sparks come out the exhaust pipe

[SmokeyTheBear]

"hard black tarry buildup"

This is a creosote buildup, if it had lit off likely there wouldn't have been much left of your venting as it burns at a temperature that exceeds several thousand degrees. 73% of all heating related fires and a full 25% of all residence fires are caused by creosote lighting off.

You should always be on the lookout for buildups in your stove as it is an indication of improper combustion.

That is why you'll see questions about the color of deposits on the back of the fire box above the burn pot, gray, white, or even light brown is fine, black however is a different matter.

There are approximately 180 different compounds that make up creosote, it is fairly easy to control any possible buildup issues simply by making certain the fire has the correct amount of air.

This of course brings us full circle to the mantra that gets preached here on the forum, most problems with a pellet stove are caused by a dirty stove and a clean stove is a happy stove. I could add that a clean stove is also a safer stove.

The reason a clean stove is a safer stove is because it means the operator is making certain that it is burning correctly and that prevents all kinds of problems from even starting or potentially getting out of hand.

Enjoy the heat and as Paul said in another thread "Become one with the stove Grasshopper".

 

[tomasulo]

Now, when I clean my stove weekly, the buildup on and in the burn pot and liner is usually, grey, white, brown etc. as youu mention. There is always some black buildup in the burn pot liner that I have to chop away at to remove, mostly in the part of the liner where the pellets are burning the most. It is usually a little mound of black buildup. It has always been that way, is this normal or sound like not enough or too much air? The rest of the stove brick liner, etc. are easy to clean weeky? What are your thoughts?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Now, when I clean my stove weekly, the buildup on and in the burn pot and liner is usually, grey, white, brown etc. as youu mention. There is always some black buildup in the burn pot liner that I have to chop away at to remove, mostly in the part of the liner where the pellets are burning the most. It is usually a little mound of black buildup. It has always been that way, is this normal or sound like not enough or too much air? The rest of the stove brick liner, etc. are easy to clean weeky? What are your thoughts?

You'll get a buildup of various carbonates in the burn pot, it comes from the small amount of metals (calcium, potassium, etc.. combining with the carbon in the wood fibers) in the wood fiber, these are generally called carbon build ups but they aren't pure carbon as that would actually burn.

There is always some degree of this and you just scrape it off of the burn pot. Some pellets are more prone to building up in this manner than others.

 

[tomasulo]

so, in other words it appears as though the stove is normal. I always keep it clean, but I think that situation a few months ago was a dangerous one, with the damper stuck and huge buildup of black tar, which ultimately messed up the stove pipe. I will no longer tap the termination cap while the stove is running or hot. To be proactive, i think i will use my new 4" stove pipe brush to clean out the pipe every few weeks, even though the manuals say once per season. What do you think?? Again, I have used many forums for many issues and everyone is always so glad to help. No different here, I am so thankful that you folks lend your experience and knowledge to educate me....thanks.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

What I'd suggest is that you substitute after burning one ton every place that says annual and that you keep a number of extra gaskets for the combustion blower and convection blower.

Also burning a pellet that produces very little ash helps in keeping the stove both burning well and producing heat.

I count bags (it is easy to mark bags so that you notice it is time to do the inspect the venting thing) and have my cleaning down so I only have the stove off for an hour a week tops. If you keep track of the bags you can also notice when the time is getting close and it allows you to pick a decent afternoon to do outside portions of the work.

There is one thing for certain 0% of stove problems are caused by a stove that is too clean.

Remember that when you are working on the stove that in addition to being off and cold it should be unplugged. The reason for that is sometimes when working inside the stove shell things can slip and the magic blue smoke escapes from those little square and rectangular things on the circuit board, and that there is 120 volts exposed inside the shell as long as the stove is plugged in.

 

[MARK KERWOOD]

We had an Enviro Mini A installed about a month ago, and it's seems to be working good. However, a couple of days ago, at night, we noticed we could see sparks coming out of the exhaust pipe. The sparks float around in the outside air for a few seconds and then blink out. There seems to be five or six sparks a minute -- not a lot, but enough to make it seem dangerous.

It is normal for sparks to come out the exhaust pipe? We had the stove professionally installed by the dealer. The pipe comes away from the house by a couple feet and terminates at a 45 degree bend.

More sparks come out when the flame in the stove is tall, and less sparks come out (or no sparks) when the flame is small. Our house is wooden, and there are some trees around -- not a problem with sparks during the rainy season, but we can't have sparks if we happen to run the stove on a cool fall night, when it's dry.

Thanks for any advice.

a few things you should try
1. clean the flue and firebox as much as possible
2. even though installed by a dealer, if it is a horizontal run...make sure there is a slight rise
3.is there a outside fresh air kit installed?

 

[stoveguy2esw]

im with H&H on this one , good suggestions , the only internal thing that comes to mind for me is to ensure that all removable or otherwise movable baffles or clean out plates are seated correctly so there is no "shortcut" to the exhaust. sparks on occasion especially with a short run exhaust is not uncommon pellets with a higher amount of "fines' can cause this as well as they lift off and fly away as they are burned by the exhaust pull and may not be all the way consumed by the time they get outside the vent.

as for accompanying higher than normal flue temps and black soot on the cap you are experiencing one of three things usually , either your exhaust blower speed is too low or the stove has been coated inside with ash in areas where heat is usually transferred. the heat from the fire has to go somewhere right? so if its not absorbed and transferred to convection zones in the stove it will leave through the flue making it hotter. orther possibility is the "shortcut" thing i mentioned in the first paragraph. bottom line IMHO if you have noticably higher stack temps shut her down do a complete cleaning and inspect thoroughly all baffling and clean out plates for proper positioning (or warpage for that matter in older units) other giveaways can be loading in the burn pot ,"hard clinkering", semi burned pellets, sooted glass in a faster than normal duration. if these possibilities do not pan out check door and window seals for wear or leakage this can bring about the same or very similar symptoms

hope this helps ya!

 

[woodsman23]

ahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

 

[jtakeman]

ahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Oh' Boy here we go again! Who brought this back to life??

 

[woodsman23]

Mac??

 

[imacman]

Mac??

Hey, don't look at me.... I didn't start this up again. But I COULD use some laughs from 'ol Slickplant right about now. :lol:

 

[woodsman23]

my stove is cleaned weekly, and since the first spark issue, I have cleaned the stove pipe out twice in the last month, just to be proactive. As I say, last week, it did the same thing, noticed some grey smoke coming out of the pipe, went out and tapped the cap, some sparky pieces of junk came out. The pipe was boiling at the termination cap. Is this normal?? Fire is burning fine.

sparky pieces,,,, Haaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhha man this is killing me again......

 

[woodsman23]

I am seriously cracking up here. I trimmed my bush just this morning, you????

 

[imacman]

I am seriously cracking up here. I trimmed my bush just this morning, you????

No, I let the women trim the bush. ;-P

 

[WoodPorn]

Closely trimmed landscape, a longer pipe, a bucket of steam, spark catching garden gnomes......All are good choices!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

HOME & HEARTH,

Are ye trolling?

If so ye have hit an old posting the theme of which recurs on this site.

Mike,

Be a good boy now ;-).

 

[woodsman23]

I am seriously cracking up here. I trimmed my bush just this morning, you????

No, I let the women trim the bush. ;-P

I would let mine do it but she is not very good with the weedeater, always ripping out the string!..