Trouble with creosote dripping

[oldspark]

Your flue temp can and should be higher

I agree 200 to 225 is a little on the low side.

 

[CD'sCycleShop]

400 - 500 shew wee, man Dang, WOW! Shew Man, this stove is in my living room, and about 6ft away from my lazyboy.LOL. If it were in the basement I could see maintaining those temps. I have a 2000sq ft home, and as I type the top of my stove is 325 deg, and the top of the pipe is 200deg(entering the chimney) it is 74 deg in the master bedroom, the furthest room from the stove.I guess I am going to check the chimney for build up more than normal. So am I using this stove for the rite application? How do you calculate the BTHU for a wood stove? Here are the dimensions of my stove H22" X W16" X L26"
:

 

[BrotherBart]

Crank that thing up and move the chair.

 

[red oak]

400 - 500 shew wee, man Dang, WOW! Shew Man, this stove is in my living room, and about 6ft away from my lazyboy.LOL. If it were in the basement I could see maintaining those temps. I have a 2000sq ft home, and as I type the top of my stove is 325 deg, and the top of the pipe is 200deg(entering the chimney) it is 74 deg in the master bedroom, the furthest room from the stove.I guess I am going to check the chimney for build up more than normal. So am I using this stove for the rite application? How do you calculate the BTHU for a wood stove? Here are the dimensions of my stove H22" X W16" X L26"
:

Those dimensions are comparable to my Papa Bear, and I heat 2000 square ft plus basement very comfortably. My stove is in the basement and we spend most of our time upstairs so we don't get the full force of the heat in the way that you are. My thermometer says 250-550 is the burn range, anything over and your fire is too hot, anything under and you could be producing creosote. Of course other factors determine creosote buildup such as dryness of the wood and height of your chimney. If your room gets too hot you may want to consider building smaller quicker fires to keep the flue temps up but not run you out of the house. Or you can just be mindful to check for creosote buildup every week or two.

 

[Caveman]

I moved into a house where I had this problem, reversed the pipes and it was never an issue after that.

 

[oldspark]

I moved into a house where I had this problem, reversed the pipes and it was never an issue after that.

The real point is you should NEVER have creosote dripping!

 

[maple1]

I wouldn't take those magnetic temp guages at face value, nor rely on them for safety. They are inaccurate and read quite low. My internal probe temp reads 100°c more than the magnetic one beside it. So whatever a magnetic one reads, it is a LOT hotter inside the pipe.

 

[oldspark]

I check mine with a IR testor and would suggest everyone to do the same, mine are actually pretty good until it gets over 500 and then its 100 to 150 degrees high.

 

[Caveman]

The real point is you should NEVER have creosote dripping!

Yes, but one poor burn with the way my stove was set up and it would leak out, the pipe fit poorly to boot.

 

[oldspark]

Yes, but one poor burn with the way my stove was set up and it would leak out, the pipe fit poorly to boot.

One poor burn=creosote dripping out?
Thats a very very bad burn if you can do it wth one burn, never heard of that happening.

 

[begreen]

Can we see pictures of this setup? You need some actual eyeballs looking at the situation and installation in order to provide a more accurate assessment of the problem and fix.

 

[CD'sCycleShop]

I can't thank everyone enough for the great advise, and concern. As I am getting a much better grip on this wood burning thing, and I am seeing how hot one has to keep there flue. I do some basic math in my head, and correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that the hotter you keep your stove(higher BTHU) the more wood you are going to burn. So at what point does it become more efficient to buy a $40.00 chimney brush and pole, and possibly a $200.00 24' ext. ladder, and just clean your chimney twice a month. When the space being heated only requires 300 deg to maintain a comfortable temp., then why keep the stove at 400 - 500 deg just to achieve the flue temps that are required. I may just be over thinking the whole thing, but it seems to me that in the long run it would be cheaper and less time consuming to just clean the chimney, save the wood by cutting dampers way way back,and save the old back from the saw and splitter. I am burning 30% more wood by keeping the flue temps in the required range, and I am also having to open the front door at times and let out some of the 500 deg heat. I am not trying to say creosote is not dangerous, but if one stayed on top of chimney maintenance, is my theory even practicable?

 

[gzecc]

I can't thank everyone enough for the great advise, and concern. As I am getting a much better grip on this wood burning thing, and I am seeing how hot one has to keep there flue. I do some basic math in my head, and correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that the hotter you keep your stove(higher BTHU) the more wood you are going to burn. So at what point does it become more efficient to buy a $40.00 chimney brush and pole, and possibly a $200.00 24' ext. ladder, and just clean your chimney twice a month. When the space being heated only requires 300 deg to maintain a comfortable temp., then why keep the stove at 400 - 500 deg just to achieve the flue temps that are required. I may just be over thinking the whole thing, but it seems to me that in the long run it would be cheaper and less time consuming to just clean the chimney, save the wood by cutting dampers way way back,and save the old back from the saw and splitter. I am burning 30% more wood by keeping the flue temps in the required range, and I am also having to open the front door at times and let out some of the 500 deg heat. I am not trying to say creosote is not dangerous, but if one stayed on top of chimney maintenance, is my theory even practicable?

