Englander 13 NCI Installation

[KevinACrider]

I've been lurking here the past 2 months since my wife and I bought our first home. It has an open fireplace with a chimney running up the outside of the house. I just ordered a 13 NCI last night (just in the nick of time for the rebate) and I'm trying to piece together exactly what I'll need.

My main confusion is coming from the chimney liner itself. My chimney is 20' with a stone cap on the top, raised over the top of the chimney about 8 inches by brick. Do I still need a cap on the end of my liner if I keep the stone cap up there?

I'm looking to order (broken link removed) from eFireplaceStore.com and wanted to see if anyone had anything negative to say first. My stove won't be here until the 14th so I have a little bit of time to get everything ready, however I'd like it to be taken care of prior to the stove showing up so I can just pop it in, connect it up and fire up the initial burn.

 

[cmonSTART]

My personal opinion of that particular liner is that it's a really cheap liner. It will get the job done, but personally I would look for something else if you can. I love a lot of Simpson products, just not that one.

You do not have to use a cap if you keep the stone top, but you should make sure that after the liner and top are installed, there is enough space between the top of the liner and the stone top for the insert to breathe properly. It sounds like there should be.

 

[KevinACrider]

Assuming that I could just keep the top stone and not use a cap, my plan was to end the vent pipe even with the top of the existing chimney liner (whatever the clay rectangular blocks are that the chimney is built around).

When you say it's of a lower quality, what exactly is wrong with it? I'll be honest, I bought the stove before I fully understood how damn expensive a chimney liner is! I had no expectation that they would run $200 - $500 or more.

 

[BrotherBart]

I just did the mid-season cleaning two hours ago on my two Simpson DuraFlex liners and they look just fine. They aren't as flexible as some others but I didn't care because I had straight shots down my chimneys. But when I decided to just turn the basement liner into and through the thimble instead of installing a tee it went in there just fine.

And since I bought mine they have started using .006" SS instead of the .005" that I have.

I highly respect cmonstart's experience and opinion but they are doing a good job for me in their fifth season.

 

[KevinACrider]

Thanks for the input, Bart. That helps me on my quest. My chimney is a straight shot down into the opening and from the research I've done, it looks as if it will just slide right into the opening on the top of the 13NCI. No turns or anything special.

If I run the liner straight up my chimney and keep my existing stone cap, is there an end cap or something to finish off the top of the chimney? I can't imagine the liner just sits loosely in the chimney.

 

[BrotherBart]

Yep. You need a top plate. You seal it to the top of the flue tile and the liner fits the hole in the middle of it and it supports the liner, holds heat in the chimney and keeps rain and snow out. What you really need is a liner kit without a cap. Because you are going to need the top plate and a appliance adapter to mate up the liner with the flue collar on the insert.

 

[cmonSTART]

Dura-Flex will do fine for you and it is priced well. I really am just a very picky person. Great company too.

 

[KevinACrider]

Thanks for the help guys!

Is there anything wrong with me "pulling" the liner up from the bottom instead of dropping it down from above? My roof is a bit steep and the stone cap I have is extremely heavy.