner in the spring. I am inclined to have him help me put the steel liner in, but in the meantime, I want to use the rest of the winter to clean out the creosote that has accumulated.
maple1
Minister of Fire
I wouldn't worry about a thin coating at the top - my chimney had a perpetual layer of that up top when I had my old smoker. If you keep your bottom clean, it would be pretty hard to get the top thin stuff to catch - and if it did, it wouldn't last long. Bad chimney fires start with that buildup of flakey stuff at the bottom catching, and spreading upward into thick harder stuff.
If it is truly 'thin', that is....
If it is truly 'thin', that is....
I've heard that about oak. I'll check some more splits. I don't hear any hissing.
The Amish rounds are supposed to dry wood faster. Wood is stacked in two concentric circles bark side down with the center filled vertically with splits. The whole thing was shingled with large flats bark side up. I've tarped the top for the winter. In the summer the heated stack is supposed to draw air through the stack and up the "chimney" where the loosely stacked shingles let warm most air escape. That's the theory anyway.
I agree with mellow. And keep an eye on the buildup most of the products will make it easier to clean which is good but I would try to get your temps up a bit also. If you are getting allot of buildup clean often. I get below 20% on oak in less than a year also it absolutely can be done. I have never used that stacking method but it might work. I just stack single thick covered only on the top and it works well.
[quHolsteost: 1669199, member: 19729"]I've heard that about oak. I'll check some more splits. I don't hear any hissing.
The Amish rounds are supposed to dry wood faster. Wood is stacked in two concentric circles bark side down with the center filled vertically with splits. The whole thing was shingled with large flats bark side up. I've tarped the top for the winter. In the summer the heated stack is supposed to draw air through the stack and up the "chimney" where the loosely stacked shingles let warm most air escape. That's the theory anyway.[/quote]
You have described a holz hausen or holz miete ... most folks here who have built these have found no real gain in speeding up the drying process.
The Amish rounds are supposed to dry wood faster. Wood is stacked in two concentric circles bark side down with the center filled vertically with splits. The whole thing was shingled with large flats bark side up. I've tarped the top for the winter. In the summer the heated stack is supposed to draw air through the stack and up the "chimney" where the loosely stacked shingles let warm most air escape. That's the theory anyway.[/quote]
You have described a holz hausen or holz miete ... most folks here who have built these have found no real gain in speeding up the drying process.
[/quote]
You have described a holz hausen or holz miete ... most folks here who have built these have found no real gain in speeding up the drying process.[/quote]
Yep, that's another name for them. What can I say. Mine did very well. As I said, I'll check some more splits, but my wood seems dry.
You have described a holz hausen or holz miete ... most folks here who have built these have found no real gain in speeding up the drying process.[/quote]
Yep, that's another name for them. What can I say. Mine did very well. As I said, I'll check some more splits, but my wood seems dry.
so I checked another red oak split and it 18% with my moisture meter. Maybe it's inaccurate but the wood seems dry.
I usually burn oak after a year split and have absolutely no problems with it in my EPA stove. Ive also burned oak I had sitting around split for 3-4 years and didnt notice much of a difference when burned. Im in a small area of the pine barrens with just a few neighbors who all split in the winter, to burn the following winter. Dont get me wrong, I always try to get ahead with the wood, but I've found after a year in my area, I have no issues with moisture. I should also add that my bucked rounds usually sit around for 1-3 years before I split them, so although it may not be much, my wood starts the drying process on a smaller level that way.
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