chimney problems

[powerstroke2000]

Anybody have ideas how to keep a chimney from plugging up. I just cleaned it last week and I come and the house smells like creosote. It was plugged again.I am burning seasoned wood and it is burnin around 300 but there is a lot of moisture in the pipe

 

[theonlybull]

what kind of chimeny? stainless? brick? clay lined? they all act a little different

do you have an automatic wood furnice? they tend to cause alot of creasote.

if it's an air tight, try and let it burn down at some point, like over night, then build a really good big hot fire and let eveything get nice and warm, b4 closing the draft down.

 

[powerstroke2000]

It is a new cement block clay lined chimney.
I have an airtight furnace and I run the damper in the chimney pipe wide open I adjust the temp. with the draft on the ashdoor

 

[8561]

One week seems way too fast to plug it up again. I find I get creosote if I don't burn the stove hot enough. I don't consider 300 hot at all. If your stove is airtight, it sounds like you might be choking off the combustion air too much. Also, does your stove have a catalyst to burn smoke? I would check that as well.

 

[hillslider]

I do not know if this will help but I will share. The house I used to live in always had chimney problems. It was a two story house with a wood stove in the basement and one on the first level. We ran the fires hot and used good seasoned wood. We found out for some reason the draft from the roof was causing problems. We raised the chimney and it solved our problem. We would always have to clean the chimneys every two weeks....after we raised the chimney we had to clean it twice during the heating season. There is nothing worse than having one plug. If you continue with a lot of creasote problems you could also end up with some real bad chimney fires. I suggest getting some chimney flares if you do not have already. Just in case of a fire you light the flare and stick it into the cleanout and the flare eliminates the oxygen thus putting out the fire. They work great. I know this because we have lit off some real good fires before we got the chimney fixed. Hope this helps.

 

[beenthere]

Could you describe how you season the 'seasoned' wood? Or how you 'know' that it is seasoned?

Some think wood is seasoned if they cut it within 6 mo to 1 year before burning it, and that is not likely long enough for fresh-cut wood. More like at least two years split and drying under cover, to get it seasoned so it will burn hot enough and not just be burning to convert the water in the wood to steam, which leads to creosote in the chimney. IMO.

I have been down that road (25 years ago) and, like you, couldn't believe I could plug up a chimney in so little time. Since, I burn 6 cords of wood every winter and don't have creosote problems. Clean the chimney once (sometimes twice) a year.

To determine the moisture content of your wood, cut a sample from the center (away from sides and ends) about 2" cube, weigh it accurately, and then dry it in an oven at 200 degree for 20-24 hours. Weigh it again and divide the difference in weight (wet - dry) by the dry weight, and multiply that answer by 100. That will give you the percent moisture content, and it should be around 12-15 % for good air dry firewood. If last years wood, it will probably be up around 30-40%.

 

[SteveV]

By draft door, can we assume this is a draft breaker, pivoty thing to deep from pulling all the hot air out of a furnace that doesn't have a draft control? If so, why do you need to control the air flow twice? Which side of it did you measure the temp on? I hope that wasn't a stove temp!! The third air control is probably the house, open a window and see if things change.
If this is a used stove, check the airflow path with your hand, remove all the accumulations. Sometimes things get shaken up when moving furnaces or stove around. Is the chimney clean out door mortared in tight? Get that stack temp up. Draft is measured in inches of water displaced and can be measure with a simple clear plastic tube with a bit of water in the bottom of a 'U'; one end in a hole in the stack pipe and the other open to the atmosphere. A half inch with a hot stack would be normal. Also mortar in the stack to stove pipe into the chimney. Good luck! 24 and 7, 10+ years SteveV /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[5030]

I used to heat my home with wood. Now we have a pellet stove so no chimney problems.

On the chimney, 300 degrees is way too cold. No wonder you have a creosote problem. You need an internal temperature of about 500 degrees to burn off the moisture. 300 degrees is like a greenhouse in your chimney. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[powerstroke2000]

According to the temp. guage the burn zone is 250 to 450 degrees so i thought 300 would be alright.
The wood is seasoned I know that because I cut it myself I know some people that by their wood often time get un seasoned wood. I also think covering the wood with a tarp is not the right answer either because the tarp builds moisture and won't let it out.

Thanks for all the help

 

[kensfarm]

I've read about problems w/ running a woodstove pipe into a chimmey... unless the pipe extends the entire length.. once the smoke leaves the stove's pipe and enters the chimney.. the chimney cools the smoke down and causes draft problems & creo buildup. They make draft control fans that mount on top of the chimney.. but they are pricey.

Have you tried one of those "chimney cleaning" logs? I'd start w/ the suggestions about burning the stove hotter.

I have 3 fireplaces.. the farm house is an old log cabin that was built in 1790.. in the living room one I use for the wood pellot stove.. the other has a wood stove. The kitchen fireplace is open. I've been battling w/ the wood stove bringing too much smoke smell in the house.. if I had the $ I would buy a new one and move the old one to the shop.