Are you asking what is cost of unseasoned wood?

 

[CD'sCycleShop]

Gzecc, I am asking, why keep the flue temps at 400 - 500 deg? If the flue temp is 400 - 500 deg then the stove top must be in the 600 deg. range. Example: Method #1- Set the auto damper to maintain 300 deg (top of stove), Flue(stack) temp. of 200 deg, thus saving wood( 8 truck loads per season), but having to clean creosote from chimney once or twice a month. VS Method #2- Set the auto damper to maintain 600 deg (stove top), Flue(stack) temp. of 400 deg, thus burning more wood(10.5 truck loads per season), but not having to clean creosote from chimney once a year. There has got to be a point where saving wood (by buning at low temp.) is more efficient than burning more wood to keep the 250+ deg required flue temp. after 6yrs the low temp burning method is a 15 truck loads savings, almost 2yrs worth of wood. That is a lot of sweat, gas, time, oil, time that can be saved

 

[red oak]

I can't thank everyone enough for the great advise, and concern. As I am getting a much better grip on this wood burning thing, and I am seeing how hot one has to keep there flue. I do some basic math in my head, and correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that the hotter you keep your stove(higher BTHU) the more wood you are going to burn. So at what point does it become more efficient to buy a $40.00 chimney brush and pole, and possibly a $200.00 24' ext. ladder, and just clean your chimney twice a month. When the space being heated only requires 300 deg to maintain a comfortable temp., then why keep the stove at 400 - 500 deg just to achieve the flue temps that are required. I may just be over thinking the whole thing, but it seems to me that in the long run it would be cheaper and less time consuming to just clean the chimney, save the wood by cutting dampers way way back,and save the old back from the saw and splitter. I am burning 30% more wood by keeping the flue temps in the required range, and I am also having to open the front door at times and let out some of the 500 deg heat. I am not trying to say creosote is not dangerous, but if one stayed on top of chimney maintenance, is my theory even practicable?

As for the flue temps, I don't think you NEED to keep it at 400-500. Mine says 250 would be the minimum to be in the proper burning range, and you're not far off from that. Also, if you are burning truly seasoned wood I would think it could be slightly lower. What has really lowered my wood usage, in fact cut it almost in half, was burning seasoned wood. I started off burning oak weeks or months after it was split, and used over 6 cords my first couple of winters. Now that the wood I am burning has been split and stacked for a couple of years I'm burning between 3 and 4 cords per winter. So if I were you I would concentrate on burning truly seasoned wood. I would NOT burn it that much hotter than I have to and then have to open windows or run outside! That is just wasting energy and you are right, you'll burn a lot more wood that way. But if you are burning unseasoned wood, you're increasing your wood usage also, because a fair amount of that heat is going to burn off water inside the wood. So, try to get ahead on your wood, or find a seller that sells seasoned wood, and check your chimney often. You'll find out soon enough what practices produce a lot of creosote and I bet you'll figure out a way to stay comfortable, reduce your wood usage, AND keep the creosote from forming.

 

[CD'sCycleShop]

red oak, I follow what you are saying, and you have been more than helpful, thanks! I am always up for something new to try and master. By this time next year I will be giving advise on this forum. LOL. I hope! By the way, what exactly is a cord of wood? 1/2 pickup load? 1 pickup load? 1 1/4, 1 1/2, ect. Dang rednecks and there pickups.lol

 

[pen]

red oak, I follow what you are saying, and you have been more than helpful, thanks! I am always up for something new to try and master. By this time next year I will be giving advise on this forum. LOL. I hope! By the way, what exactly is a cord of wood? 1/2 pickup load? 1 pickup load? 1 1/4, 1 1/2, ect. Dang rednecks and there pickups.lol

A cord is 4ft x 4ft x 8 ft of stacked wood (128 cubic feet no matter what)

With a full sized truck and an 8 foot box, a good load is approximately a 1/2 cord.

pen

 

[gzecc]

red oak, I follow what you are saying, and you have been more than helpful, thanks! I am always up for something new to try and master. By this time next year I will be giving advise on this forum. LOL. I hope! By the way, what exactly is a cord of wood? 1/2 pickup load? 1 pickup load? 1 1/4, 1 1/2, ect. Dang rednecks and there pickups.lol

