Heatmor fan creosote

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Pbuckle4653

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Looking for some thoughts and ideas please. I have a Heatmor 200 x. I burn mostly Maple, Beech, Black Birch, and Oak. I use a moisture probe and the wood ranges between 12 - 20% moisture. What is happening - I add split wood nothing bigger than 10" diameter and 18" long. I am not letting a deep ash base. I burn it down to less than 4" before adding wood - only 5 - 7 pieces. My fan is creosoting up and the flapper does not open when the blower kicks on. IS THERE A WAY TO STOP THE CREOSOTE BUILD UP ON THE FAN. IS THERE A SPRAY OR SOMETHING THAT I CAN USE TO REDUCE THE BUILD UP? I have attached picture of wood storage. Want to add the low water temp is set to 165 and high is 185. The house is well insulated and I don't have alot of heat loss so the temp drop in boiler does not require the fan to kick on alot to get fire hot.20210408_155223.jpg20210408_155049.jpg20210514_160720.jpg
 
Have you split any of those large pieces to measure the interior moisture level?
I have not, but all I have been burning to date are the cut off pieces. Just started boiler last week here in PA. Here is a pick of pieces I am burning. This was all cut and split last March from a load of pole wood I cut last February. I will split a few pieces to check.20210323_155538.jpg 20210903_160422.jpg20210903_160433.jpg20210903_160641.jpg
 

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I split 2 bigger pieces that were in back corner out of sun. They came in at 15% and 21%. I end up burning about the same maybe closer to 5 cord. My storage area holds a little more than 8. I usually have 3 - 4 cord from previous year to mix with the newer wood. I was told I could put a paper clip on bottom of fan flapper to hold it open a little allowing small amount of air all the time. Not sure if this would alleviate creosote build up on flapper and in fan tube. Guess I'll give it a try!
 
I split 2 bigger pieces that were in back corner out of sun. They came in at 15% and 21%. I end up burning about the same maybe closer to 5 cord. My storage area holds a little more than 8. I usually have 3 - 4 cord from previous year to mix with the newer wood. I was told I could put a paper clip on bottom of fan flapper to hold it open a little allowing small amount of air all the time. Not sure if this would alleviate creosote build up on flapper and in fan tube. Guess I'll give it a try!
I've burned firewood almost all my live but have never seen a system with a fan in the smoke. I need some education on this. Duane
 
I've burned firewood almost all my live but have never seen a system with a fan in the smoke. I need some education on this. Duane
Same thoughts with me. It has me curious,
How many years has this OWB been working? And is this the first time issue like this?
Just wondering if you have a bad draft issue from water tank to firebox or chimney area. It would have to be small or you would noticed it real quick. Or a clean out door that is compromising the draft.
 
I've burned firewood almost all my live but have never seen a system with a fan in the smoke. I need some education on this. Duane
On rereading it appears that you are talking about your combustion fan and if soot is building up there you do have a problem and the paper clip idea may help. Soot on the flapper, tube and or fan is an indication that your fire is so cool that when the cool smoke got into an even cooler chimney it back peddled or dropped and tried to exit through the fan. That can be exacerbated with damp fuel where the water in the fuel produces steam that robs btu's from the fire to get up the chimney thereby making a cooler fire and chimney. At that point the smoke in the chimney may be cooled even further by the cold air against the outside of the chimney, thereby cooling the smoke even more (it needs heat to rise) until it not only comes to a standstill, but it will also actually reverse flow and exit through a loose fire box door or the combustion draft intake. A chimney plugging up can make this worse or better depending on how much blockage. Even blockage can increase the velocity of the smoke by making a smaller diameter. Blockage that happens right at the top will usually result in getting a lot of smoke coming out when you open the firebox door. Also, don't mix. You should only burn your driest wood. Hopefully your boiler system should have an insulated type of chimney to help stop creosote buildup. They warm up faster which helps keep the smoke moving.
 
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