Stove pipe upgrade

[Squisher]

And top of mind for safety. Would be to check the cleanliness of the system before doing or tryIng anything different. To the OP if you have been burning cooler, don't let er rip until you check/clean your flue. If you have bad buildup it could light it off. And on the other side if you have been burning crazy hot consistently. Same thing. Check the system for integrity/cleanliness.

 

[Highbeam]

Two concerns, the smell that brought the OP here and second the proper target temperatures for stove pipe surface. The "Ideal" range on my condar surface meters runs from about 400 to like 650 and I sure wouldn't want anybody running up to 650.

The smell is weird. I will set off the interconnected smoke alarms every time I hit 450 during warm up with my shop stove. It's loud. There is no visible smoke but a hot metal smell and some smoke alarms are sensitive to heat rise. Hot metal smell to me might be a concerning smell to the next guy.

I've always thought that class A is rated 1000 continuous and much higher intermittently as in the case of a chimney fire. I would not intentionally want to exceed the continuous rating.

 

[bholler]

I've always thought that class A is rated 1000 continuous and much higher intermittently as in the case of a chimney fire. I would not intentionally want to exceed the continuous rating.

They do not specify what the intermittent is for but regardless even if you hit 700 And you assume that the temp on the inner wall of the chimney is double that (which is not true at all) That only gets you to 1400. Well within the limits of the pipe for intermittent temps. Yes it is to high and running that hot many times will damage your stove. But again you said 400 was "way to hot" and that is what we are saying is totally inaccurate.

 

[webby3650]

They do not specify what the intermittent is for but regardless even if you hit 700 And you assume that the temp on the inner wall of the chimney is double that (which is not true at all) That only gets you to 1400. Well within the limits of the pipe for intermittent temps. Yes it is to high and running that hot many times will damage your stove. But again you said 400 was "way to hot" and that is what we are saying is totally inaccurate.

I don't feel it's too hot to be safe. It's just a waste of heat up the flue, no reason to run that hot on a regular basis.

 

[Squisher]

Again it shows the importance of the details though as my 400 at 12" is closer to Bholler's 300-320 at 20"s.

I don't feel that I waste a lot of fuel and being an interior masonry chimney I find my setup very efficient for heat retention but I do feel there's benefit to me with my setup running on the hot side. I see return from that from the interior masonry and with two 90's to compensate for heating up my flue is what I need to drive a nice strong draft. Plus I desire a lot of heat, so I'm burning hot anyways. And it keeps my flues clean. So it's a win win situation for me.

 

[RockCastile]

Wow, y'all are faster with replies than I can keep up with....Let me try to answer best I can some of the follow up questions. Most importantly, my chimney's currently very clean and has been kept pretty clean throughout, just brushed last weekend and got very little creosote to clean up. This is definitely not wood smoke and is definitely coming from the pipe and not the stove. I'm using a Condor Medallion stove top thermometer, a liTtle bit crude trying to read accurately but looks like upper 200s up to a little over 400 is its optimal pipe temp range. I place the magnet about 12 inches up the pipe and always damp it down before it gets more than slightly out of the "best" zone.

From the comments above, I think I will try running on up higher pipe temp than I have before and see if that purges the fumes for good. (Like one of the replies above said, my smoke detector also will go off every time the therm goes a hair above 400 on the pipe temp)

On Woodland Direct website, they describe their Champion single wall black pipe as fume free from the very first use. Rockland also makes the same claim about their RockVent single wall pipe.

I'm probably missing the some of the other questions from above but I'll keep an eye out for follow up.

 

[RockCastile]

....sorry, correction, i wrote Rockland brand pipe, I meant Rockford.

 

[webby3650]

Is this pipe powder coated rather than painted? I just don't see how they could claim this? Or more importantly, why this would ever matter?
Is your pipe run pretty tall by chance? Maybe you are hitting 400 @12", but never very hot up high and the curing process is slowly making its way up the pipe.

 

[RockCastile]

My pipe is not more than 6 feet total. But I suppose possible it's just been curing little by little at temps not quite high enough to cure it all out for good.

 

[webby3650]

My pipe is not more than 6 feet total. But I suppose possible it's just been curing little by little at temps not quite high enough to cure it all out for good.

If you've really let er rip a time or two it should be done. Have you let it run hot for any length of time?

 

[RockCastile]

I don't think I've ever let it get to 500 on the therm, and certainly not for more than a few minutes if I ever did.
(Also btw, it finally came to me, my pipe is by American Metal Products)

 

[webby3650]

I don't think I've ever let it get to 500 on the therm, and certainly not for more than a few minutes if I ever did.
(Also btw, it finally came to me, my pipe is by American Metal Products)

I would certainly want to upgrade from that crap-lock pipe. I doubt switching to double wall is a necessarily a must. Move your thermometer up to 18"-20" and see what your temps are.

 

[bholler]

I don't feel it's too hot to be safe. It's just a waste of heat up the flue, no reason to run that hot on a regular basis.

I agree completly

 

[bholler]

300-320

250 to 275 I would not want to cruise over 300. To much waste.

On Woodland Direct website, they describe their Champion single wall black pipe as fume free from the very first use.

That is Olympia pipe

 

[Highbeam]

They do not specify what the intermittent is for but regardless even if you hit 700 And you assume that the temp on the inner wall of the chimney is double that (which is not true at all) That only gets you to 1400. Well within the limits of the pipe for intermittent temps. Yes it is to high and running that hot many times will damage your stove. But again you said 400 was "way to hot" and that is what we are saying is totally inaccurate.

I never said 400 was way too hot. somebody else?

 

[bholler]

I never said 400 was way too hot. somebody else?

Really?

Whoa there! You are getting it way too hot.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

ventis claims it. And it is better but still not fume free

I think I have Ventis double wall and I don't recall any fumes after install.

 

[bholler]

I think I have Ventis double wall and I don't recall any fumes after install.

Yes the double wall is much better because the temps on the painted surfaces are much lower. The single wall still has a little smell but not anywhere near as bad as other pipe.

 

[Highbeam]

Really?

Thanks for proving it. Words are important. He was burning to at least 500.

 

[bholler]

Thanks for proving it. Words are important. He was burning to at least 500.

He never said that he said he brought it up to 400 and btw 500 is by no means way to hot.

 

[Highbeam]

I see where he admits 500 and I think that's too hot. 500 is the red line because it corresponds to 1000 degree flue temps which is the maximum continuous rating for chimney pipe. Safety first.

 

[bholler]

I see where he admits 500 and I think that's too hot. 500 is the red line because it corresponds to 1000 degree flue temps which is the maximum continuous rating for chimney pipe. Safety first.

No he says

I don't think I've ever let it get to 500 on the therm, and certainly not for more than a few minutes if I ever did.
(Also btw, it finally came to me, my pipe is by American Metal Products)

So that easily qualifies for the intermittent temp qualification.

And you are still assuming that the internal temp is twice the external temp which is relatively accurate at the hottest point which is not the edge. Also he is measuring at 12" off the stove that temp will quickly drop from there.

So again no where near way to hot. 500 is perfectly safe intermittently. Yes is you ran there all the time you could eventually do some damage (probably to the stove) But that clearly is not what he is doing.

 

[Squisher]

I'm going to put a magnet thermometer on my stovepipe at about 18-20" and see what kind of difference I see. You all have me curious now.

To the OP, that snaplock single wall is crappy. I'd definetly consider upgrading it as you have been. And if the cost is acceptable I'd go double wall. I'm on single wall but when it's done I think I'm going to upgrade to double wall. It's a far superior product.