Expert: James Ball - 1/29/2009

Question
QUESTION: I have a wood burner in the living room. The back of it has a 6” tee with a cap on bottom for removal when cleaning chimney, the other side goes up to the ceiling then onto triple wall stainless chimney. When it leaves the roof it extends another 10’ above this roof and it’s high enough to be above the roof on the front of the house.
My problem is when I have the dampers turned down and the outside temp. drops in the 20’s I start to smell a nasty smoke smell. Then I end up taking the cap off the tee behind the wood burner and it has colleted a bunch of black smelly liquid.
I’m wondering if I should insulate that exposed part of the chimney outside. Do they make a insulation for this I could slip on this pipe? Otherwise I could build a box around it next summer.
Any suggestions?
I don’t always get the liquid stuff, only when the climate is right.
Thanks for any help.


ANSWER: Hello Randy, it sounds like you are not burning your stove hot enough. and what you are getting is 3rd stage creosote (when dry it is like a glaze) this is very flammable and should be removed and then try burning your stove hotter. If the air in the house is hotter than the air in the chimney it will pull the smoke and odor back down into the house.
also Is the stove connected properly? when was it cleaned last?
You could have a local Certified Chimney Sweep (www.csia.org, there you can look up by zip code to find one near you) take a first hand look at what you have they should be able to help.
James


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks for your reply.
i clean the chimney regularly once a month by running a round chimney brush down though it, when doing this i remove the cap behind the wood burner and put a bucket there to catch all the debris.
i realize i could run the stove hotter to prevent what is happening but then it is too hot in the room.
Is there another way to stop what is happening?
is something wrong with the way my chimney was installed? i described it in the original post.
it is the way it was when i moved in.
thanks for any further help.


ANSWER: Welcome back Randy, Creosote is a by product of in complete combustion. you need to run the stove hotter, and if the room is to hot use a fan to move that hot air into the rest of the house (I do on my stove and it works great...just a regular floor oscillating fan)
when used correctly a wood stove can be a great thing, not used correctly and you are setting your self up for a fire.
did a certified sweep look at or install this unit?
good luck, keep me posted
James

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: "did a certified sweep look at or install this unit?"
i have no idea it was installed when i moved in in 1994.
Are you telling me you got the same result as me if you don't run yours hotter?
i do run it hotter once in a while but if i don't keep an eye on it and the wood is very dry, i've had the thing take off on me, even with the damper slightly open it will burn to the point of the pipe starting to turn orange. therefore i'm always running it basically with the damper closed all the way.
Any further thoughts appreciated.


Answer
Welcome back Randy,  "did a certified sweep look at or install this unit?"
i have no idea it was installed when i moved in in 1994. did you have a certified sweep take a look at it?a wood stove is not a set it up and forget it system it takes constant attention and an orange pipe is not a good thing.
let a certified sweep take a look and he might be able to offer some suggestion that I can not because I did not see this installation.
James