Cleaned Chimney Today, Too Much Creosote???

Ok not sure how much creosote I was supposed to have, and this being the start of the second year of burning I figured it was time to check the chimney. I could see some creosote in the top of my chimney cap from the ground so I went to town yesterday and bought myself a 8" poly brush, a 6' fiberglass flexible rod and got to work. These first couple of pics are looking at the bottom 4' section of pipe that is closest to the roof and looking down into where I have two back to back 45 elbows and into the top of my stove.




This picture is looking at the top of the chimney stack closest to the chimney cap showing more creosote about the last 6 inches of the pipe than the rest of the chimney.

Here are more pics of the tallest piece of pipe closest to the cap and what I got out of it while brushing it.



Here is a pic of my high wind cap with way more creosote than all the pipes together had by far! You are looking into the pipe as if you were smoke going up the flue

Some of the creosote that just fell out of the cap


And Now finally back to burning as I froze my ass off last night because I was afraid to add any wood to the fire for fear of not having it be burned out by today, so I only added three little pieces of cottonwood yesterday at 1pm.


So is this normal or is this too much creosote? I burned all last year from end of august to probably may or so. Do caps usually fill with creosote like this one did? It still had pleanty of room to vent and was not even close to being filled to the point it would cause a blockage. All the creosote was very flaky and almost like very fine dust. You would touch it and it would fall apart. So is this good, bad, normal? Never did our own chimney sweeping before, when we were in Montana so not too sure what to be looking for. This didn't appear too bad at all to me but IDK. Oh yeah the wind blows 40 to 120mph all winter here from the NW to the SE

Was that a whole years worth of build up?

If it was, I think it looks okay. For me I would get up and clean it more often. At least you would have the piece of mind that it was clean.

I clean mine at the begining of each burn season and then again when it is safe in the spring time (very steep and tall roof).

M

Just saw the picture of the chimney cap.

You may want to go a different direction there.

M

I'm certainly not an expert but the chimney looked pretty good to me. There certainly wasn't enough creosote to start a chimney fire. You can expect the cap to accumulate more creosote simply because it's uninsulated and much cooler than the interior of the chimney, thus causing more condensation and accumulation.

I put a new metal roof on the camp a couple years ago, so the top section of the chimney had to come off. There was virtually no discernible amount of creosote residue after running a brush through it. The cap however looked similar to yours. That was after probably 15 years since the last time I inspected it. I can't see a bit of accumulation on the cap being an issue provided there is no serious restriction of flue gas flow.

Burning well seasoned wood and running a hot fire every so often is the key to a clean chimney. Wet wood will certainly lead to creosote problems as well as serious reduction in heat output.

It looks pretty clean to me. The chimney cap...... well, thats where it collects for me too. Hot flue gasses meet cool chimney cap. If my chimney looked that good after a burn season, i'd sleep very comfortably.

Don't have to worry about that one until next fall.

Looked pretty darn clean to me...especially if it was a year's worth. I've seen much worse. We've emptied almost two metal buckets full after one year/season.

120mph wind? you strap the roof down?

Yes this was a full years worth of burning. Mostly really sappy pine some elm and a little cottonwood.

Looks good to me.

Keep doing what you're doing. If you get a mid winter break and can get up on the roof, hit it again in the middle of the burn season, just for peace of mind.

The majority of your accumulation(That is still hardly anything) is further up after the elbows where the pipe will cool and accumulate anyhow.
We get the same thing in the last 1/3 of ours up around 20'.

Running a low/cool fire or wet unseasoned stuff or both is where the stuff really starts to build, so if you're limping along on a low fire in the fall, a quick couple of passes with the brush around mid December should cover ya with confidence for the rest of the year.

Good Pics BTW. I'd end up all covered in soot, and have soot all over the dadgum house if I tried that. LOL!!


Stay safe!
Dingeryote

Perfectly fine!

That stove seems to be doing a very fine job! Looks like you've got a nice clean burn. Especialy taking into concern that it's a whole seasons worth of burning wood. Don't be affraid you and the stove are doing a fine job. Keep the good habit of checking and cleaning your appliances. I have in person seen much worse due to a month of smoldering in an old stove at a friends place.

Cheers

Motorsen

Well i burn mostly on low to med low, with an hour or so of hot fire every day or so. Its a Blaze King with a cat so was hoping it was doing a good job because I love the stove.

That is not too bad. You'll be fine doing what you're doing every year.
I get paranoid on creosote too.
I burned alot of green wood last year and could hear creosote rolling down the flue pipe and chunks falling out of the cap on the roof. After sweeping the pipe this summer I collected about half gallon of creosote in the stove.
Owning a brush and brushing each year is a good thing.
Love your stove.

I hate to be the one to disagree..but perhaps my stove just burns cleaner??
That chimney looks pretty dirty to me. I would be unhappy with that much accumulation in my own chimney after just one season and would start looking at ways to improve.

