Drip from wood stove connection to chimney

[Chewie]

Hi, it's raining pretty good here tonight and we heard a dripping sound in the house. It's coming from the bottom of the connection between our main floor wood stove and the chimney. (At first it was a drip every three or four seconds, it has slowed up quite a bit now.)

We had called the local chimney guy in our town back in August to schedule inspection/cleaning, he told me he was going to start doing those on September and had us on his list and would get back to us. Haven't heard yet.

I'm hoping to see if anyone had any ideas what might be the issue or what could fix it? I'm not handy at all, so I don't know if there is something I am capable of doing here, but any info would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[dafattkidd]

It’s going to helpful to us if you post pictures of the exterior of the chimney.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Im not saying that this is definitely your issue.. Rain does get into the chimney/stove pipe. The cap is pretty open and with a wind driven rain it will get blown into the pipe.. Id definitely inspect the Chimney/stovepipe up on the roof ... and check the cap

 

[kborndale]

When it's raining hard and a strong eastern wind I get the same thing. The chimney is open and even with a cap under certain conditions rain will find it's way in.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

I’m in NW Maine at the moment. You’re right, there was a ton of rain yesterday (and last night).

 

[begreen]

It sounds like strong rain. It would help to see the top of the chimney. What do the chimney crown and cap look like?

It looks like there is an increaser in the stove pipe. What stove is being used here?

Is this just a clay lined chimney (no stainless liner)? What size is the chimney liner?

 

[mattie5960]

I'll go another direction from other commenters to suggest the rain might be seeping straight through the masonry. We had this problem and a heavy coat of spray-on masonry sealer solved the problem immediately. The product we used is called "chimneyrx masonry chimney water repellent".

 

[shortys7777]

Not to jack the thread but how well did the sealer work? Would you recommend it? Easy to apply?

 

[NorthernFireplaceFool]

Saturday was brutal rain! I went to light my first fire Monday night and realized I had an inch of water in my firebox from blowing in sideways from the wind Saturday. At least I didn't wait too long to light my first fire! I wouldn't want that water sitting long in there.

 

[Chewie]

Thanks everyone for thoughts and feedback. It turns out we didn't have a chimney cap, been in the house since last summer and didn't even notice. I hadn't had any experience with stoves or chimneys until moving here so I don't know anything about this stuff...still it seems like something that should have been obvious. We got a cap on there now, it's been raining though probably not as bad as they day it leaked, but no leaks so far, so hopefully the cap mitigates the issue.

It looks like there is an increaser in the stove pipe. What stove is being used here?

Is this just a clay lined chimney (no stainless liner)? What size is the chimney liner?

It's a Kent Tile Fire stove, and I'm pretty sure no liner it's just the brick.

 

[begreen]

Thanks everyone for thoughts and feedback. It turns out we didn't have a chimney cap, been in the house since last summer and didn't even notice. I hadn't had any experience with stoves or chimneys until moving here so I don't know anything about this stuff...still it seems like something that should have been obvious. We got a cap on there now, it's been raining though probably not as bad as they day it leaked, but no leaks so far, so hopefully the cap mitigates the issue.


It's a Kent Tile Fire stove, and I'm pretty sure no liner it's just the brick.

The Kent is a good stove though I notice that there is an increaser on the stove pipe. What is the ID of the chimney? Is there no clay liner in the chimney?

 

[Chewie]

The Kent is a good stove though I notice that there is an increaser on the stove pipe. What is the ID of the chimney? Is there no clay liner in the chimney?

Sorry, I was remembering wrong. I opened up the access door on the chimney in the basement and there is some kind of liner. Internal dimensions of that liner appear to around 6.5" by 10 3/4".

 

[begreen]

That's a big increase in area, 70 sq in compared to 6" round's ~28 sq in. That is cooling the flue gases and decreasing draft strength. With a leaky cleanout door, some major creosote accumulation can occur.

 

[Chewie]

We do have two wood stoves going into the chimney on two different floors, would a larger liner area be needed to accommodate two going at once?

If it still isn't necessary, is changing the liner something that is possible after the fact or is that only done during construction?

 

[vbu]

We do have two wood stoves going into the chimney on two different floors, would a larger liner area be needed to accommodate two going at once?

If it still isn't necessary, is changing the liner something that is possible after the fact or is that only done during construction?

Are the two wood stoves connected to the same liner? If that is the case something needs to be done about that, each stove has to have their own liner.

 

[begreen]

We do have two wood stoves going into the chimney on two different floors,

That's a full stop if they are both on the same liner. This is not allowed.

 

[Chewie]

Whoa okay, so this is interesting to know this is the first I heard this. I do think they are both going into the same flue/liner. Wood stoves came with the house which is about twenty ish years old and I think has always had a double stove setup.

Last winter we mostly used the basement one but also used the main floor one a fair amount as well, often at the same time. Doing some searching on it now it sounds like there are both efficiency and safety factors involved?

Can a liner be removed without disassembling the chimney?

 

[kborndale]

I would get a chimney sweep out there to do an inspection.

 

[Chewie]

I would get a chimney sweep out there to do an inspection.

So we had one out last week and that's when we had them get the cap on. They didn't say anything about it (and I didn't know to ask yet). After seeing the replies here I emailed back to ask if they noticed they were both going to the same flue/liner and if they had any concerns about that. The guy has responded that his guys who came out to us were pretty sure the chimney flu is 8x12 and if thats the case you have a big enough sized flu to withstand 2 stoves. He said just keep it clean and we shouldn’t have any trouble and to use dry wood and hot fires to help keep it clean.

 

[begreen]

Whoa okay, so this is interesting to know this is the first I heard this. I do think they are both going into the same flue/liner. Wood stoves came with the house which is about twenty ish years old and I think has always had a double stove setup.

Last winter we mostly used the basement one but also used the main floor one a fair amount as well, often at the same time. Doing some searching on it now it sounds like there are both efficiency and safety factors involved?

It used to be legal in Maine only, but I think Maine has dropped this exception. There are risks to connecting multiple stoves. Excess creosote buildup is one of them. When one stove is not burning it is the source of cool air being pulled into the flue by the draft which dilutes the hot flue gases of the stove that is burning. The other issue is potential draft reversal where CO gets pulled down an out of the lower stove.

Can a liner be removed without disassembling the chimney?

Yes, a clay liner can be broken out. The question is whether there will be room for two 6" stainless liners in the flue.