stove pipe put in upside down

[fultonrockwell]

We have a recently installed Jotul 3CB. The folks who put it in were not the greatest and to get the double walled (Selkirk) pipe to fit to the
box pass through the roof, they ended up installing the pipe upside down.

We expected some smells when we "broke" in the stove, but it still smells some and makes us wonder if it might be the fault of the pipe being installed the wrong way.

any advice would be very welcome.

thank you!

 

[LLigetfa]

So, what direction is upside down for you? Which end of the pipes are male in relation to the direction of smoke travel?

 

[dougand3]

Do you mean the black sheetmetal pipe from the stove to the ceiling support box? Convention is the male end toward the stove. This is so creosote won't run outside the pipe at the joint. Smoke/exhaust gas leakage-wise, this "normal" would be worse theoretically than male end away from stove. If you've got even decent or better draft - just not an issue as path of least resistance will be inside pipe. Bet you keep hitting a new high temp during break-in and you are smelling stove pipe paint outgassing.

 

[weatherguy]

You sure the stove pipe isnt right and the stove isnt upside down?

sorry, getting tired and punchy, time for bed.

 

[Pagey]

Can you post some photos? My understanding is that double wall looks a bit different installed than does single wall stove pipe. Here's a pic of my Selkirk double wall installed.

 

[fultonrockwell]

Here is more info on our installation/smell problem.

It is the black pipe (double walled Selkirk) that runs from the stove to the ceiling that we are questioning and the reason is that when we looked at the manufacturer's label on the pipe, it has an arrow marked "up" and the installation is in the opposite direction.

however, the male end of the pipe (at least of the outer wall) is pointing down, but I can't say what the inside pipe looks like, and I gather that is the one that matters?

But if it isn't the pipe, then our question is how long does it take to break in a stove so that it no longer smells? we have had quite a few fires and it seemed like it was getting better, but last night it seemed a lot worse. we have a good installation in terms of the draft; most (> 80%) of the stove pipe is in the house, only a little bit outside (because we exit near the peak of the house), we are on the top floor (so well above the midpoint of the house), and there are no bends (pipe comes out the top of the stove and goes straight up.

thanks

 

[Pagey]

Any time you reach a new high temp with the stove, you have the possibility of getting that smell. It will eventually go away, though.

I just looked at my Selkirk, and I can see no arrows, sorry.

 

[begreen]

It's possible the pipe is installed upside down. Pictures would help. Given your concerns, I would post several, particularly of where the pipe transitions from the connector to the ceiling support box and where it connects to the stove. Can you describe the smell? Is it like wood smoke or like hot paint?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Stove pipe can smell for some time. Usually it is done after a few fires but occasionally for some odd reason you can get some that seems to keep smelling. I've talked to folks who sell the stuff and was surprised that they do get some pipe they have to replace. Once replaced and after a couple of fires, the smell is gone. I have no idea why this happens. But, like BeGreen asked, please post some pictures.

 

[fultonrockwell]

Thanks. I will post some photos this evening. The smell is not of wood smoke, but similar (or the same?) to what happened when we first lit up the new stove. So it does seem like the pipe (or stove?) paint still curing. I expected this to be gone after a few hot fires. We followed the Jotul instructions of a series of increasingly hotter fires, so I don't think that is the problem.

I was interested in the posting that suggested that sometimes one can get stove pipe that never seems to fully "cure." Any other experience with that? would our only option be to replace? yikes!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

On our last new pipe, we were ready to replace because it took so long but suddenly it just quit on its own.

 

[Crash11]

I'm assuming you have double wall pipe because of how close it is to the wall? In that case the male end should point up. If it's single wall pipe it's just the opposite.

 

[fultonrockwell]

yes, that's the question. if the double wall pipe is installed with the male end pointing down, could it cause problems?

 

[begreen]

It's hard to imagine getting a good tight seal with double-wall if it was installed upside down. I'm not sure how they'd connect it to the high-temp pipe at the ceiling.

 

[fultonrockwell]

the connection, presumably, is made within the box that goes through the ceiling. are you suggesting that it could be leaking flue-gases at this point and this is what we are smelling? it doesn't smell like wood smoke.

thanks.

 

[begreen]

Not being able to smell it, it's hard to say. Is it getting better with each day and burn?

I'm not sure with Selkirk, it's been many years since we had that pipe, but with Simpson you'd have a hard time making it connect if it was backward. If you can post some pics, folks that have Selkirk can check it out.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

We have a recently installed Jotul 3CB. The folks who put it in were not the greatest and to get the double walled (Selkirk) pipe to fit to the
box pass through the roof, they ended up installing the pipe upside down.

We expected some smells when we "broke" in the stove, but it still smells some and makes us wonder if it might be the fault of the pipe being installed the wrong way.

any advice would be very welcome.

thank you!

I really don't see how installing the pipe upside-down could be responsible for the smell.
Open your doors and windows and get that stove hot, really hot, and let the paint fumes vent outside and that should "cure" your problems.

 

[johnn]

If your fires keep getting hotter and hotter, couldn`t you be curing further and further up the pipe? :-/

 

[John_M]

crash11, Are you certain that with double wall pipe the male end should point up? That seems counter-intuitive to me. I would assume that with all stove pipe one wants the male end of the inner most section of pipe to be on the down side so it slips into the female end below it, thereby keeping any liquid creosote from leaking outside the pipe.

Just a question.

Best Wishes,

John_M

 

[Crash11]

crash11, Are you certain that with double wall pipe the male end should point up? That seems counter-intuitive to me. I would assume that with all stove pipe one wants the male end of the inner most section of pipe to be on the down side so it slips into the female end below it, thereby keeping any liquid creosote from leaking outside the pipe.

Just a question.

Best Wishes,

John_M

Yes and no. You're correct that you want the creosote to fall back down to the stove, but with double wall pipe there are two pipes a the female end. At the male end the two pipes are crimped together, but at the female end you are expected to connect the male BETWEEN the two pipes. So now the inner pipe is in fact inside the joint at the bottom of a piece of pipe. Does that make sense?

 

[John_M]

Crash11, Thanks for the explanation. Your description does make sense. I'll be using Simpson Dura-Vent double wall stove pipe in a new wood stove installation in about two months. I'll follow Simpson's installation instructions and probably double check both ends of the stove pipe a number of times before installation.

Best wishes,

John_M

 

[rijim]

If the installer neede to put the pipe upside down to make it work it sounds like they may not have used the proper adaptor for the class A chimney at the box pass thru. I just installed SuperPro chimney with cathedral ceiling box and DSP double wall pipe, I used the proper adaptors on bothe ends and it went together fine in the proper orientation. I may be a stickler but I would have them follow the MFG specifications exactly irregardles of smell or no smell.
just an opinion.