Im no expert but i did stay a Holiday inn express last night and it looks the same as mine after on year of burning. Id say it is good.

Misfit138 said:

I hate to be the one to disagree..but perhaps my stove just burns cleaner??
That chimney looks pretty dirty to me. I would be unhappy with that much accumulation in my own chimney after just one season and would start looking at ways to improve.

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Not to be rude but, is the above an attempt at humor? A couple tablespoons of creosote after an entire year of burning is hardly a concern.

Not too bad for a new burner.

You'll get a whole lot more creosote if you damp the BK down to that miraculous "40 hour burn" too often. Catalysts will "light off" and combust for quite awhile. However: You need to read your manual for cat care besides checking the chimney which looks fine for the first year. Cats need cleaning and checking at least a few times each season.

Creosote collects where the incomplete burnt gases condense on cold surfaces such at chimney caps. Normal for all of us.

The average life of a cat to "reburn" is ~ 12,000 hours of use; that's a good 2- 2.5 seasons here IF used for complete heating. After that the paladium wears off.

Your BK BTW will not cure dandruff.:msp_tongue:

P.S. Neat pics of your flue. Reminds me of the pics of my colonoscopy......

I'd be keeping a close eye on the cap, otherwise it looks good.

Peace of mind for me is a quick peek down the chimney every week or two, easy to do on a single story home like mine, not so much for some of you.

I get a lot worse than that with my poor design block/tile lined chimney that's freestanding on the north (windy) side of the house, hence the weekly checks. In a normal year, I'll clean 3-4x, and most of the creosote will be in the top 3-4'.

I am on the last winter with this setup, possibly before the season is over an inside insulated chimney is going in.

logbutcher said:

Not too bad for a new burner.

You'll get a whole lot more creosote if you damp the BK down to that miraculous "40 hour burn" too often. Catalysts will "light off" and combust for quite awhile. However: You need to read your manual for cat care besides checking the chimney which looks fine for the first year. Cats need cleaning and checking at least a few times each season.

Creosote collects where the incomplete burnt gases condense on cold surfaces such at chimney caps. Normal for all of us.

The average life of a cat to "reburn" is ~ 12,000 hours of use; that's a good 2- 2.5 seasons here IF used for complete heating. After that the paladium wears off.

Your BK BTW will not cure dandruff.:msp_tongue:

P.S. Neat pics of your flue. Reminds me of the pics of my colonoscopy......

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Actually I run it on low about 85 to 90 percent of the time with a hot fire every 24 hours or so, taking up the 10 percent or so of time left. Second, I am from Montana born and raised and I am sure our burn season up there is worse or same as yours and Blaze King is the stove of choice up there and I hear Alaska, probably due to the cold and long burn seasons plus the 40 hour burn time of the stove at low. Third the cat is warrantied for six years of unlimited use, so no worries, and most get 6-10 years of service before it needs replaced.

Here is some out of the manual: CATALYTIC COMBUSTOR
This wood heater contains a catalytic combustor, which needs periodic inspection and replacement for proper operation. It is against the law to operate, - this wood heater in a manner inconsistent with operating instructions in this manual, or if the catalytic element is deactivated or removed. The combustor is a ceramic or stainless steel honeycomb on which is coated a catalyst. The catalyst may be a combination of one or more precious metals, including following: platinum, palladium, rhodium and cerium. The catalyst chemically lowers the combustion temperature of the smoke from a wood fire, thereby allowing more smoke to burn, and both increasing efficiency and lowering emissions. The catalyst is generally operational while the stove thermometer registers in the "Active" zone. If the thermometer does not stay in the Active zone, but falls into the "Inactive" zone for most, of the burn cycle, the thermostat could be set too low or the catalyst may need cleaning or replacement.

CATALYTIC COMBUSTOR, CLEANING
Under certain conditions, ash particles may become attached to the face of the catalyst. These may be seen while the catalyst is in the glowing stage, or when the fire is out. Any deposit on the visible face of the catalyst should be removed. Wait until the fire is out and the stove is cold. (Hot ash in a vacuum cleaner bag will burn.) Brushing the catalyst with a soft bristle paint brush will remove some deposits. Passing a plastic vacuum cleaner wand
or brush near the face of the catalyst will remove most deposits. Never scrape the catalyst with any hard tool or brush. Some stove owners have run pipe cleaner through every individual cell of the catalyst. This is not needed, and may actually do more harm than good. Limit cleaning to the face of the catalyst. For more thorough cleaning see page 46-48 of this manual.
Note: Never remove a combustor without approved combustor gasket in hand as original gasket will fall apart when removed from stove.
TIP: A nice hot fire will usually prove to be the best method of cleaning the combustor of deposits.

So very little maintenance for the usefulness of being able to burn a long low fire is you so want.