Something oozing out if thimble

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
One 90 and then goes into a thimble creating 2 90's?
Nope staight up out of the stove then 90 going into the thimble. Unless u count the 90 I have coming straight out of stove that I have twisted around so it's as straight as a 90 can get to offset the pipe to go straight up
 
I was counting the thimble as a 90, I can tell you my story with my stove
I had a masonary chimney chimney (inside) with a 90 and a thimble (two 90's) and was 18 feet tall 7 and1/4 inch round so I had a lot more going for me than you, had that chimney for 30 years and it NEVER back puffed smoke into the house and worked great with my non EPA stove. My summit started slow but not too bad when I found out you could cheat by having the door open but it struggled to get up to 500 to 600 stove top and the flue temp went up like a sky rocket, this was with good dry wood and also some construction lumber. Heated the whole winter with it that way in NW Iowa (a little over 2000 sq feet), but the chimney needed changed out so I was lucky for that, now I have a straight up 18 foot 6 inch metal chimney and the change was not as dramtic as I thought it would be I can close the door much quicker and the stack temp is lower and I can get the stove top temp as high as I want. The stove runs very easily now with no issues what so ever.
 
I just measured the inside of my flue and took the cap off to see what this does. The flue measures 6 3/4" inside diameter 8" outside. So is this really too big ?
 
Thank you for all the advice guys after trying different kinds of wood and talking to a sweep, it looks like my problem is length not girth. My chimney is coming up a little short for the way my house sits, pitch of roof, ect.
 
It doesn't stick up past the roof far enough? Hope that fixes it for you.
 
Thank you for all the advice guys after trying different kinds of wood and talking to a sweep, it looks like my problem is length not girth. My chimney is coming up a little short for the way my house sits, pitch of roof, ect.
That could certainly explain poor draft. Let us know how it all comes out.
 
It's a foot shy from being the 10 and 2 length, and is nowhere near as tall as the peak of the roof. It's on the west side I the house not the east which is where I get almost constant wind from. Apparently with the two combined I think he said I'm trapped in the " wind eddy" or something like that.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    120.7 KB · Views: 155
That's a nice looking chimney but these guys are supposed to know what they are doing and they built it too short-not good.
 
+1. I like the looks of the chimney and house. Glad you are getting it figured out, but bummer that the chimeny is too short.
 
Hope it works out that is a nice chimney.
 
I think 22' is good on height, not having a 6" full liner seems to be the problem to me. Here's a pic of my chimney, it draft's like a beast. Notice it's not the 10/2 rule either


.Fall 2008 023.jpg
 
Thanks but im learning looks arent everything lol. yes old spark that what the sweep was saying its the way the wind almost always comes over the peak of my house, but to my surprise I got a fire going last night after taking cap off and after a few hours got temps up to 650. Then turn around this morning and started it off coals and got temp to 700 in 20 minutes but the wind was blowing the opposite direction as normal. So now I know what it is capable of at least with a good draft. How hot should I let this stove get?
 
Thanks but im learning looks arent everything lol. yes old spark that what the sweep was saying its the way the wind almost always comes over the peak of my house, but to my surprise I got a fire going last night after taking cap off and after a few hours got temps up to 650. Then turn around this morning and started it off coals and got temp to 700 in 20 minutes but the wind was blowing the opposite direction as normal. So now I know what it is capable of at least with a good draft. How hot should I let this stove get?
I'm not sure I'd burn in that stove anymore until the draft problem is fixed. Only because it's so unpredictable because of the winds. You may get a wind shift that will cause it to run away with you sometime. 700 is really pushing it as it is. Just my 2c.
 
What is a good temp for this stove? Also I notice when I turn the fan on the temp gauge goes down a lot, but is that a safe way to measure the temperature or is that giving me a false reading?
 