(broken link removed to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord_(unit))

 

[begreen]

Gzecc, I am asking, why keep the flue temps at 400 - 500 deg? If the flue temp is 400 - 500 deg then the stove top must be in the 600 deg. range. Example: Method #1- Set the auto damper to maintain 300 deg (top of stove), Flue(stack) temp. of 200 deg, thus saving wood( 8 truck loads per season), but having to clean creosote from chimney once or twice a month. VS Method #2- Set the auto damper to maintain 600 deg (stove top), Flue(stack) temp. of 400 deg, thus burning more wood(10.5 truck loads per season), but not having to clean creosote from chimney once a year. There has got to be a point where saving wood (by buning at low temp.) is more efficient than burning more wood to keep the 250+ deg required flue temp. after 6yrs the low temp burning method is a 15 truck loads savings, almost 2yrs worth of wood. That is a lot of sweat, gas, time, oil, time that can be saved

That is a guarantee for creosote production. The reason for keeping the flue hotter is so that it stays above the condensation temperature for creosote which is about 250. If the flue is consistently run below that temp it is a chimney fire in the making. Change your habits and don't run smoldering cool fires. After the chimney is cleaned, burn hotter shorter fires and let the fire go out if the place is warm enough.

 

[maple1]

Gzecc, I am asking, why keep the flue temps at 400 - 500 deg? If the flue temp is 400 - 500 deg then the stove top must be in the 600 deg. range. Example: Method #1- Set the auto damper to maintain 300 deg (top of stove), Flue(stack) temp. of 200 deg, thus saving wood( 8 truck loads per season), but having to clean creosote from chimney once or twice a month. VS Method #2- Set the auto damper to maintain 600 deg (stove top), Flue(stack) temp. of 400 deg, thus burning more wood(10.5 truck loads per season), but not having to clean creosote from chimney once a year. There has got to be a point where saving wood (by buning at low temp.) is more efficient than burning more wood to keep the 250+ deg required flue temp. after 6yrs the low temp burning method is a 15 truck loads savings, almost 2yrs worth of wood. That is a lot of sweat, gas, time, oil, time that can be saved

How are you measuring your pipe temps? Before you go basing anything off of pipe temps, you need to know you're measuring them right.

And, no matter how or what someone burns, they'd better count on cleaning their chimney more than once a year. Don't think that if they can get by with once a year they can avoid spending money on a flue brush - totally wrong approach. Flue brush should be standard equipment - unless a sweep pays a monthly visit.

 

[PapaDave]

Get yourself a cat stove sized properly and you can run much lower temps for extended burns. You'll burn a whole bunch less wood (as long as it's dry), and won't need to babysit the stove while doing it.
Bonus.......bonus.
They (most) require dry wood, so there's that.
Get a moisture meter and check one of those "dead standing" trees on a fresh split. You'll probably be surprised at how wet it is. I don't care if you're running a brandy new spankin' stove or an old one, dry wood is key. I have an older stove and trust me, I've burned both. Unless I'm totally incapacitated, I'll never go back to burning wet wood. Ever tried burning water?
If you don't need all that heat, either the house is very well insulated, or the stove is way oversized...or both.
Has Dennis been in on this one yet?
Change is tough.

 

[PapaDave]

Sorry if this sounds harsh, but I will just say it how it is.

Which is why I like Hog.
Some of us (myself included) need a brick upside the head at times.

 

[Frank625]

CD, I have the same stove but mine is marked 1985 or 86. They are very good stoves because they hold a lot of wood and heat up pretty quick. It also has a very convenient big ash pan. I think your problem is that you are burning unseasoned wood. Cut yourself as much oak as you can and split it then stack it. After about a year it will get greyish and dingy looking. At that point it should burn pretty good and be much easier to maintain a fire with, much less creosote buildup at any setting. I burned for 1.5 seasons before cleaning my chimney and it had very little creosote and soot built up. During that time I was forced to burn some unseasoned wood and cut down as much dead trees (oaks) as I could find. Seasoned poplar makes awesome kindling. I got by, but the wood burning experience is much less problematic with seasoned wood. If that stove and firebrick is in good shape it should serve you well. It is capable of some long burn times. Also on the little air inlet flapper there is a sliding air adjuster. I found mine works best with the little hole opened completely so if the flapper shuts, due to the stove temp increasing, it will get enough air to keep burning and not smoulder as much. For any changes you make, monitor for a while before leaving unattended. Good luck with your Wood Chief.

 

[maple1]

I don't think there's much doubt that there's a wet wood problem with creosote dripping. Then the more moisture in the wood, the more creosote that will condense out at any given stack temp.

 

[begreen]

I think if you can keep the flue gases hot enough and you have a relatively warm flue, that is less of an issue.