New Fuel 'Olive Briquettes' anybody tried them?

Also much cleaner. I can pick up the pieces (which look like taybrite etc) by hand and not get dirty hands. Well a bit dirty but not like coal/anthracite or pet coke briquettes.

Apparently its possible to get Coffee briquettes as well. Seems like a good use of a product which would otherwise be binned. Maybe tea as well who knows.

All fascinating.

Been burning this on and off for a few days and one thing I noticed is that they appear to have a "flue cleaning" effect. I mean they seem to do something to the sooty clag that sticks to the inside of the flue. Night before last there was a rattling noise in the flue. Checked the fire and the soot had all fallen down the flue. The fire doesn't normally smoke when I remove the loading lid but it did this time. A lot.

Bit dangerous on an enclosed stove. Definitely need a carbon monoxide detector or two for that...

I cleaned it out and it was fine - fortunately its easy to clean on that fire.

Turns out you can get "flue cleaner" things which dry out the flue causing the creosote soot stuff to dry out and drop.

I think these Olive briquettes do this but this is definitely dangerous on a multi fuel stove on a boat. To be fair the packaging has a CO warning on it so the manufacturer may well be aware.

Re flue cleaner, I use Hotspot flue cleaner at home, it crystallises the tar and soot from burning wood, then we get rumbling and rattling in the chimney as it falls and lands on the blanking plate. Good stuff. I never get fluffy soot as you get burning proper coal.

I read somewhere, maybe a backwoods man forum, that a couple of Ali beer cans have a similar effect. Empty obvs.

I don't like flue dampers, if the air controls seal well enough it may (should?) be possible to do without them.

An insulated flue should be better for preventing soot buildup, if the existing is single and soot is building up in one spot then some 'exhaust wrap' may help a little:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/15m-Black-Exhaust-Heat-Wrap-Manifold-Downpipe-High-Temp-Bandage-Tape-Roll-15Ties-/182371723769

That should do 1.5m of 5" flue I reckon, not the best colour but won't end up looking grubby. Gonna be fiddly so maybe do a tryout with a load of cheap ally foil.

If you're into yer gadgets than an IR thermometer is handy to have

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dt-300-New-Mini-Digital-Non-Contact-Ir-Infrared-Lcd-Thermometer-Black-BS-/192025319545

I've got 2 ir thermometers

To be honest I have run this particular stove 24/7 for 4 winters now and never had particular soot problem but as soon as I put the olive stuff on it loosened some deposits. To be fair I had burnt a little bit of housecoal recently which I never did before on this fire. Its probably that which caused the soot.
I agree about the flue damper it is a bit dodgy as it is a potential blockage but the fire is an old type with properly made cast iron on iron door seals (which I prefer to the rope seals) and is not possible to close it right down.

Its the best fire i've lived with so far on boats - there have been a few (arctic,villager heron,Rayburn MF,villager Chelsea,villager puffin, Davey hotpot and a french Chappee stove) so its not a problem and yes it has a single wall flue (welded steel tube)