Stove Pipe Oval to Round Connector on Defiant

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AsylumResident

Feeling the Heat
Mar 23, 2023
271
NE Wisconsin
I had my stove installed “professionally”. I have found a few issues that they have had to come back and make right so now I find myself questioning everything about their install. Today I noticed my stove pipe was sitting a little weird where it connects to the oval opening on the stove so naturally I had to take a closer look. There was a collar that fit over the connection of the stove pipe into the oval opening. I took it off and found why it looked off to me.
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The left side sits on top of the rim and the right side fits slightly over the rim. I would expect both sides to fit over the rim. So I took the stovepipe off to try and adjust it to fit better. When I took it off there was a pretty good black crust built up at the base which made quite a mess as it fell apart. I've only had about a dozen burns in the stove. I was also unable to get it to seat well into the oval opening. I am going to post a few posts to try and keep things straight.
 
When I removed the stovepipe I could see that the liner doesn't sit centered inside of the stovepipe which I'm sure would cause the seating issue at the connection to the stove. In the picture there is less of a gap on the left side.
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While I messed it for awhile to get it to seat decent ontop of the stove I realized there is a lip inside the front of the oval opening. There is a lip towards the front but not around the back.
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When I try to seat the stovepipe in the opening and make it level up and down there I'd a gap at the back.
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So to get it to sit level, but loose, there is a gap at the back and gap on the left side.
 
If I mess with it long enough I can get it seat really well and solid but in order to do that it sits off at a hard angle.
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Is there supposed to be gaps in the oval connector to the stove top opening? I haven't had any smoke come out there.

Should there be anything here to seal these gaps or do I have an issue with the oval connector?

Obviously a decent amount of cold air is being sucked in because of how much crusty build up I had over a very short period of time. How do I make this right because I don't think it's right?
 
i ain't no expect (and i KNOW they will be chiming in soon) but this entire set up looks flocked up.
 
I put everything back to the way it was and took a few pictures.
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One last question for the moment. There were no screws at the stovetop connection nor at the elbow connection to the pipe going through the wall. Are screws at those locations a recommendation or a requirement?
 
This looks like double-wall stove pipe. If it is, then only the inner liner has to seat well. The gap on the outer liner is not relevant, there should be no smoke going through the outer jacket.
 
This looks like double-wall stove pipe. If it is, then only the inner liner has to seat well. The gap on the outer liner is not relevant, there should be no smoke going through the outer jacket.
That makes sense to me, but when I have it set in place there is a gap on the left side inner liner. Not a large gap but evident. Should it be tight or mostly tight? Also, should there be that wonderful black crusty build up right at this seam?
 
I messed around with it some more today. The entire inner liner fits inside of the stove top oval. The only challenge I see is on the left side, there is about a 1/2” air gap between the inner liner and the oval rim. Is that an acceptable air gap or should I try and pack that gap with something?
 
I messed around with it some more today. The entire inner liner fits inside of the stove top oval. The only challenge I see is on the left side, there is about a 1/2” air gap between the inner liner and the oval rim. Is that an acceptable air gap or should I try and pack that gap with something?
I'm not an expert either but if its just 1 gap i'd fill it with the cord/gasket used to seal woodstove parts (ex. glass to door seal).
 
The new adaptor could work. I have a double wall oval to round right now so if I was to go this route I would also need to buy a different piece to go from that connector to the elbow. I think I’m going to put gasket material between the two stove pipe layers on the oval to round I have and see if I can get it to seat well enough. I appreciate the suggestion.
 
@Woodsplitter67 I did try that but there isn't much play between the inner liner and outer wall. I'm going to test out having some gasket material between the inner liner and the outer wall to see if that reduces the amount of build up at that connection.
 
That’s the piece I am struggling with. My oval adapter is double wall. View attachment 317296

I guess I missed the front view.. I looked at it from the side..

do you need to trim 1 side that may be long to get it to seat better.. I think maybe mine needed to be trimed
 
That is another option. I'm going to spend some more time with it later today and see what makes the most sense.
 
We have the oval to 6" double wall adapter - the outer piece doesn't really sit prettily on the top. There should be a band that is screwed tight to hold the oval adapter to the top of the stove. Overall, it's a bit of a janky solution and doesn't seem to match up with the quality/price of VC stoves. AsylumResident - our oval to round adapter sits on our stove top about the same way as your initial picture in the thread.

I'll try and snap a pic of ours
 
Sounds like we have the same thing, which makes sense. The issue is the gap I have on the left side. There is about a 1/2" gap between the inner crimped liner and the oval opening that basically allows air to be sucked directly into the back of the stove. Quite a but of creosote build up there for only a few burns. I'm not really concerned with the outer wall.
 
Our oval to round pipe came with some sheet metal screws to use to anchor it to the top of the stove. They were too short to reach the inner crimped pipe, so I ended up buying longer ones, drilling pilot holes in the crimp and screwing them in to hold it in place.

Yeah, it definitely looks like your oval to round adapter is out of alignment in regards to the picture of the bottom view showing the inner pipe nearly touching the edge of the outer pipe on one side.
 
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