I think a new cap really made my draft improve - imagining or real?

[joefrompa]

Hi all,

My installer originally used a cap that came out of the liner like this (imagine moving from the bottom of the liner up)

~2" of mesh

~4" of solid metal "guard" (spark arrestor plate or something?)

~4" of steel mesh continuing up to a conical cover over the liner

Looked nice, I could see through it from the ground so I knew it wasn't clogged or anything.

Anyway, installer came out and fixed something awhile back and mentioned how some of his customers had had problems with that cap (possibly clogging, possibly draft?) and that he'd swing out and replace mine with a problem-free unit free of charge once the weather warmed up a bit and roofs were snow free.

Well, he did that a few weeks ago. I haven't been burning non-stop like I had before, but I've done a number of fires.

I swear the stove is drafting better - it starts up easier with less likelihood of downdraft, when the draft is downdraft or neutral, it starts sucking upwards much faster....reloading I see less smoke/puffs coming out of the stove. Etc.

Can a simple chimney cap replacement on a perfectly functional chimney cap do this?

The new cap comes off the liner and does like 8" of straight mesh before going up to the cover. No plate of metal going around it.

Joe

 

[double-d]

Sounds like one of those caps with a wind and rain guard on them. Could be you needed a cap with less restriction. You may want to have your liner checked for obstructions or buildup of creosote, usually a cap shouldn't make that big of a difference.

 

[joefrompa]

Liner was just checked, swept, and cleaned. It's a ~13' run, straight up, insulated, and was installed in late October. And it was swept once since.

I don't know, but right after this new cap was installed....good things.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sounds like it is working well so I'd really be happy with that plus the price was certainly right.

 

[BrotherBart]

I had a couple of caps with those wind screen bands around them. They went to the dump. Without that draft is great. It wasn't bad with them but boy did crap collect in the caps. With the new caps with open screens, good draft and no crud in the screens.