Emergency singlewall stovepipe replacement

[karri0n]

"You shouldn't have messed with it!" - Wiser words are seldom spoken....



My stove is top vented, with two 90° elbows. The first elbow points back, the second points up and into the liner, where it enters an expander to the 8" flex liner that goes up about 30'. These elbows were installed at about the beginning of last season, and I burn 24/7 during the heating season, so they are a bit worn.

Last night, around 7:45 PM, with the stove running, I was looking at the elbows, and saw that there was a bit of an opening at the seam between the two. I, in my infinite wisdom, decided that wouldn't do, donned my welding gloves, and proceeded to manhandle the pipe to try to get it seated better. After about 15 seconds of fenagling the thing, The pipe popped open at the seam, and I heard a strange "clunk". My wife promptly said "you shouldn't have messed with it!"(see above, wiser words are seldom spoken than these six). Upon my attempt to reconnect the pipe, I noticed it didn't reach. It seems that what actually happened was the lowest segment of the second elbow popped right out. I picked up the segment that was now on the floor and tried to get it to go back in. It just wasn't happening.

I was now looking at a stove that was venting into my house, with no real method of remedying the situation. I was actually surprised at how little smoke was venting out of the stove, but this is obviously a dangerous situation. It occurred to me that my only option was to somehow acquire two new 90° elbows, and fast. With it now approaching 8:15, and the nearest home improvement store closing at 9:00, I realized my only option was to vent the downstairs and order the wife to take the kids upstairs while I raced like a bat out of hell to the Lowes. OBVIOUSLY leaving the house with a burning appliance venting to the indoors, with two children in the house is not an ideal situation, but leaving the house completely mpty with what, in essence, could be an open flame, is not the best of ideas either. The plan remained to head to the Lowes and get the new pipes.

I got there as quickly as possible and back. The total trip took just under an hour. When I got back, there was a bit of smoke in the downstairs, but no more than can be seen when cooking bacon or burning something in the oven. I got the pipe installed and sealed the joints with stove cement. I will need to remove the pipe and install the pipe damper once again sometime in the coming days. It was nothing that didn't need replacing, but it definitely could have waited for a more opportune time.

The moral?

Ask my wife. "You shouldn't have messed with it!"

Please, don't attempt to make repairs(even minor ones) while the stove is running.


As a side note, what is your general life expectancy on black singlewall pipe? Obviously straights will last longer than elbows, but does anyone replace their pipe once per season? I'm thinking of making this my routine, as these elbows were definitely in rough shape and could have used replacing sooner. There was even one section where I could see some miniscule pinholes through the pipe due to rusting/thermal abrasion.

 

[carinya]

As a side note, what is your general life expectancy on black singlewall pipe?

Original singlewall from 1984 is still in place.

Sure glad your unexpected venting turned out ok

 

[ckdeuce]

Ahhhhhhh....... Wow! Wow.... Wow........ Were you just down to coals? Ahhhhhhh...... Wow! Glad everyone is safe.

 

[karri0n]

No, there was a pretty decently sized load in there. It burned REAL well once I got the pipe replaced.

 

[hareball]

That is really scary stuff man!! Glad all are okay.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'm glad it turned out ok. If it should ever happen again, I suggest a call to the local FD. Trust me that they won't mind coming to help you out before the house or your family is hurt.

That said, there is a huge difference in the quality of singlewall available. My first year burning I used what Lowes offers. I replaced it after 1 year because my seams leaked. I picked the new pipe up from a stove shop and paid a little more for better quality. It has lasted.

There are 90s made without joints. Less seams and joints mean less chance for a problem. And don't forget to screw the individual pieces together. A few self tapping screws would have kept the pieces together and saved your family some stress!

Matt

 

[cycloxer]

This is why some people have switched to the thicker gauge welded seam black pipe. I run a full stainless liner with no joints to avoid exact situations like this. Also, 3 screws per joint keeps it all together even if you have a small problem it will hold until the stove cools down so that you can properly repair. Finally, this is another reason why my liner is secured into the stove collar with the 2 manufacturers screws right through the pipe. Nothing can come undone. Weird sh!t can happen and as you have discovered, you don't want to be repairing your setup with a full charge of fuel in the box.

 

[karri0n]

That said, there is a huge difference in the quality of singlewall available. My first year burning I used what Lowes offers. I replaced it after 1 year because my seams leaked. I picked the new pipe up from a stove shop and paid a little more for better quality. It has lasted.

Matt

Actually, the stuff I had on there that rusted, warped, and rotted out was from one of the most reputable stove shops in the country. The stuff from the Lowes feels thicker, stronger, and adjusts much more easily. We'll see how it fares throughout the season.

 

[Jags]

Holysumofa - YOWWZA. Uhhh...HOLY CRAP. I would of had to clean my drawers after that one. Glad that all turned out well. Just reading about it had my blood pressure elevated. I might have just flat lined if I were in that situation.