It's a foot shy from being the 10 and 2 length, and is nowhere near as tall as the peak of the roof. It's on the west side I the house not the east which is where I get almost constant wind from. Apparently with the two combined I think he said I'm trapped in the " wind eddy" or something like that.
Ya know them sideways pics give Dennis a wicked crick in his neck lookin at them...Hope your problem is solved and you have very many happy years burning. ;)
 
What is a good temp for this stove? Also I notice when I turn the fan on the temp gauge goes down a lot, but is that a safe way to measure the temperature or is that giving me a false reading?

Put a thermometer on the side of the stove when you have the blower on.
 
does chimney just have to be 3ft taller that the roof at 6 or 10 ft from it, or taller than tallest point?
 
Thanks but im learning looks aren't everything lol. yes old spark that what the sweep was saying its the way the wind almost always comes over the peak of my house, but to my surprise I got a fire going last night after taking cap off and after a few hours got temps up to 650. Then turn around this morning and started it off coals and got temp to 700 in 20 minutes but the wind was blowing the opposite direction as normal. So now I know what it is capable of at least with a good draft. How hot should I let this stove get?

Yeah.. that cap could be most of your problem. I'd be very hesitant to start blaming chimney height and/or inside diameter too much for your significant problem of getting to temp. Fixing either of those might improve things somewhat, but you've got a pretty solid installation (my lack of perfectionism may be showing) there already and a lot of nice brick work. Rebuidling that chimney is something I'd avoid until I was 100% sure of it being the only fix.

I think you're suffering from:

  1. A restrictive cap. - Keep it off!
  2. Not fully seasoned wood - hard to fix but you can burn hotter and minimize the creosote ooze
  3. It's not cold enough there yet - That will fix itself shortly as you move out of shoulder season into real winter
  4. You're still learning. - Let the fire get hotter before you close it down and then don't close it down as much.
Keep us posted on your progress, changes, and learnings.
Enjoy the nice wood heat.
Squirt some bleach from a spray container on that brickwork and then it might come off with a stiff bristle brush.
 
Yeah.. that cap could be most of your problem. I'd be very hesitant to start blaming chimney height and/or inside diameter too much for your significant problem of getting to temp. Fixing either of those might improve things somewhat, but you've got a pretty solid installation (my lack of perfectionism may be showing) there already and a lot of nice brick work. Rebuidling that chimney is something I'd avoid until I was 100% sure of it being the only fix.

I think you're suffering from:

  1. A restrictive cap. - Keep it off!
  2. Not fully seasoned wood - hard to fix but you can burn hotter and minimize the creosote ooze
  3. It's not cold enough there yet - That will fix itself shortly as you move out of shoulder season into real winter
  4. You're still learning. - Let the fire get hotter before you close it down and then don't close it down as much.
Keep us posted on your progress, changes, and learnings.
Enjoy the nice wood heat.
Squirt some bleach from a spray container on that brickwork and then it might come off with a stiff bristle brush.
You hit the nail on the head! I'm just doing some experimenting first to make sure. I am waiting for some cold nights and have a extra 2' chimney flue that I'm sticking on top for a couple days to see what happens. If I do have to go taller for the permanent fix then I can just add on a bit to the existing. I will try the bleach and cross my fingers. Thanks
 
I see those kind of caps all over the place around here, there usually on old houses and there all rusty looking.

My aunt has a cap that is on her open fireplace cap liner and it looks like a chefs hat kind of. They have bad downdrafts problems in the open fireplace and have been told its the trees close to the house. THe cap has a metal cage around the outside to keep birds out and is round in shape, it has sections cut out of it. Think a perfect round a sphere with say 20% sections cut out every other section, then interior too the outer section there is interior pieces of metal behind the open slots to help stop the breeze from going down the chimney. I have done a terrible job of explaining it I will have to post a link.

looks similar to this, may even be this same one, but I remember seeing a wire screen on it I think? Ohwell this is basically what they have, see told you my description was terrible.
http://www.woodlanddirect.com/Chimn...77_a_7c8254_a_7c1161016_a2s__a3a__a2s_1161017
 
If memory serves me correctly a couple of years ago a guy on this forum fixed his problem with that type of cap.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.