Kinda surprised at how much built up there was at 14 months. Never got this much out of the masonry chimney this replaced. Brushed from the roof into a bag held onto the bottom of the T with a rubber band. The top looked like new. I was surprised at how full the bag was after seeing the top and looking down. Climbed back up with a flashlight and it looked pretty good to the bottom after sweeping it out. 5 rods tall.
I'll bet a lot of that came from this fall and/or last spring. Pretty black and crunchy. Couple gallons?
A little bit was pretty darned shiny. Two oak leaves were coated like spray paint. (another reason to have a screen I guess ) About a gallon in the vertical chimney and close to another gallon in the double wall horizontal and 3 foot single wall riser between the stove and chimney. I got a little more out of my sister's smoke dragon chimney but I kinda expected it.
The wood had a little more moisture than you thought . You burn a lot of fires on low mode ? Got good tight joint connections on the double wall pipe from stove to chimney ? Not saying anything you don't already know : Solution : Hotter fires &/or drier wood
What stove you burning BillB ? That does look like a good bit if you have decent wood maybe you have other issues like not enough heat in the flue.
I think I'm gonna have to try less low mode overnites and peek up the bottom of the T a few times this year. The stove is a True North tn-19 - not the biggest stove in the world. I'm usually down to fairly well spent coals in 4 hours during the day. Then start over. The top of the baffle board above the secondary tubes was clean like new.
No real big issues if you clean it regularly . Just clean & inspect a little more frequently. I used to get near 5 gallon bucket full after 6 months of burning 1 or 2 month seasoned birch, I learned to clean monthly Since I have a new stove & better /drier wood Cleaned up my act a lot since. (But I still inspect every 3 month or so)
wow, thats a quick burning stove. How big is the firebox and how many sq ft are you heating? It sounds like you are starting a cold fire in the mornings?
tn-19 is 2.2 ft3 - it's a long n/s 2.2 - I'd like the fire box to be a little taller, especially with a month of ashes there's usually just enough coals in the ashes at 6 AM from a load at 9PM to get some pine splits or cedar shingle strips to flame. My red oak is dry enough I can put on top of that little bit of kindling and get going. I had almost a cord of several year seasoned pine which was great for bringing the stove temp back up quick but used it all last Winter. Not trying to heat the whole house (double L-shaped farm house)and it doesn't on the real cold days in Jan/Feb but it has cut the fuel oil bill almost in half. We heat the north addition and kitchen to 70-74 which was always cold or expensive to heat before. I'm just finishing up mudding new ceilings in this rooms. It is 1.9 cu ft - hence tn-19, I don't know why I wrote 2.2
The double wall is run inside the existing masonry chimney I'm guessing? You have block off plates top & bottom? If you sweep from the top how much of the pipe is exposed to atmosphere? and can you look down to see where the creosote line builds
Wow Bill that's a lot of creosote! Think you may be choking the stove down too much or too soon or your wood is wetter than you think.. I believe your firebox is a little smaller than my T5 (1.9 cu. ft. and the TN-19 is a tube stove)so I would expect slightly shorter times not longer or the same which tells me your air is set very low with possibly damp wood. A coworker bought the same stove as yours and his pipe is clean.. http://www.pacificenergy.net/products/wood/fireplaces-2/truenorth/ PE says it is a 1.9 cu. ft. firebox Ray
The masonry chimney is gone. Took me all day to remove it. and the chase it was in one red brick and flue tile at a time. Replaced with Hart&Cooley All Fuel Chimney. I couldn't se the bottom of the pipe, next time I'll hang a light near the plastic bag on the bottom of the T.
Yeah, I don't know why I wrote 2.2 cu ft. The cu ft is the model number. I'm thinking trying to have coals in the AM might not be such a good practice. I'm pretty anal about not making visible smoke at reload which will happen if I cut the air back too much, too soon.
Part of the learning curve Bill.. I still check for smoke and increase air to burn cleanly.. The TN-19 is a decent stove and throws lots of heat and has a good price too!
My red oak is the same dead standing you see alongside RT 140 and 24 through Bezerkley, Taunton, Lakeville for the last half a dozen years. (none actually from Lakeville though )
I got some of the dead standing red oak from a coworkers house in Taunton near the Tireshack on Rt. 44.. Amazing how many dead oaks out there!
But doesn't most creo build-up in pipe/flue systems normally occur in the upper flue where it's coolest? Yours is down low, wonderin' if that's a clue of some kind. Agree on the choked down burns, but it seems the creo should be up high...
That's why I watched the chimney top stay clean all last Winter and thought we were doing good. Plus the chimney is exposed above the T and it gets quite warm. We don't have a key damper in the stove pipe either.
Bill it sounds like you're closing down the air too fast and this will result in a cool stack with low lazy draft which would explain the low creosote location.. Leaky flue pipes would also exacerbate this problem..
