That first pic looks a LOT like when I did the first cleaning of our old 8" setup from the PO. 8" had been choked down to about 4". Nothing gooey or flaky, just an awful lot of fluffy brown ash build-up. It got cleaned. I eventually changed everything, including the stove. Much gooder.
going to add that i always had secondary burn last winter and i was keeping the flue temp (with electronic probe) above 500f at ~20inch above stove, this is my last try to trying fixing the issue, next time ... new everything i will also try to change the door gasket soon, i have the replacement, just need to find the time to do it
Cleaned mine twice last winter. Mostly all I have gotten is ash . I don't no why it wasn't more of a mess because my wood hasn't been seasoned like it should be. I need to give it a good cleaning again soon. Been burning small fires now and then.
seems to me brown sooty build up is/could be indicative of a rather healthy burn, it's the black shiny stuff you don't want. There does seem to be an awful lot of it but you could be pushing the limits of any combination of stove gph particulates/design, basement placement /out and up outdoor chimney in a really cold climate. I get a little less than that much in a two foot horizontal section of pipe in an out and up (not outside) but nothing in the vertical sections. Just make sure to clean it out every year.
Spirch do you burn 24/7? I'm not able to due hours at work. That being said I cold start ALLOT. I get allot of ash also which I blame for this reason. I have a sooteater I use once a month to sleep better at night. Last year I went 3 months without and this is what I got.
One thing i found out about cleaning your chimney (liner) n taking pictures..... If you clean from the top down...as you generally closer to the bottom..it'll tend to turn brown....so it looks all brown.. Now if you clean from the bottom up....your pile has a better chance of lookin all black
Just read through some of this thread. I just cleaned my liner from last winter's burn. Not one speck not even at the top. Read a post from last year where someone has the same Buck stove as I do that had a lot of creosote.......don't know if it's wood or stack but something needs changing there.
I removed the blower, I never used it but yes I still have it somewhere. don't worry about cleaning every year only about 4 to 7 hours per day on average, after 5-6pm, i always made sure to reach >550f in the flue before closing the air intake. this year i will do it when it reach >600f i had setup the probe to sound the alarm at 700f (i didnt like the old pipe) because the drywall was getting way too warm to my taste with this new pipe / setup, the drywall temperature is way lower than before so now the alarm will peep at 800f. to resume everything for this year, still good dry wood, higher burn than last year and new pipe setup.I hope i wont have a bad surprise again when i clean it up. (ho and a fan blowing air away of the stove instead of blowing to the stove) also, probe is about 22 inch above top of the stove vs 20 inch before
Was just gonna ask if the blower blew right on the stack. Appears too but that doesn’t mean it does. That could add in lowering your stack temps a touch. Seeing as your not using it it’s moot.
