DV Gas Insert Installation... is it okay to cut off the intake vent & not take it to the top?

I just had a gas insert installed into an existing chimney. We found out (via a long, irrelevant story) that the exhaust vent goes all the way to top of the chimney where it is capped (as it should be), but the intake vent only goes up about 4 feet and dead ends into the chimney cavity... is this right? All of pictures in the manuals say that it needs to go to the top, but the installer says this is fine and to code... any thoughts on this?

I would say yes it should be find it is a common thing to do how tall is the chimney?

Not exactly sure but I'd say approx 25 ft. (that's the vent kit that we paid for).

It's likely ok. It's probably more of a brand specific question. Some brands actually recommend this method of termination. Another important factor is how and if the blockoff plate was installed.

I saw that in the Mendota manual when I was looking on line to see if this was okay after I learned taht was the way it was done. It is a Fireplace Extraordinaire brand... there is one pic of it being like that in the middle on many pics of it all the way to the top in the manual. I called the installer and they said they do all of the inserts that way. I just want to make sure that it is safe.

In the manual, they have two vent configurations: inlet and exhaust re-line and exhaust only re-line. The one with the little intake is clearly the one they chose to do. I would never have known about this if they hadn't put the exhaust up against a sharp piece of metal which tore the daylights out of the exhaust... and so when my plummer went to repair the exhaust, down came the intake vent. It was bothersome b/c the exhaust was a mess and then the intake came clanging down. I guess I have enough info. now to know that it is okay. I have another insert... I wonder if that one goes to the top or if it dead ends (another brand, another installer),

We used to just install the stubby liner for the fresh air but actually ran into air problems with the FB-IN and FB-Grand units so now we run both liners to the top on every install and we have had much better results. We had to go back and fix a dozen or more installs where the stubby liner was causing probs. I have also seen some fireplaces get a lot of white power all over in them from the stubby install, because they are sucking up particles from inside the old chimney and burning them.

Hi JTP,
Can you tell me what type of problems you ran into by installing the stubby,(3-4 foot section of aluminum intake liner), on the FB Grand model Inserts?
On my FB Grand Insert, the installers ran a three foot section of aluminum liner up the flue for the intake and ran the full lenght aluminum exhaust to the high wind termination cap. They than packed insulation where the pipes go through the damper opening and left the damper inplace but obviously in the open position. The termination cap flange was siliconed to the top of the chimney flue.
I believe,(not totaly sure), that in the owners manual it illustrates both methods.
I would think that the two pipes all the way to the top of the temination cap would be the way to go.

Thanks,
John

Hi,
Can you tell me what you mean by"Unless its the HnG FB-Grand with the 3' stainless Steel liner section on the exhaust".
How do you like your Jotul Firelight II 600 DV Stove?

Thanks,
John

HI DAKSY,
I just want to get this straight in my head. Your saying that the HnG FB series use a 3' piece of SS pipe connected to the termination cap on top of the chimney, or the top of the insert itself where the slide out tray is located for ease of connecting the intake & exhaust 3"pipes, and than after the 3' SS pipe it is connected the rest of the way down or up the flue of the chimney to the top of the insert via aluminum 3" pipe?
I do know one thing for sure, the FB Grand Insert does throw out some serious heat dispite the numerous problems that have plagued my FB Grand Unit.
I am really glad to hear of the positive comments on your Jotul Firelight 600 Stove.
When I first had mine installed in my rec room, I wasn't to happy with the way it heated the room for a 40K Btu unit, but after reading the owners manual and adjusting the exhaust restrictor to match my chimney height, it really throws out some heat.
Also, at the top of my rec room steps, I keep the door closed and WOW what a difference. The rec room holds the heat much longer and doesn't lose it to the chimney effect by leaving the door open to the living room upstairs. This also keeps the living room floors much warmer preventing drafts, and lets the FB Grand Insert heat my upstairs living area with 18'vaulted ceilings more efficently, I believe.
Thanks for the info!!
John

The FB units come with a 3' SS liner that is connected to the bottom of the 3" alum before you drop it down the chimney. This gets connected to the exhaust of the unit. The exhaust coming out of the unit is so hot the Alum might get trashed so they start off with some SS.

The probs we had was the unit turning off by itself, normally after a few hours of use. The pilot would curl and slowly loose millivolts, being an airflow problem the only thing I could think of was to drop two liners down. We did that and it fixed a couple so we ran with it. Have not had the same kinds of problems since.

JTP,
Thanks for the info. I did not know that the liner had this piece of 3' SS. I just thought both the exhaust and the intake liners where made from aluminum.
I never thought that the thought the exhaust of the FB Grand Inserts got quite this hot.
This info. is very helpful especially when you are the owner of one of these particular inserts.

Thanks Again,
John

we use to sell the old arrow dv insert(one of the first dv inserts to come to market)the original instructions showed two liners from the unit to the top cap, what would happen is the exaust gases would sometimes roll beneath the burner and exaust out the intake and the exaust would become the air intake.the solution was to shorten up the intake like you describe promlem solved