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what the hell is this?


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OK,

 

This year I've noticed that after riddling out our miltifuel stove ( fuel used is 95 per cent smokeless like excel) I'm getting shaped flake\chunks of a very pale, almost white substance amongst the ash.

 

It is light in wieght,crumbles easily and has a feel some where between chalk and clay.

 

The larger chunks have an outer curved edge which might match the internal diameter of the flue, but the pieces are not large enough to be sure of this

 

My first thoughts were it might be some sort of fire resisistant lining in the flue coming loose and dropping down into the fire but the pieces are not large enough to be sure of this.

 

The other alternative is that manufactured smokeless fuels add "binders" of various kinds to the nuggets and what I'm looking at are the remains of those after the fuel itself has burnt off.

 

So, a very pale, almost white, light in wieght, chalky, clayish, shaped (can have a rounded edge) Mineral substance found in the grate afte a fire.

 

Does anyone else get this? And is it something to worry about?

 

DaceGood

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I have been running on wood only for the last couple of years but before that I used a mixture of smokeless and coal in the Rayburn and every now and again I had to let it cool down enough to get in with a welding glove and pick out clinker and lumps that were too tough for the riddle.....I must admit I always put it down to slag in the coal but it might have been what you describe (though I don't remember the bits I found being particularly regular in size or shape)

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Greetings John,

 

This stuff is so pale you can call it white, it's not clinker or ash from the burning of carbon. It stands out, holds a shape and feels and crumbles the touch as if it was as a lieghtwieght mineral, posibely fire proofing of some kind. But some of it ends up well back from where I'd expect to find stuff falling from the flue\chimney.

 

There's not much that can go through a fire and come out white in colour.

 

DaveGood

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Dave I have been thinking about this post for a bit......I remember when using coal fires years ago, you used to get lumps of a whiteish mineral laminated and flaky that was slate or mudshale mixed in with the coal but I wouldn't have thought you would get that in smokeless fuel,,,,,my bet would be on some sort of binding agent used when they mould the fuel rounds John

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Ordinary bristle flue brushes only really shift loose soot from the flue pipe. To shift the caked on slag I lash a wire brush to a stick and give it a good hard scrub,up down and all around. I think you'll be surprised at how much slag, some curved that breaks away. Do it cold. You can get steel bristle flue brushes.

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The only thing I will say to the last couple of posts.....I ain't never seen anything come down the flue that is white and flaky.....anything that I have come down the flue when cleaning is black and crunchy, with a distinctly tarry smell (and burns with a smokey red flame if you light it)

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I've got a bunch of short chain bits tied together, collected from old fenders. Just rattle them up and down the flue and a see-saw action shifts a lot crap down from inside the flue.

 

I've done a similar thing to our ancient Alde gas boiler using mooring chains

 

Richard

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I have this problem, have only used Phurnasite smokeless for the last 3 years but get a large build up of "Concrete" in the bottom part of my flue, I assume that it is the cement dust which is used to bind the brickets!

 

Which would tie in with the OP using Excel. ISTR some of these smokeless fuels can be of very variable quality

 

Richard

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I've had pieces of white chalk-like substance in the ash when burning welsh anthracite large beans which is an unprocessed (or minimally processed?) naturally smokeless fuel. but I never had any of this sort of thing from formed ovoid type fuels. I have avoided Excel and Phurnacite I only burn Homefire which I think is a coal based fuel rather than an anthracite based fuel so perhaps thats the different.

 

I thought Excel was a petroleum based fuel but may be confused with another product there are so many of them

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I've had pieces of white chalk-like substance in the ash when burning welsh anthracite large beans which is an unprocessed (or minimally processed?)

Anthracite is a natural fuel. It is the most 'coalified' of the unprocessed 'coals'.

 

IIRC there are no longer any deep Welsh mines so Welsh anthracite must be produced by sunshine miners.

 

ninja.gif

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I bought a couple of bags of anthracite a while back and have been tossing in a few lumps along with my normal smokeless.

 

Sounds like the white clay like substance may well be residue from the anthracite or possibely a concrete dust binder used in the smokeless.

 

Either way it doesn't appear to be a symptom of damage to some sort of internal lining to the stove or chimney.

 

My thanks to all.

 

DaveGood

Edited by DaveGood
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  • 3 weeks later...

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