Excel wall thimble + selkirk piping?

[RedHotinWesternMA]

Hi -

We're installing a Lopi Leyden Pellet Stove today, and we are planning on using selkirk metalbestos 4" pipe with an Excel insulated wall thimble. In the interest of not burning down our house, what do you think about mixing and matching brands here? Everything seems to fit ok, its just that the selkirk thimble is not insulated and of course each manufacturer says to only use their products exclusively. What do you think?

Thanks.

 

[slink]

Hi -

We're installing a Lopi Leyden Pellet Stove today, and we are planning on using selkirk metalbestos 4" pipe with an Excel insulated wall thimble. In the interest of not burning down our house, what do you think about mixing and matching brands here? Everything seems to fit ok, its just that the selkirk thimble is not insulated and of course each manufacturer says to only use their products exclusively. What do you think?

Thanks.

Each Manufacturer tests their products as kits. Mixing and matching isn't a good idea. Just because the thimble is insulated you may be holding in the heat from the pipe causing more problems than if you just used the correct part. Air space is required to cool the pipe and not allow heat to build up inside the wall.

 

[Gumbo]

I dunno the answer. The Excel thimble is double walled with insulation sandwiched. Excel pipe is double walled. I can't believe the excel pipe and any other quality double-walled exhaust pipe are going to have much difference in exhaust coefficients. Is there going to be a temperature difference between brand name pipes? Maybe. Significant difference? Prolly not. I have the excel thimble and piping. I reeeally like the idea of a double walled thimble. That's just my opinion. Of course every manufacturer is going to tell you to use only their products....I say if it fits properly and you can sleep at night without worrying about it then do it. It's your parade.

 

[flashbang]

I know this much about icc Excel. You can put a joint in the thimble and all other manufactures I found say no. So it may be best to stick with all the same make of pipe and thimble. Also you can {unofficially} cut Excel pipe to exact length if need be, the only pellet pipe I know of that you can do this with and no silicone needed at any joint but the stove adapter at the stove end. I would not sleep well at night mixing makes, it may be fine, but that is between you and your God what ever you choose.

 

[djarseneault]

Hi -

We're installing a Lopi Leyden Pellet Stove today, and we are planning on using selkirk metalbestos 4" pipe with an Excel insulated wall thimble. In the interest of not burning down our house, what do you think about mixing and matching brands here? Everything seems to fit ok, its just that the selkirk thimble is not insulated and of course each manufacturer says to only use their products exclusively. What do you think?

Thanks.

Each Manufacturer tests their products as kits. Mixing and matching isn't a good idea. Just because the thimble is insulated you may be holding in the heat from the pipe causing more problems than if you just used the correct part. Air space is required to cool the pipe and not allow heat to build up inside the wall.

X2. Slink is 100% correct. It is not OK to mix and match venting components for the reasons stated.

 

[orangecrushcj7]

I would agree with Parrot and Slink if it were mixing and matching anything other that a wall thimble. The only purpose a wall thimble has is to keep all combustible materials away from the hot pipe. Realistically, this could be accomplished with a piece of aluminum flashing. The only issue I see is the slight differences in diameters of the thimble and the pipe that passes thru, but that can taken care of with hi-temp silicone caulking which you would use with any brand. The thimble has nothing to do with how the pipes seal, or whether or not you'll develop a gas leak. I would go for it. Your inspector may not however. Always run things by the inspector, he has the final word.

 

[djarseneault]

I would agree with Parrot and Slink if it were mixing and matching anything other that a wall thimble. The only purpose a wall thimble has is to keep all combustible materials away from the hot pipe. Realistically, this could be accomplished with a piece of aluminum flashing. The only issue I see is the slight differences in diameters of the thimble and the pipe that passes thru, but that can taken care of with hi-temp silicone caulking which you would use with any brand. The thimble has nothing to do with how the pipes seal, or whether or not you'll develop a gas leak. I would go for it. Your inspector may not however. Always run things by the inspector, he has the final word.

The thimble has everything to do with maintaining proper clearances to the combustibles in the wall. Most pellet vents do not use insulated thimbles, so they are not tested with one. The problem is that by insulating it, you could cause the pipe to retain more heat than it was designed to. Most pellet vent clearances specify AIR SPACE as their clearance.

 

[Gumbo]

A 12" run of double-walled 304 stainless steel passing through a wall isn't going to get anywhere near fire temperatures no matter what thimble you use. Exhaust pipe manufacturers are using the same materials so you aren't comparing apples to oranges. The thimble OD is still the same therefore the clearanct to the wall is the same. The fire inspector is going to come in, look at the pipe, look at the thimble and have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER that they are from different manufacturers. It's not a fire code requirement that the materials are from the same manufacturer so that should answer your question. Like I said before, the temperature of the exhaust between 2 different exhaust pipes may vary but the range of variance is going to be well within safety limits. A little common sense goes a long way.

 

[RedHotinWesternMA]

Alright Gumbo, I'm going with you because we did it. The selkirk thimble looked flimsy compared to the excel when we looked at them both and I think you're right that no inspector would know that one piece came from one factory and the other from a different one. Everything fit great when sealed properly. Now, if the brand new $)*@&$ stove weren't broken, we'd be in business.

 

[djarseneault]

any particular reason you didn't just use Excel pipe?

 

[RedHotinWesternMA]

Yea - we'd bought the pipe locally and then waited three weeks for the thimble to come in. We were anxious to get it installed so when we found the excel thimble, we just bought it.

 

[hossthehermit]

I know this much about icc Excel. You can put a joint in the thimble and all other manufactures I found say no. So it may be best to stick with all the same make of pipe and thimble. Also you can {unofficially} cut Excel pipe to exact length if need be, the only pellet pipe I know of that you can do this with and no silicone needed at any joint but the stove adapter at the stove end. I would not sleep well at night mixing makes, it may be fine, but that is between you and your God what ever you choose.

Why would you put a joint in the thimble? Just smoke it, you'll sleep fine, celebrate the first burn. Seriously, though, go with the MANUFACTURERS RECOMMENDATIONS, THEY'RE THERE FOR A REASON.