Well, they build up with creosote from normal burning, which is why they have to be cleaned regularly. If you burn with temps too low, or early in the season when it doesn't burn 24/7 so has lots of temp fluctuations, more creosote builds up. I've never had a chimney fire start during the day; just in the morning when you open it back up to heat. The temp change, especially on cold days like today, seems to make it ignite more easily. So the more creosote in the chimney, the hotter and longer it will burn. My mom used to stuff newspaper up there and light it to burn it off. 
Maybe I should do that every so often to keep it from getting too thick!
A little burning isn't bad, but it scares the crap out of me when it glows red because then I worry it's hot enough to ignite the wall behind it. I think the reason it wouldn't shut down is that it was too well lit when I caught it, having been cozied up in bed. Usually I hear it and shut it down right away so it fades out quickly.
I had some stove guys out last year and they think the pipe might not have been installed properly up in the ceiling so it doesn't draw right. The problem is that this stove is homemade (why I like it, my both now-dead Grandpas built it together, so it's sentimental) and would cost about $2k in parts and labor to be fitted with double wall pipe. I have a newer stove sitting that I was going to install because the pipe feeds out the top instead of back so it can be installed properly but I hate to give up my old stove.
Also, the newer stoves have air space above the burning box, which means you can't really cook on them because the top never gets hot. The flip side to this is that they burn more efficiently and don't build up creosote as much.
Makes me want to just fill up the oil tank and heat that way. No chimney fires then!
Maybe I should do that every so often to keep it from getting too thick!A little burning isn't bad, but it scares the crap out of me when it glows red because then I worry it's hot enough to ignite the wall behind it. I think the reason it wouldn't shut down is that it was too well lit when I caught it, having been cozied up in bed.
Usually I hear it and shut it down right away so it fades out quickly.I had some stove guys out last year and they think the pipe might not have been installed properly up in the ceiling so it doesn't draw right. The problem is that this stove is homemade (why I like it, my both now-dead Grandpas built it together, so it's sentimental) and would cost about $2k in parts and labor to be fitted with double wall pipe. I have a newer stove sitting that I was going to install because the pipe feeds out the top instead of back so it can be installed properly but I hate to give up my old stove.
Also, the newer stoves have air space above the burning box, which means you can't really cook on them because the top never gets hot. The flip side to this is that they burn more efficiently and don't build up creosote as much.
Makes me want to just fill up the oil tank and heat that way. No chimney fires then!
