Wood Stove Pipe Question!

[PToombs]

Guys, have a question for you. Which way do you run the joints on stove pipe? I ran them this way, -->>--->>---> and have creosote oozing out of the joints. Should they be the other way? <<---<<----<

I thought the way I did was correct, so the smoke wouldn't come out the joints. My buddy ran his the other way, because he had an ooze problem last year. He said the ooze runs back in the stove his way, which makes sense too.

It's been a long time since I had a stove, help!

pete

 

[GHarman]

Guys, have a question for you. Which way do you run the joints on stove pipe? I ran them this way, -->>--->>---> and have creosote oozing out of the joints. Should they be the other way? <<---<<----<

I thought the way I did was correct, so the smoke wouldn't come out the joints. My buddy ran his the other way, because he had an ooze problem last year. He said the ooze runs back in the stove his way, which makes sense too.

It's been a long time since I had a stove, help!

pete

Yer buddy is correct, Pete! The draft will keep the smoke from leaking out of the pipe joints as long as they are a fairly snug fit. Any creosote will drain back while hot, but if you can brush it when it cools it wouldn't matter. I hope you are using Class "A" high temp Stainless Steel pipe in your attic or your chase. A wood stove gets alot hotter than a fireplace and If I remember right, hard wood (Red & White Oak) has about 50% higher BTU output than our pine, so it has the potential to really get hot. Have you ever heard of an "Alaskan Chimney Sweep"? No, thats not an Eskimo that cleans chimneys:-laf. My friend (he lives in Alaska) built one for his Mom, here in Colorado. It works great! I thought about making them, but I cant climb ladders and do the grunt work any more. GregH

 

[PToombs]

Greg, thanks. Now I gotta swap pipes around. I wondered about that.

I'm not worried about burning anything. I have 2 bends and about 4 ft of pipe, and then it goes into a clay thimble (2') to the chimney. Concrete floor and block walls. I burned wood when I 1st moved in, 9 years ago, for a couple years. My father left the stove. I swapped to pellets until last week.

Alaskan sweep? Nope, new one for me! I have regular brushes for it.



That creosote stinks, it got warm here yesterday and I let the stove go out. The room still stinks!

 

[GHarman]

Pete, An Alaskan Chimney sweep needs a straight run to work correctly. I will discuss the construction in a new thread in the Shop Forum. They are custom made for each application. However, your chimney is a clay tile chimney? I dont know what the base access is like but you may be able to fabricate an Alaskan Sweep for that one also. Depends on the access at the ash door and wether or not there is a smoke shelf or it is a straight run. If you run your stove hot for a spell on occasion you may be able to prevent a huge creosote buildup. Its all dependent on your setup and stove. There are chemicals that you can burn that will also get rid of the creosote. I think burning hot and brushing is best.

I really like wood fired heat! My Wife wont have it, afraid of the fire danger. I grew up with it and heated my old house as well as my shop! Its wonderful. If we could use it here at the house, it would save us a bundle on Natural Gas heat. I know you have Fuel Oil in the North East. Thats really expensive! GregH

 

[PToombs]

Greg, regular block chimney with a flue liner. At the bottom is a clean out in the garage. Just above that is the flue to the basement, where the stove is.

I was surprised by the creosote. I ran the stove hotter and it dried it all up. I swapped the pipes around today. It was about 60 here, and tomorrow is supposed to be warm too, so I won't start it for a day or 2 yet. The wood I got is mostly stuff that's been down for a year or so. There may be some green in there too.

I swapped to the pellet stove for the ease of fuel handling and clean up. I didn't have money for pellets, and the stove needs a new control box, $300. I decided to spend $40 on pipe and go back to wood. My cousin had a bunch of stuff that was cut. I just needed to block it and split it. Then my buddy donated about 2-3 cords of ash, most of which was down too.

It sure heats better than that pellet stove! I have gas here as a primary heat source.

 

[GHarman]

Pete, Is the flue liner a double wall or a tripple wall? GregH

 

[PToombs]

Clay tile flue. Concrete blocks are square, I think 10" inside diameter, and the clay sits inside of it. Tiles are about 2' long.



http://www.alliedconcrete.com/pdf/Blockbooklet.pdf

Look under miscellaneous, page 7, chimney regular.

 

[GHarman]

Pete, Doesn't sound like your flue would be easy to modify. That would be a nightmare! GregH

 

[PToombs]

Ummmmm, yeah, you could say that! :-laf It's all block and tile, 'cept for the top, which is tin.