creosote in fire box

[Toyman]

I have a tarm solo 30 with no storage and stack temps around 400*-500*, I've had it going about a dozen times,and has been running 24/7 for a couple of days now. When is it time to clean the fire box of creosote,its starting to build up a little,I know I'm suppose to have some in there, its not real thick and its not bubbling yet, I took the chimney pipes apart and no creosote in side there just some fly ash, also checked the heat exchanger, just fly ash in there also, if it needs to be cleaned what is the best way/easyist way to clean it out? Thanks

 

[jdurant]

use crea-away every fire (powderd squeeze bottle creosote reducer) burn you fires hot and scrape out the creosote. All is well. when the burn season is over you can scrape out the firebox or use a cleaner or kerosene on a rag.

 

[Nofossil]

Or, you can adopt the soon-to-be-patented nofossil approach:

Leave the creosote on. Don't touch it, scrape it, treat it, or even pay attention to it. It seems to reach a maximum depth of about an eighth of an inch and stop.
As far as I can tell it causes no problems and may even protect the steel. When I used to scrape at it, I never saw even a trace of rust underneath it.

You do need to do a bit of light scraping around the door opening to keep flakes from getting on the door gaskets, but that's it.

 

[RJP Electric]

Thats what I do NF, I didn't think there was a patent. I will patient my broom stick to help open the chimney flap when it sticks

Bob

 

[Eric Johnson]

I'm with nofo. I say leave it alone. What kills boilers, in my experience, is low return water temp.

 

[kuribo]

I would think that proper gasification would nearly eliminate any creosote build-up....after all, gasification is the burning of the volatiles which form creosote....

 

[Eric Johnson]

Not in the firebox, Chris. That's the only place it should form. The gasification takes place in the lower chamber, below the firebox and on the other side of the nozzles.

 

[kuribo]

shouldn't the volatiles formed from the coking of the fuel be drawn through the nozzles?

 

[Eric Johnson]

Yes, but some of them stick to the firebox walls before they can be sucked (or blown) down. Think about it: You've got a steel box full of smoke surrounded by 180-degree water. It's inevitable that some of it is going to stick to the walls.

A downdraft gasifier is really just a conventional wood-fired boiler mounted on top of a ceramic chamber with the smoke exiting out the bottom instead of out of the back. Except when the bypass damper is open, of course.

Looks a lot like this:

 

[waynecub]

On my gasifire, which is one that I built the creosote only builds up on one side. I took my old wood boiler and built on the outside of one side a burn chamber. On the inside of the burn chamber ( where the wood is ) one side is against the old boiler and the other three sides are just the fire box. Only the side that's against the water jacket of the boiler builds creosote. Interesting. Why only the water jacket side.
Everything after the nozzle is gray powder.

Marcus

 

[kuribo]

I suppose the cool wall is condensing the volatiles. I would think this is reducing the efficiency to some extent. I have a masonry heater in which there is a heat exchanger downstream, after the secondary combustion has taken place. No creosote anywhere.....