Blaze King owners

I was just wondering, do you get a dirty chimney on the outside?

I have class A/MetalBestos (whatever the hell you want to call it)

I get what I guess is creosote that runs down the chimney. Brown/yellow "juice" that has run down the chimney some. Stained the snow around it a bit. Also find a few 3/8" ish pieces of soot here and there.

Been running this setup for 4 years now and has been like this every year. My wood is dry and as far as I know I'm running the stove correctly.. (following the manual).
The inside of the pipe stays pretty clean. I cleaned it out about a month ago, had all of last year on it and 3 months of this year. I had maybe 2-3 cups worth that came out... most was toward the top.

Chimney is about 16ft tall from stove top to cap. About 7ft is outside.

I'll see about getting photos later today, but I don't know how dirty it will be. It rained for a few days and that seems to wash it off. (nice and shiny in summer)

 

Rain on the cap & dripping down ?

 

I know i dont own a Blaze King but some things are still applicable not matter what stove you own. Interested to see the pictures. Also is it smoke free during the burn? Do you actually have creosote running down the outside of the chimney?

 

Yes, mine looks pretty nasty outside. Inside not bad at all. I just cleaned it last week, and got 2-3 cups of powdery stuff out of it. I have a screen made of 1/2" hardware cloth on the cap, and it is has never plugged up.

Dunno.

 

I got some photos but I can't get them to upload on here. Using an Iphone 4. Much of it cleaned off from the rain, a bit still there though.

Black around the pipe near the cap (and the cap) from smoke, which I'd imagine is normal. Depending on the wind, sometimes it swirls around the cap/pipe.

The "juice" I'm wondering if it's from the moisture of the flue gases (well moist compared to the usual cold dry air) that is condensing on the soot/cresote on the cap. Then it drips down.

 

When I Cleaned mine, the cap was the worst, as usual.
I think you're right, it's from the cap.
Especially if your pipe inside is clean.

 

I probably should pull the cap off and clean it during summer or something but it's not easy to get at.

When I clean the chimney I use a sooteater and make sure to get it up into the cap pretty well. I'd guess it doesn't get it all, but it's about the best I can do. Probably where some of the black chucks I found in the snow came from now that I think of it.

Maybe I'll get brave this summer and pull it off... or sucker a friend to help me.

 

I get crap in my cap as well especially when burning low and its cold/blowin. Cap is about 23' straight up all class A. Good hot burn for an hour or two takes care of it.

 

Is that a BK thing? Getting creo on the cap/top of chimney that is?

I tend to get more on the BOTTOM, close to the stove, than the top. Surely the setup makes a big difference on this, but just generally speaking....

Nate,
GET the PICS up somehow! Text or email them to somebody else..... we need to see it....

 

I've seen a good creo cap fire and it is nothing even remotely like that. I get nothing anywhere else in the stack and it only seems to happen when its blowing hard and cold.

 

Found the charger for my regular camera, got some photos and put them on the computer. The other photos I took are on my iPhone, but I don't have a working cable to connect it to the computer.

It did have more of that brownish juice that had run down the chimney but the rains washed some of it it away.

The creosote chunks, I guess it's falling off the cap? I had some last year and I didn't sweep the chimney.


I smell a bit of smoke outside at times but I'm not positive it's from me and instead another house. I know my stove will smoke some when I first get a fire going, but once it's burning well it seems to be fairly smoke free.
Once in a while I will get a kind of smoldering fire, almost creosote smell. Seems like it's when I barely have embers in the stove

 

Yep, looks just like mine. I even get a couple chunks like that out of the cap. Mine isn't quite that tall, and I twist off the top section when sweeping.

 

Now that I think about it, the stack is a bit different height than I mentioned.
The pieces outside are a 4ft, 3ft and 2ft from what I remember. It's about 10ish feet from roof to top counting the storm collar area.

Inside the house I have about 6.5-7ft of pipe from stove top to roof.

The first year I had just the 4ft and 2ft outside, making about 14ft chimney and I found it didn't draft that well at warmer temps (mid 30s), so I had the 3ft piece added.

Good to hear that my setup isn't just the only one doing that. Just based on a few other's info (not on here) the stove just about puffs out rainbows and tulips and the pipe is like a brand new chrome tractor trailer stack.

 

Wow that quote was good for a laugh

 

I burned a mix of wood since I consolidated my wood rack and also I added a bit to it during the summer. Some of it close to 2 years old and some ~6-7 months. I measured a few pieces here and there and it was reading 15-20%... the older stuff at 15%.

 

That's an instant classic~!! He mods, pin the quote up top!!


Yikes, those pics are scary looking to me. I'm NO expert on this stuff, so take what I say with a grain.... but listen to some of the more seasoned chimney guys and take care of whatever is needed. As a starter, don't burn that 6-7 month old stuff if you can help it. I also burned some less than desirable wood early this season, and the result was I I had a bit of creo dripping down my pipe just above the stove. Just sweeped it last weekend to make sure that didn't cause an issue. But I've never seen the outside pipe get so dirty. Mine looks like the day I installed it (polished stainless) outside, including the cap.

 

I just cleaned mine the other day, and this is what came out. If you can tell with the extreme flash . It was maybe 3 cups of soot.

That is the first time since last January. I'd show you a pic of the pipe, but I sure as hell am not going outside right now. It looks just like nate's anyway, only bigger.

All I have burned is three year old oak, two year old cherry and soft maple, and standing dead ash and elm that was cut and split last winter and spring. It was dry enough to burn when cut, and 8" rounds that I split open and checked recently were 14-15%. So it ain't got nothing to do with the wood.

 

It does seem like the Blaze Kings/Princess are very dirty burners