chimney fire

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tommytwofingerss said:
What about the name calling , 6- 8 inches code for wood and veneer is 1 1/4 inches thick . The wall is prepared with plastic, then tar paper,screen mesh is screwed on with parging of mortar,then stones are applied with more mortar and its all tucked with more mortar. done it for years.


the door has a vent or flue , not the pipe


boot this guy off the wood stack. please

One of the good things about this board Tommy is that people are considerate of each other. Dropping in and on the first day starting to throw darts at people does not fit in with that. If you want to banter with people there is a very large Internet out there and lots of places to do that.

Get with the flow or take it somewhere else.
 
tommytwofingerss said:
What about the name calling , 6- 8 inches code for wood and veneer is 1 1/4 inches thick . The wall is prepared with plastic, then tar paper,screen mesh is screwed on with parging of mortar,then stones are applied with more mortar and its all tucked with more mortar. done it for years.

So, TTF, what would you say the r value is on the type of wall construction you just outlined?

Shari
 
Considerate like calling other people "internet trolls", where did i call names, missed that ? My typings bad because of a IED in the war, if I dont meet your requirments than you drop me please and thanks for your time. brotherbart
 
All up to you Tommy. All up to you. You are more than welcome but take some time to get the feel of the neighborhood. Good contributions are always appreciated here. Charging in like a bull in a China shop, well...
 
Shari

The r value would depend on the insulation in the stud plus the wall thickness, I was talking more about the fire resistance on a well build stone wall
 
tommytwofingerss said:
Shari

The r value would depend on the insulation in the stud plus the wall thickness, I was talking more about the fire resistance on a well build stone wall

So was I. I was speaking of the r value for clearance to combustibles not interior wall insulation r value. The construction style you mentioned:

tommytwofingerss said:
The wall is prepared with plastic, then tar paper,screen mesh is screwed on with parging of mortar,then stones are applied with more mortar and its all tucked with more mortar.

would not seem to comply with an approved CTC wall.

However, it would seem our conversation is deviating from the OP's original question/situation.

To the OP: Please follow the advice of the gurus here - get your stove installation / chimney / etc. checked out by a pro.

Shari
 
ok guys... I'm glad to get all the input. The stone behind the stove IS real stone not veneer. and I looked back at the picture and I think there's a bit of an optical illusion. it's not nearly as close to the wall as it looks. what's code do you know? I can check it out too. well until we can get the pro back into town we might just run a bush in it ourselves and we can probably take the flue apart and brush it out good to. then as soon as we can get a hold of a pro he can do a double check. it is probably closer to 8 inches from the wall. i'm not sure if the pipe is double walled or not and we just moved in nov. 1st so someone else probably washed it or blackened it with something. I don't know what however :)
 
If this is a full, solid stone wall, no worries. What temps have you been running the stove at?
 
BeGreen nails it:

“The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt.”
- Bertrand Russell -
 
nervous wood burner said:
think there's a bit of an optical illusion. it's not nearly as close to the wall as it looks. what's code do you know?

From a phone conversation I had with a PE tech the other day:

Combustible surfaces must not exceed 120ºF, plus the ambient temp (usually considered to be room temp - 70ºF). The clearance distance must be such that the stove will not cause such a combustible surface to get that hot even in an overfire situation. Each stove must be separately tested in an 8x8' insulated room, painted flat black on walls and ceilings (to guarantee an emissivity of 0.95), with a grid of thermocouples on all the surfaces to record temps, which are then fed into a computer.

An induced draft is used to create a controlled overfire in the stove, and combustible surfaces temps must not exceed the specified level at this firing rate. From this the minimum clearances are determined at a cost of about $50,000 per stove model.

Or you can just follow the manufactures clearance specs and let them eat the tab.
 
I usually burn the stove in the yellow zone on my stove thermometer so between 250 and about 650 however I start a fire before going to work too keep the stove warm and I know that it burns until it cools down then goes out and it sounds like that's a "no no" from what I've heard on here. but I'm not sure what the good alternative would be
 
nervous wood burner said:
My husband and I just bought a house with a wood stove. niether one of us has ever had one before. A couple of times when we've had fires going there's been a very quiet crackling in the stovepipe. It worried us at first but I talked to the previous owner who said she had cleaned the chimney 3 times last season. Since most sites I've seen said clean at least once a year and ours was done 3 times we thought we were in the clear. UNTIL, I read on the FAQ here that chimney fires can sometimes sound like cornflakes being poured down the chimney! Oh Dear! that means we've had a couple. Does this mean that there will have to be any repairs made? the fires never escalated to flames out the chimney or the roaring sound that is often described. I'm home alone and it happened to me again so I just shut down the thermostat and am not touching it until someone cleans it out. I just hope no serious damage has been done!

The "snap crackle pop" I consider a good sign, the creosote has dried out and is flaking off and falling down the stack.. Active gooey creosote is the dangerous stuff. The tarry substance is what burns.

You will know when you have an active creosote chimney fire. Scared the hell out of me, sounds like a jet engine and will spew ash out the top of the stack..

Everyone should experiment with their chimney sweepings after every sweep. Take them out side and try to light them off with a propane torch. Dry cinders will not light. If you have real creosote that should ignight…
 
nervous wood burner said:
I usually burn the stove in the yellow zone on my stove thermometer so between 250 and about 650 however I start a fire before going to work too keep the stove warm and I know that it burns until it cools down then goes out and it sounds like that's a "no no" from what I've heard on here. but I'm not sure what the good alternative would be

It doesn't sound like you are far off the mark then. Try to keep it a little warmer, say between 350 and 700. Some of the wood has probably been poorly seasoned. I think you are taking the right tack being cautious and at least finding out how the chimney looks. But from what you have described, it doesn't sound dangerous. I used to get that sound with the Jotul when some of the wood wasn't perfect, but I just burned it out with a morning hot fire. If the sweep doesn't find serious accumulation or glazed creosote, you might just want to open up the air on the stove a bit and try to burn at least one hot fire a day.
 
Hi nervous! Lots of good advice from the old-timers here, but I reread your original post and noticed that you are depending on the word of the seller to determine the cleanliness of the chimney. When we bought our house the seller told us that the chimney "was just cleaned -- you're good to go!". Well, I bought a chimney brush, and wanted to try it out even if the chimney was clean. It was not remotely clean -- bet I got a gallon of creosote out (or what I think is creosote; I'm going to try john_alaska's torch trick as soon as I get a chance).

And: +1 on DanCorcoran's observation of the pleasantness of the folks on this forum. I think you'll like it here!
 
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