Leaking Creosote

Question, I recently got a new Buck 91 stove to heat my home with. I noticed what appeared to be creosote that had dripped from my horizontal pie going into the thimble on the floor behind the stove. The stove drafts very well and the wood is between 10-20% in moisture on a split piece. I did notice my chimney temps seem low, around 200-300 deg. Guess I should have hotter fires? Need advice so I won't burn my house down!
Thanks!

 

Do you have a flue thermometer?


With wood below 20% you shouldn’t be dripping like that, unless you are smoldering a lot. Keep that fire hot.

 

Yessir, have a thermometer on the flue. Was just doing some reading while waiting for a reply and I may be chocking the fire way to far down of the nights. I usually have around 35% or so of the wood I put in before bedtime after a 9 hour burn. And what flue temp am I looking for?
Thanks!

 

Push the pins into the wood all the way, not just touching.
And parallel to the grain.

But regardless of wood moisture content, if you keep the flue hot enough, water won't condense (and capture smoke particles this creating creosote).

 

Your next fire, take note of any log snot bubbling out the ends. That would indicate wood that needs further dry time.

 

Good idea. I've never had an EPA stove. We just cut and burned firewood so this is defiantly a learning experience. I think I'll clean out the chimney and stove pipe then lay another fire, making sure to put more heat up the chimney and most of my wood has been cut/split for over a year but as we know, it takes oak longer than that. I'll split a piece and measure it. Thanks for the suggestions

 

That's the stove I have but an insert if you are getting the cat engaged it should be burning relatively clean. Is your cat glowing when you engage it ? Make sure you run the cat probe temp up to 800 then engage and look above the cat shield for a glow. Also I never shut my draft (the one on the right side looking at the stove) past 1/4 open. I painted white marks on my draft slides at 1/2 and 1/4. I never get anything out of my chimney liner, burning wood at least 3 years split.

 

After reading your post and others like it I feel like I'm choking it down too far. When I got home yesterday I pulled my stove pipe and cleaned the chimney. Both were clean. My wood was on the stump dead and was cut and split earlier last year. I split a couple pieces of white oak yesterday and checked them w/a meter. They averaged around 15-19% . I'm gonna pull samples of all the wood I plan to burn this year and sample them as well. And thank you for the draft suggestion. I had set it in between the first and second make and pulling the catalyst handle pushed in all the way, then pulling it back out about 1-2 inches. With your information sounds like I'm throttling it back a little too far.

 

How old is the catalyst? May be time for a new one?

 

Just got the stove a few weeks ago Todd. Guess I need to check and see if it's glowing when working? I know my firebox temps usually run around 1000-1400 when I engage the CAT?

 

When I engage my cat, the probe thermometer will read just north of 1,000⁰f

 

Ok I didn’t realize it’s a new stove. Probably not a cat problem then. Something else you can check is your stove pipe joints. If they leak they can suck in cool air and cause creosote.

 

That's a great thought!! My flue does draw very well and that's a good possibility!! Thanks!

 

Should be little to no hissing in the firebox if the wood is dry. You have a cap on the chimney?

 

I don't understand why you would close the cat bypass handle them open it back up partially. You want all the smoke and gas to feed through the cat. I leave my drafts open until I hit 800 on the cat probe, close all the drafts, push the cat handle in all the way then open the primary draft (on the right) 1/4 open. Then I can see the cat glow red. Occasionally on a reload I may have to run the cat probe a little higher if the the cat doesn't light off.

 

Does the horizontal section have the proper rise, and are your pipe joints pointed the right way?

 

Yessir, have a cap.

 

I have about an 1" rise from the elbow to the thimble to aid in drafting. and as far as I know, the joints are pointed the right way. The first joint coming from the stove has to be crimped in order to fit on the stove, then flared on the end to fit on the elbow.
the next joint of pipe has the flared end going into the thimble with the crimped end fitting on the top elbow joint.

 

The way the salesman explained it to me was that you could use the cat bypass handle as a kind of damper? From your comment, once the temps hit 700-800 then I should close the bypass all the way and control the firebox temps with the bottom draft?