Hi,
I recently installed a stove in a small cabin. I did a lot research beforehand and was prepared to buy all the proper equipment -- stainless steel stove pipe, class A chimney, support box, storm collar, etc. etc.
I was working with a family member who didn't think we needed all that fancy stuff, and he went out and bought some galvanized pipe and insisted on just running that straight through the roof. He said it would be fine and the guy at the store also said it would be fine. I protested a lot and really didn't feel comfortable doing this, but he was quite persistent and said, "We'll do it my way, and if it doesn't work, we'll fix it later."
Well, it's two days later, and it doesn't work.
My family member insisted that we did not need to seal the pipe at all, which I strongly disagreed with. I wante to seal all the seams because this pipe did not look very airtight to me and I was worried about smoke leaking out. But we just used stove cement where the flue connects to the pipe, and left the seams without any sealant. And we used regular silicone where the pipe runs through the chimney flashing (I thought we should use hi-temp silicone but he said that was not necessary). The flashing was installed at the same time as the shingles and woven in.
I ran the stove for 6-8 hours yesterday without much trouble, except that the galvanized pipe turned white for about the first 12" above the flue -- the pipe temperature got up to 600-700 degrees at some point, and I'm sure it's not rated for that kind of heat. I read all about the dangers of zinc oxide, etc., but I also read that you need much higher temps to be concerned about that sort of thing.
Anyway, today at one point when getting the fire going, I smelled a foul smelling chemical odor which made me feel sick. I didn't see any smoke, and I heard that with new stoves you might get a smell from the paint curing, but I figured there might be smoke leaking through the seams in the stove pipe. I kept the fire running for another 4 hours, and at one point returned to the cabin to find a lot of brown/black sludge leaking from the middle of the stove pipe about 4 feet above the stove -- running all the way down the pipe and dripping onto the stove and floor.
I'm guessing this is creosote?
It smelled terrible and I put the fire out immediately.
A couple notes -- I was burning seasoned oak and maple. The stove pipe temp was between 300-500 degrees. The outside temp is cold today -- 20 degrees with strong wind gusts up to 40 mph. One of the windiest days I can remember in recent history. The smoke coming out of the chimney was running horizontally.
The chimney setup is: Stove > 4"->6" adapter > 2' galvanized pipe > 2' galvanized pipe > 5' galvanized pipe (going through roof flashing) > chimney cap
Anyway, this is my first experience with wood stoves and not a very good one. I'm really not sure what to do other than order some real chimney parts and install those -- but I could use any advice anyone has to give. Are there any other factors that could have caused this? I'm just really surprised to get so much gunk after just 1 day of burning.
I'm going to include pictures if possible. Sorry this is such a long post -- I'm a bit overwhelmed with this because it's very cold out and now I need to find a new place to sleep.
I recently installed a stove in a small cabin. I did a lot research beforehand and was prepared to buy all the proper equipment -- stainless steel stove pipe, class A chimney, support box, storm collar, etc. etc.
I was working with a family member who didn't think we needed all that fancy stuff, and he went out and bought some galvanized pipe and insisted on just running that straight through the roof. He said it would be fine and the guy at the store also said it would be fine. I protested a lot and really didn't feel comfortable doing this, but he was quite persistent and said, "We'll do it my way, and if it doesn't work, we'll fix it later."
Well, it's two days later, and it doesn't work.
My family member insisted that we did not need to seal the pipe at all, which I strongly disagreed with. I wante to seal all the seams because this pipe did not look very airtight to me and I was worried about smoke leaking out. But we just used stove cement where the flue connects to the pipe, and left the seams without any sealant. And we used regular silicone where the pipe runs through the chimney flashing (I thought we should use hi-temp silicone but he said that was not necessary). The flashing was installed at the same time as the shingles and woven in.
I ran the stove for 6-8 hours yesterday without much trouble, except that the galvanized pipe turned white for about the first 12" above the flue -- the pipe temperature got up to 600-700 degrees at some point, and I'm sure it's not rated for that kind of heat. I read all about the dangers of zinc oxide, etc., but I also read that you need much higher temps to be concerned about that sort of thing.
Anyway, today at one point when getting the fire going, I smelled a foul smelling chemical odor which made me feel sick. I didn't see any smoke, and I heard that with new stoves you might get a smell from the paint curing, but I figured there might be smoke leaking through the seams in the stove pipe. I kept the fire running for another 4 hours, and at one point returned to the cabin to find a lot of brown/black sludge leaking from the middle of the stove pipe about 4 feet above the stove -- running all the way down the pipe and dripping onto the stove and floor.
I'm guessing this is creosote?
It smelled terrible and I put the fire out immediately.
A couple notes -- I was burning seasoned oak and maple. The stove pipe temp was between 300-500 degrees. The outside temp is cold today -- 20 degrees with strong wind gusts up to 40 mph. One of the windiest days I can remember in recent history. The smoke coming out of the chimney was running horizontally.
The chimney setup is: Stove > 4"->6" adapter > 2' galvanized pipe > 2' galvanized pipe > 5' galvanized pipe (going through roof flashing) > chimney cap
Anyway, this is my first experience with wood stoves and not a very good one. I'm really not sure what to do other than order some real chimney parts and install those -- but I could use any advice anyone has to give. Are there any other factors that could have caused this? I'm just really surprised to get so much gunk after just 1 day of burning.
I'm going to include pictures if possible. Sorry this is such a long post -- I'm a bit overwhelmed with this because it's very cold out and now I need to find a new place to sleep.
