Craigslist 316 Liner Score Today - Need Some Advice!

[KennyK]

Hi All,

Today I scored a "never used," 25 foot 6" Rockflex 316 stainless steel liner, an 8x13 terra cotta top plate, a rain cap (6" quick cap with screen), and a pulling cone for $100

The good is that it was an incredible deal. (And I turned the pickup today into a family trip today from Boston to Newport, RI, which was very nice!)

The bad is that the seller advertised it as 30 foot (honest mistake), which I think is closer to what I need. I'm not 100% certain as I haven't measured up my chimney, but I've done a close estimate of 28 feet.

The ugly is that while this has never been burned through, the seller tried to install it and had a tough time (hence his selling it). He ovalized parts, made some minor (I think) crimps, and smooshed one end a bit (the other's round and fine)
(Photos attached).

Here's what I need help with:

Do the crimps and the ovalizing at parts make this less desirable to use, or worse yet, dangerous? I will do my best to straighten it out, and I will insulate it. Any input on how to best go about this would be great.

If it's too short... Begreen already told me that I can splice if necessary, so if this ends up being too short, would I splice and add to the upper most part, towards the top of my chimney? If so, would I be best using more flex liner, or single walled non-flex? Any other input on how to go about this would also be great.

The pics here aren't great (it's still in my car, and dark), but hopefully will illustrate some of my concerns about the condition. Any input or thoughts would be great.

Thanks!

 

[bholler]

Well i would not have bought it personally and i would not put it in my house absolutely not in a customers house looking like that it might be fine but i wouldn't chance it personally. I am sure others will comment otherwise but looks to beat up to me personally

 

[KennyK]

Thanks bholler. It certainly isn't worth installing something unsafe just because it was a "good deal." And worst comes to worst, I suck up the $100 spend on this. That said, I'd love to know what others think.

 

[brenndatomu]

Definitely not pretty, but what's so bad about it b? Hard to tell for sure by those pics, but I didn't see anything that is necessarily a game ender...

 

[bholler]

Each one of those dents or kinks is a place that will create turbulence catch dirt get caught on your brush and eventually fail i am sure it will work for a while but it will eventually fail at one of those points. I know if i dent or kink a liner i am installing it doesn't go in that section gets cut out and either just a coupler or a coupler and a new section of liner goes in

 

[branchburner]

Each one of those dents or kinks is a place that will ...eventually fail at one of those points.

Just curious... have you actually seen failed liners due to denting, or are you theorizing here? I'm trying to figure out the science behind your assertion, because it doesn't seem self evident that a slight indentation in a liner would result in failure.

 

[wahoowad]

I don't see a specific failure point in any of those pictures, but collectively they indicate a liner that took a lot of abuse. Probably an install that went horribly awry.

No way would I install it in my house. The other parts still represent a decent score for your $100. Sleep good at night by purchasing and installing a perfect liner. Maybe sell that 25' section for $50 and you increase your deal.

 

[bholler]

Just curious... have you actually seen failed liners due to denting, or are you theorizing here? I'm trying to figure out the science behind your assertion, because it doesn't seem self evident that a slight indentation in a liner would result in failure.

I have not seen it no but think about it with a kink or dent you have a protrusion on the inside of the liner that metal is very thin and every time you brush that liner your brush can catch on that a little and it could cause a failure. Like i said it might be fine but i would never but anything in that looked like that. Abd by the way those are not slight indentations

 

[KennyK]

Thanks for all the input - definitely some stuff for me to think about. I'm planning on taking a real careful look at it, getting an accurate measurement on my chimney height, and then I'll decide. I'm still not totally ready to install the stove (need to do some custom heat shields on my mantel), so I'll sleep on it for a little bit. Any more thoughts are always welcome. Thanks everyone!

 

[brenndatomu]

Got a 5 pin bowling ball? They are about 5" diam. or so. Or a 24 lb. cast iron cannon ball? They are about 5.5" diam. Roll that puppy down through there, wahlah, it's round again!