chimney cap

[hounddog]

can someone please answer this stupid question of mine,,, besides keep birds, rain ,snow , out of chimney what will this cap do , is it gonna change my draft? , i see so many chimneys arond with no cap on. im just wondering what is the main thing it does? thanks .

 

[nshif]

Here in the forest they are required as spark arrestors.

 

[Highbeam]

There is a difference between a chimney cap and a spark arrestor. Not all caps arrest sparks. The ones that do arrest sparks have some sort of screen which can rapidly plug up and reduce your draft to zero.

 

[nshif]

There is a difference between a chimney cap and a spark arrestor. Not all caps arrest sparks. The ones that do arrest sparks have some sort of screen which can rapidly plug up and reduce your draft to zero.

Around here Ive never seen caps without screens and if you remove the screen or the cap CDF ( Ca dept of foresty ) will be all over you.

 

[Metal]

They do help draft in windy conditions. Craig has posted a study that supports this a few time here. Other than that they are there to keep things out (water mainly but also animals, debris, etc.) and keep embers in (along with the 10-3-2 rule).

 

[Highbeam]

Have you folks ever been to windy areas like on the ocean where wolks have those swiveling wind fin type of caps? They keep water out and act to prevent wind from entering. No screen though. That vac-stak on chimneysweep's site is not screened.

 

[Hogwildz]

Burn good, dry wood nice & hot, and a clogged screen will become a thing of the past.
Clogged screen= burning wet wood.

 

[hearthtools]

California Requires us to have 5/8 screen on all caps
so this is what we get to deal with and phone calls.
"hello I you put in a wood stove a few months ago and now smoke is coming out of the Pipe in the house"

Sir did you check the screen in the cap?
http://www.hearthtools.com/parts/chimneycapplugged.jpg

 

[jtp10181]

Rod I have had customers do that in a few weeks time! I'm sure you have seen it as well. One guy was only using his 7100 for a week (his cap was not plugged but the inside of the unit was glazed over) and I think when I loaded it up with my wood we had a mini chimney fire. For about 15-30 mins there was dark gray and black smoke coming out. Then all of a sudden clear as day like it should be. Had to burn all that crap off the inside of his fireplace.

But yes, we get people with clogged screens all the time also. They never believe me until the climb on the roof with a screwdriver as I suggest.

 

[crazy_dan]

that is why I don't have a screen on my cap just a plain cap for keeping rain out is all that is required here.

 

[Metal]

You blame the cap for that? I say the cap just magnified the problems already present. I hope you educated the burners instead of just putting a new cap on.

 

[DriftWood]

22’ CPD Divemaster….RIP

Another reason to install and not remove those chimney caps or spark screens.

“I think ashes from our wood stove fell on top of the fir duff on the flat garage roof after a very dry sept ...

Served San Diego Navy Seals til GSA Auction Feb 06.
Restoration target: Provide rescue towing, crew boat and recreation on the lower Columbia River”

http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/013311.html

It was not my boat. It was a members boat on http://www.Continuouswave.com a Boston Whaler Information site.