creosote clogging spark arrestor

[wisam]

had my 12 man out on a 4 day ski trip on the gunflint side of the BWCA last weekend. As it's gotten colder I've had an issue with creosote buildup. The last couple of times I've been out the only option for wood has been pine. In warmer temps I've been able to keep the stove hot enough that it hasn't been an issue, but last weekend it was -30 F. My guess is that the creosote is condensing when it hits the cold pipe where it exits the tent. It then runs down the inside of the pipe where it clogs the spark arrestor. In many cases it is thick enough that it will even ooze outside of the pipe where the damper meets the pipe. We were able to remove, clean and replace the spark arrestor which will return it to normal operation for a period of time but it was tending to clog pretty regularly.


At one point we removed the spark arrestor and had no further issues (we were camped on a lake 30 feet from shore and there was 2 feet of snow so fire danger was minimal). I would not like to make it a habit of removing the arrestor though and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for dealing with this?

I've done probably 10 nights in the tent so far and it hasn't been an issue until now, so I'm guessing that the cold weather in combination with burning pine is the culprit.

I was thinking of making an arrestor that sits on the top of the pipe with larger openings similar to what 4 dog offers

http://fourdog.com/titanium-turbo-spark-arrestor/

I also was thinking of modifying the damper system so that I can easily remove and swap spark arrestors when one clogs.


Any suggestions?

[kevin_t]

We do have a slide in spark arrestor, that I will be available in the cart today. It is not as easy to use and weighs a bit more but will solve the issue. It is in our stove accessories page.

[OldJake]

I had the same problem when on a winter hunting trip in my old 12 man. The temps dipped to -24 at night and all we had to burn was cedar and pinyon pine. We ended up removing the spark arrestor and we were fine for the rest of the trip (8 day trip). I did get a small burn hole, so that was unfortunate. We had no other option tho, the creosote would build up in the night and smoke us out and required cleaning if we didn't remove the arrestor. This was using a 4 dog stove but with a regular wire arrestor. I have since bought the 4 dog titanium arrestor but I haven't ran into those cold temps again yet so I can't comment on whether it will fix the problem.

[wisam]

I'm still pretty new to wood stoves but I'm pretty sure that this issue is more likely to happen when it's really cold. I was thinking about insulating the portion of the pipe that is inside. Anyone tried this?

I'm thinking about just putting an aluminum shroud around the portion of the pipe that is outside the tent with maybe 1/2 inch of air space around it.

[kevin_t]

In my opinion ,we have a better solution than slide in or using without an arrestor. I'll take a photo and give.a run down later today or tomorrow


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[Montanan]

Ran across this thread today, interested in what you came up with

[kevin_t]

See this thread

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=375

Essentially it operates like a butterfly damper, allowing the spark screen to be turned over and essentially dumped.

[Montanan]

Whoops! looks like I should have kept digging. Thanks for the link though!