Question, Metalbestos support box circa 2001

[Woody Stover]

I'm installing a stove at my SIL's house. I was trying to move the connector pipe further up on the tailpiece of the cathedral ceiling support, and when twisting the pipe, the tailpiece of the support box was also turning. I'm not risking unscrewing the tailpiece from the rest of the support box, or creating other trouble for myself, am I?
I'm going to try to get a better look at what's going on, either by sticking a mirror into the support box through the tailpiece, or removing the screws that appear to hold a cover plate on the bottom of the support box to get a peek, or by going up in the attic. But I thought maybe the install techs here might have some advice before I try to investigate...

 

[webby3650]

Their old pipe adaptors just sat in the box and the weight of the flue held it down. The problem was that the chimney would move around over time, especially if it didn’t get screwed to the flashing. Wind, chimney sweeping etc would dislodge the chimney while the stove pipe stayed put. Very dangerous situation! I’ve been to several that had tons of creosote in and around the support box.
The solution was a DSAC. Basically a male pipe end with the tailpiece attached to it. If yours is a dsac, it should lock into the pipe, not spin freely. Your best bet would be to look up the pipe to make sure.

 

[Woody Stover]

OK, thanks webby! I'll be over there in a few minutes, and will check it to make sure everything is kosher. I've got a mirror and flashlight. It really didn't feel to me like the tailpiece was unscrewing, just spinning.
I was trying to slip the connector up higher so I could slip the new stove flue collar under it, then slide the connector back down into the collar. It doesn't appear that will work; As you can see in the pic, the tailpiece flares out at the top, and I can't get the connector up any higher. I'm thinking maybe I can take the front and back legs off one side of the stove, lower that side, and slip the stove under it.
It also appears that the bottom of the connector pipe O.D. is a little smaller than the stove flue collar I.D. You think I'm gonna need an appliance adaptor, or is a small gap acceptable? I'll see exactly how big the gap is when I get over there, and update. Stove is a PE Alderlea T5. She appears to have a little more stack height than I thought, maybe 15', so that was a pleasant surprise.

 

[webby3650]

Sounds like it may be a good time to have her invest in new pipe with a slip!

 

[Woody Stover]

Sounds like it may be a good time to have her invest in new pipe with a slip!

Yeah, I've been thinking about that, might be easier to clean, but I think the baffle is easy to remove, so no big deal I don't think. Plus she is smarting from the cash out-flow, new stove plus some new furniture. When I said that maybe we wouldn't have to buy new pipe, her eyes lit up.
Check out this table that a woodworker nearby made for her.


Looks like the tailpiece just slips into the Class A. But what are those dents in the Class A??


I'm not a fan of all this folded-seam pipe, either...

 

[Woody Stover]

I guess I'll go upstairs and see if I'm able to get a look at the support box. Roof gets low over there, though..

 

[webby3650]

Ohh man.. that looks like it’s had a flue fire or 2 that has distorted the pipe. You better put a new chimney in the budget it looks like. Sorry bout it.

 

[Woody Stover]

I couldn't get to the support box in the attic, and the plate on the bottom of the box is riveted, not screwed. So I guess I'm 'going with throttle-up.'

 

[begreen]

Ohh man.. that looks like it’s had a flue fire or 2 that has distorted the pipe. You better put a new chimney in the budget it looks like. Sorry bout it.

Yes, that chimney pipe looks awful.

 

[Woody Stover]

Ohh man.. that looks like it’s had a flue fire or 2 that has distorted the pipe. You better put a new chimney in the budget it looks like. Sorry bout it.

Ugh. I don't even know how I would get to that. There's a bunch of trusses and what-not up there. I crawled back toward the chimney through part of it, then looked to the right toward where I figured the chimney should be, and saw another bunch of truss-type stuff further down the roof slope. Or could I just work from the roof, twist the Class A, pull it out of the support, drop in new chimney, and twist it to lock it down? I wonder if Selkirk has still has chimney that would work with the old support box? I'm at a loss as to how to proceed...

 

[Woody Stover]

That must have happened back in the days before we knew about dry wood. She never said anything about a chimney fire. Could have happened when she was gone. It looks like that seam held, though. I guess I'm impressed by that...

 

[webby3650]

You can replace all of those components without doing much of any attic work most likely.

 

[Woody Stover]

You can replace all of those components without doing much of any attic work most likely.

"All?" The chimney and cathedral support box, or just the damaged chimney?

 

[webby3650]

Its roughly 20 years old and has been used hard. If you could find the pieces, I can’t Imagine you’d want to do all that work and leave old pipe in there.

 

[Woody Stover]

Its roughly 20 years old and has been used hard. If you could find the pieces, I can’t Imagine you’d want to do all that work and leave old pipe in there.

Yeah, she couldn't run it real low, but other than a possible flue fire I don't think she ran it real hard. Then again, it's only the last eight years or so that I started getting her dry wood, and got her using the flue meter to keep startups under control, so who knows what was happening all those years that I wasn't keeping an eye on her, especially if she was heeding the old admonishment to "burn hot once a day to keep creosote at bay."
I finally tried to seal the seam leaks in her stove (Dutchwest 2460) a few years back and it helped but not enough to get a long burn out of it. I might re-build it and stick it in my BIL's basement to replace his old VC Resolute, 1980. That's if I can get the warped panels to go back together after I re-cement the seams.
The way the stove was burning, I don't expect her wood usage to go up at all, going to a non-cat.

So I guess you're saying, replace the support box as well as the chimney? How do I get to it? I was thinking that it was installed as the house was built, so it might be harder to access the support box now, than it was when building the house and everything was out in the open. If I have to, I will try to crawl back in there again and get a better look, and some pics. I have to go back up there anyway when I move her OTA TV antenna upstairs. I have to empty some stuff out of her closet and tape up a sheet, as the attic access is in there...I can't just easily stroll up there at any time.

 

[webby3650]

The support box is nailed in through the sides of the box. Once the pipe is gone you can pull the nails with a cats paw and hammer. The trim that comes with the new box usually covers the old hole, unless it’s currently 8”.
The only reason to change the box is so you can upgrade to SS insulated chimney. Super-vent from menards is going to be the best price you can find.