Stove pipe discoloration

[Snorch]

Hi all- first time poster, but I've made great use of the forums while getting to know my wood stove over the past year- so thanks!

My wife noticed that our stovepipe darkens a lot when there's a fire going. It's normally a bright red, but turns a dark shade of burgundy when it gets good and hot.

It's a double-walled pipe. The outside at least is steel, and painted red. I don't own an IR thermometer, but it gets too hot to touch- which I'd assume is to be expected?

It may have always darkened this way and we're just noticing, I can't be sure- the lighting is such that I doubt I'd have noticed it.

Can anyone assure us that this is normal and working as intended, or point us towards a solution if this is, in fact, abnormal?



Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Might be ok. We have a cranberry red enamel little Jotul that does the same thing. When the stove gets hot the color darkens almost down to wine red. Maybe get a surface stove pipe thermometer and see what the temp reads there.

 

[Snorch]

Might be ok. We have a cranberry red enamel little Jotul that does the same thing. When the stove gets hot the color darkens almost down to wine red. Maybe get a surface stove pipe thermometer and see what the temp reads there.

Thanks. I'd very much like to have a means of checking the temperature. What kind of temperature should one expect to see in a healthy system?

I know that higher temperatures are actually good for preventing buildup & deposits, but is there a limit that you don't want to cross?

I think the photo I included probably makes it look more darkened than it is... The top is more shadowed than the firebox.

 

[begreen]

Yes, the darkening doesn't look bad, but I don't know much about this fireplace. Contact the dealer and/or the stove mfg and ask if the paint darkening is normal and what expected surface temps would be.

 

[Snorch]

Yes, the darkening doesn't look bad, but I don't know much about this fireplace. Contact the dealer and/or the stove mfg and ask if the paint darkening is normal and what expected surface temps would be.

Thank you, I probably should have hunted this information down earlier.

Should anyone find it interesting, it seems to be a pretty uncommon model- a Sears/Roebuck 155.84175. Made for mobile homes. I am definitely not in a mobile home, haha. The owner built this house as a summer home and it seems like it was furnished with leftovers from other properties.

Pretty neat though. Thanks again.

 

[moresnow]

Might be worth going upstairs/into attic etc. to check temps on the nearest combustibles near the pipe as it passes through the ceiling and or roof. I know I did this many times the first year after I installed it. I slept much better after making these checks!

 

[Rickb]

Using a cheapy ryobi non contact temperature sensor mine will get up over 300F while the cat comes up to temp. Once its up and i turn it down it drops below 200 pretty quickly.

I am measuring just 4-5 inches up the dbl wall pipe.

 

[begreen]

Thank you, I probably should have hunted this information down earlier.

Should anyone find it interesting, it seems to be a pretty uncommon model- a Sears/Roebuck 155.84175. Made for mobile homes. I am definitely not in a mobile home, haha. The owner built this house as a summer home and it seems like it was furnished with leftovers from other properties.

Pretty neat though. Thanks again.

Someone made it for Sears. Maybe Malm?