 

[drewboy]

Scary story...I'm trying to figure out what I would of done and I think I may have tried to empty the stove? One log at a time into my ash bucket and out to the snow? Truly, I don't know - esp. when you've got to come up with a plan in about 3 seconds. Yikes!

 

[hareball]

Scary story...I'm trying to figure out what I would of done and I think I may have tried to empty the stove? One log at a time into my ash bucket and out to the snow? Truly, I don't know - esp. when you've got to come up with a plan in about 3 seconds. Yikes!

That would have been my only option. Luckily my front door is 5' from the stove.

 

[karri0n]

It didn't cross my mind to try emptying the stove honestly. I guess I should have thought of that, but I think opening the door and letting the air hit the charring would could produce a WHOLE hell of a lot of smoke. Like I said, I was very surprised at just how little smoke was coming out. It was hardly noticeable unless you stood back a few feet and shone a light. If the smoke output was higher than it was, a call to the FD, emptying the stove, and evacuating the people out of the house would have been my course of action.

 

[dougand3]

How would this work?
1. Cookie sheet and brick over exposed flue or pipe
2. Shut intake air as closed as possible and then al foil over it
Would robbing O2 from fire cause it to die quickly OR cause a smoldering MORE smoke laden fire that blows smoke out any tiny seam?

 

[karri0n]

I think in that case, smoke would start coming out of the air intakes.

 

[Battenkiller]

I think in that case, smoke would start coming out of the air intakes.

Actually, no.

Air is drawn into the stove through the intake by the strong chimney effect. When you disconnected the chimney, you lost the draw. That's why there was so little smoke. Shutting down the stove entirely like recommended above would starve the stove of air and (eventually) snuff it out.

My biggest nightmare is that this would happen to me in the middle of the night. One possible scenario is a broken stove leg causing the stove to tip and pull the pipe out of the thimble. Everywhere else, I have three sheet metal screws holding the pieces together, but at the thimble the pipe just slips in and the gap filled with gasket material I wedged in there.

I actually have two cement blocks under my stove for that very reason. If a leg (or leg bolt more likely) were to break, the stove would rest on the blocks and not tip any further.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Glad it turned out okay in the end. My blood pressure raised a bit too when I read this thread.

As for changing the black pipe every year, I've never heard of it. In fact, I know of many stoves I've seen in homes, barns, and garages where the folks used just regular pipe; not the black pipe. And those elbows lasted for many, many years. No, those elbows should not have to be replace annually; maybe once every 10 years at the most.

EDIT: I hit post too soon.

With the elbows "rusting" out; pinholes. That makes me think something is running into the chimney. Do you have a cap? What do you think caused this?

 

[karri0n]

Glad it turned out okay in the end. My blood pressure raised a bit too when I read this thread.

As for changing the black pipe every year, I've never heard of it. In fact, I know of many stoves I've seen in homes, barns, and garages where the folks used just regular pipe; not the black pipe. And those elbows lasted for many, many years. No, those elbows should not have to be replace annually; maybe once every 10 years at the most.

EDIT: I hit post too soon.

With the elbows "rusting" out; pinholes. That makes me think something is running into the chimney. Do you have a cap? What do you think caused this?

I figured it was just the high heat and airflow, but many are saying they never see the pipe degrade so quickly. This is now the second time I've replaced these elbows.


I need to get my system checked out. This is a rental house, and I've seen a couple "half-assed" parts of the install regarding the chimney. I can't really get up on the roof to check it out. We have one of these, but I'm not sure if there is any cap other than the flat piece of slate/concrete on top:

If there is no rain cap at all, I don't plan on putting one on my dollar. I've performed several repairs to the house without reimbursement from the landlord, and our most recent correspondence with him for necessary repairs left a bit to be desired as far as him holding up his end of the lease.

 

[k3c4forlife]

I had the same thing happen to me just a week ago. Tried to get the elbow on a little further and it popped off. I had the stove going pretty good. Even welding gloves can heat up pretty quickly. My wife made herself a drink and watched me struggle with the connection for 15min... Carbon monoxide detector went off, opened the windows wide open and put the fan in the window. Lots of fun.

+1

 

[EKLawton]

Glad it turned out okay in the end. My blood pressure raised a bit too when I read this thread.

As for changing the black pipe every year, I've never heard of it. In fact, I know of many stoves I've seen in homes, barns, and garages where the folks used just regular pipe; not the black pipe. And those elbows lasted for many, many years. No, those elbows should not have to be replace annually; maybe once every 10 years at the most.

EDIT: I hit post too soon.

With the elbows "rusting" out; pinholes. That makes me think something is running into the chimney. Do you have a cap? What do you think caused this?

with my old englander i had to replace pipe twice a year (damp basement, bad stove- one of the first cats)

 

[firefighterjake]

Wow-zers . . . scary moment to be sure . . . glad things turned out Ok in the end.