First Year Burning and worried about creosote

Hey folks.
This is my first year burning and I’m doing it with my brand new freestanding Buck 74 stove. Since it’s my first year, I have been burning with less than ideal firewood that probably has 18-20% moisture content.
I only started burning in the beginning of October but I’m beginning to worry that the wood I’ve been burning isn’t as dry as I thought it was (even though I’ve been checking fresh splits with a moisture meter) because every now and then I’ll hear a hissing noise from the firewood, and I will also sometimes see some smoke coming from the chimney. I originally thought that the smoke was just because of my inexperience with the stove, but this afternoon I heard some crackling noises coming from the top of the stove pipe towards the roof, and I saw small black flakes coming from the chimney cap.
Now that I have the door of the stove closed and the stove is up to temperature, both the crackling and the black flakes have stopped. Was this a chimney fire? Would creosote have built up that much in just over a month? What are my next steps here?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

If your wood is semi-season start the fire with some compressed hardwood bricks/blocks then lay the semi-seasoned wood on top.They burn so hot they'll burn off the moisture of the not so dry wood.

 

If your wood is 18-20%, that’s pretty good.
If in doubt inspect/sweep the chimney.

 

I think Locust Post has a Buck...any advice?

 

Kind of a hodgepodge of stuff I’ve collected since this last Spring. I haven’t done a good job at separating them by date split, bucked, etc. Mostly red maple and some ash. I split everything fairly small to try and help the drying process. Like I said, I texted quite a few fresh splits at the beginning of October and it was under the 20% moisture content so I thought I would be good to go. But I’m assuming because of the hissing and the smoke that maybe it needed some more time.

I will probably give the chimney a good sweep just to be safe. Just wanted to hear everybody’s thoughts on whether or not what I had was a chimney fire or something different.

 

first year burning
brand new freestanding Buck 74 stove.
probably has 18-20% moisture content.
heard some crackling noises
black flakes coming from the chimney

Punch it out. The pipe that is. It takes little time to gunk up the vent system if you are burning unknown moisture content wood in an unknown stove. Be safe and enjoy your investment. Good luck!

 

I had more creosote my first year burning than any other year. Had to sweep the pipe twice and I had dry wood. My advice dont be affraid to run the stove hot as I beleive that was the cause. Havent had any issues since.

 

Tell us a bit more about the chimney. If you're a new burner, it could be the chimney was previously used by a previous homeowner. You may be burning fine, but burning off creosote from years ago from a previous owner. Or is this a new install in a new chimney? Probably not a SS chimney liner to the roof, is it? If the wood you're burning was cut this year it will have some moisture in it. The hissing noise is the water content burning off. The flakes could just be ash from whatever kindling you used, like newspaper, for example. If that all happens before you engage the secondary burn tubes it is probably just fly ash even from a previous burn getting pulled up with a strong draft, especially if you've got the stove's door open at all if it's at the beginning of the burn.

My guess is that chimney got really hot during your initial start-up with the door open and heated the chimney enough to start melting creosote, which might have been in that chimney since before your installation. Could that be?

We really like pics. Tell us a little bit about the chimney and the history of the house. How tall is the chimney, does it have a liner, that kind of stuff? Welcome to the forum. You're in the right place to ask these questions. The more info you provide, the more likely we are to give you the best advice. You've gotten really good advice so far. If you're burning any pine, burn it when the stove is up to temp and burn it hot, to burn off any of that gunky creosote stuff.

 

Thanks! I’ve really liked browsing around this forum. Some real solid guys in here and I’ve found loads of helpful information.
It is a brand new installation, chimney and everything. I have attached some pics. The pipe stands about 6 ft from where it enters through the roof. I think I’m going to need to get a soot eater to clean from the bottom up, that would be tough to get to the top of the chimney on that pitched roof.
Honestly I’m not even sure what a liner is and if I have one. Could you fill me in?

 

You don't have or need one...you have a stainless steel "class A" prefab chimney pipe...

 

Same setup I am running , no issues here.
I usually clean twice a season. Once now when I start and a second time about halfway through the season. Buildup is never out of control but it gives me peace of mind knowing that things stay clean.

Another vote for getting on the three year plan. Yeah, three years seems like a long way out but something you might want to consider.

 

I noticed the cap screen, on your outside pipe, looks dark.

From different angles, are you able to see daylight through the screen?

This early in the burning season, you should be able to see through the screen grid.

Here's how mine looks at an angle.





A different angle and it looks dark.

 

Could be photos but your chimney cap looks dark to me for being brand new..

 

If it’s mostly ash and red maple and you got it split and stacked this spring, I seriously doubt there is too much moisture in it. Both of those species season extremely fast.

 

In older homes where there is a masonry chimney, usually are lined with those orange inside brick like liners. Over time, these deteriorate and may fail and cause chimney fires, which can be catastrophic. In many older homes with these types of chimneys, a good install will include a metal liner, which may or may not be double wall construction.

You don't have that worry and you have a nice steel chimney possibly double-lined all the way to the top in one straight shot. You should get a great draft with that as the weather gets colder. But yes that cap up the top looks pretty dark and may be the result of burning too slow, and not hot enough, so the inside of that chimney may have a lot of creosote.

 

Roger that, thanks for the info guys. I will hop up there later today and take a closer look at the cap and give the chimney a good cleaning, too.

I have been using only a stove top thermometer to measure the heat of the stove, is it necessary for me to use more than that to make sure I’m getting it hot enough? I wait until the stove top temperature gets to 400 degrees before I close the door, and then incrementally close the primary air until the stove top reaches 600, and I keep the air about 80%-90% closed. Could I be closing it too much?
When I have seen smoke coming out of the chimney the most is when I’m starting a fire or doing a reload and then once I get the stove hot enough there is no more smoke. Is that an indication of wet wood or something else?
Thanks for all the help, everyone. When I first got my stove I thought it would be as simple as throwing wood in there and letting it burn, but it turns out it’s a lot more complex than that! Much respect to you guys.

 

I have a simple magnetic thermometer mounted on the pipe around 18 inches ( give or take a little ) above the stove top.
Sounds to me like you are close to getting it dialed in. I find mine seems to do best around 4 to 500 degrees.
No smoke once I am up and running. Like yourself a little when first lighting it and maybe a little on a reload but otherwise you don't see smoke , just heat vapors coming out.

 

That is a good thing and how a stove should run

 

Burning slow will clog up the mesh in the chimney cap. I would cut out the mesh first time you clean it.