Chimney caps

[mayhem]

I have a nice, straight shot from the stove, going vertical about 28-30 feet tot he cap, most of the run is inside. Every year when i clean the chimney I cannot help but notice that all of by creosote is in the cap...I get about a coffee can's worth give or take and maybe that much more down in the stove collar. By the end of the winter, enough of my cap's vents are obstructed by creosote that I have to bang it off to keep the exhaust flowing. My roof is not safe to go on in the winter (really high off the ground, sloping ground where the ladder is too).

My question is, should I jsut remove the cap for the winter or consider buying a much less restrictive cap and swap them winter and summer? House is in a windy area if thats relevant. I wouldn't think that snow or birds would be an issue without a cap, would it?

 

[vvvv]

i had a tee atop mine to keep rain out & 4fun. dont think i;d do a chimni directly over stove without a cap, of sorts= cheap cone thing

 

[SPED]

I have a nice, straight shot from the stove, going vertical about 28-30 feet tot he cap, most of the run is inside. Every year when i clean the chimney I cannot help but notice that all of by creosote is in the cap...I get about a coffee can's worth give or take and maybe that much more down in the stove collar. By the end of the winter, enough of my cap's vents are obstructed by creosote that I have to bang it off to keep the exhaust flowing. My roof is not safe to go on in the winter (really high off the ground, sloping ground where the ladder is too).

My question is, should I jsut remove the cap for the winter or consider buying a much less restrictive cap and swap them winter and summer? House is in a windy area if thats relevant. I wouldn't think that snow or birds would be an issue without a cap, would it?

I have a much shorter run and mine is the same way. I've thought about just pulling the wire screen out of mine in the winter, it looks fairly easy to do. Is yours all one piece or is it possible to pull the mesh out?

 

[Highbeam]

I had the same problem. Pulled out the stupid mesh screen filter and the cap no longer clogs. Mine was a simpson cap and the screen was easily removed. Are you worried that a spark may go around your baffle, leave your stove, climb 30 feet of pipe, fall out the top and then have enough life left to land on your roof and start a fire? Have you ever had such a problem with a campfire? There is a tiny bit of risk but really, the benefits outweigh this risk in my opinion. Then there's the law. Is it a law that you must have such a screen in your area?

 

[firefighterjake]

I've got a mesh chimney cap . . . but the mesh is a decent enough size so clogging has never been an issue . . . which makes me quite pleased.

 

[mayhem]

Not sure of the local laws, but my cap does not have a mesh...if it had one it was removed by the installer. Looks like the image below:

The sides aren't as open as this photo though...I'd say less than inch of vertical rise on the openings...plenty of ventilation when its open, but it gets cloggged by the spring.

LHS sells cheap ones...like $10 that look alot like the one below. The shape is similar, but obviously its on the end of a 6" pipe, not a smokestack.

Its very open and basically just sheet metal. Maybe just swap them spring and fall?

 

[midwestcoast]

Just to be clear here, your cap looks like pic 1 but without the wire mesh?
If so, perhaps try cutting off or trimming one of the rings?
I for one, wouldn't be comfortable with no cap at all regardless of reg's. Snow & rain would be an issue IMO as you'd get water in your pipe & stove & if not burning it'll sit & start rust.

 

[Shipper50]

I did find dead birds down my old stove with a Hart-Cooley chimney and cap. So my suggestion would be not to run yours without a cap. I have found in the years I have burned that all the creosote collects at the cap because of the temps there are cooler and causes the smoke and such to collect. I would try and find a less restrictive one.

Shipper

 

[mayhem]

Just to be clear here, your cap looks like pic 1 but without the wire mesh?
If so, perhaps try cutting off or trimming one of the rings?
I for one, wouldn't be comfortable with no cap at all regardless of reg's. Snow & rain would be an issue IMO as you'd get water in your pipe & stove & if not burning it'll sit & start rust.

Correct, my cap is similar to that one, not quite identical, no mesh. The middle ring is angled about the same as the top and bottom rings.

I think maybe I'll try to replace the cap with a less restrictive one and see how it works out. Just wondering what others are doing too.

Thanks.

 

[vvvv]

some places require a mesh to restrict flying embers ithink

 

[mayhem]

Briefly checked the MA building code, can't find a mention of mesh or spark arrestors on a chimney. Strikes me as odd because MA is relatively strict...I do know that my cap does not have a mesh and none of the ones at the LHS have mesh either, suggesting that a mesh is not a requirement.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I have both a Hart and Cooley and a Security cap with no mesh of any sort, and constant bird problems. (Although generally not when the stove is running!) I plan to wrap some coarse hardware cloth either around them or maybe inside like mayhem's picture.