VC Winter Warm Small Installation

[fconway3]

Hello,

I will soon be installing a WW small into my fireplace. I got a good deal on one that is almost new. The question I have is this:

The person I bought it from had it installed in the following manner:

About 5 feet of stainless flex pipe extending from the collar on the insert up into the clay liner.

He had it sealed at the point where the damper was by sandwiching some white fiberglass (at least it looks like fiberglass) insulation between two pieces of sheetmetal. He had one of these "sandwiches" on each side of the flex pipe and they were cut to fit tightly and seal well.

I would like to duplicate this method because it seems fairly simple and fairly cheap. I would use his pieces, but my damper opening is slightly larger, so there is a gap. The problem I have is that I'm not sure the insulation thing is safe. I found insulation at Lowes that looks the same, but it said on the package that it was not to be used to seal flues. Any thoughts on this or does anyone know an alternative material rated for such a thing?

Another alternative I have came across is high-temp silicone to seal a sheetmetal plate in place. My question here is: If I go this route, can the silicone be used directly on the flex pipe?

I appreciate any input and opinions. I really want to do this installation myself, because money is an issue, but I want to do it safely. My chimney is clean and was inspected by the home instpector when I bought the house and also by an uncle that knows a bit about them, so I feel I'm okay there. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Frank

 

[webbie]

See the new article I posted on how to make a sheet metal plate:

It's at:
https://www.hearth.com/articles/99_0_1_0_C.html

 

[saichele]

Most of the time you don;t insulate the damper block off. It's just a piece of fairly significant metal cut to fit.

The white stuff the previous guy had is probably cerawool, a special High-temp insulation. Where fiberglass tends to be, well, fibrous, the cerawool tends to have kind of a pilly look, more like chunks of styrofoam.

The trick with insulating any of this stuff is the temps - 600-1000F isn't unheard of, particularly with a winterwarm with a cat., and should there be a chimney fire, you're looking at 2000F. Furnace cement is probably the best for most things, and there is apparently some silicone that will go over 1000F. BOSS 136 or something like that.

Steve

 

[seaken]

Hello,

I understand about wanting to do it yourself to save money. That's fine. But there is no way we can properly comment on whether or not your installation will be safe from here. If you take the time to study the possibilites and understand what 'safe' means in your case you may end up okay. But the only way to get it right is to do an on-site evaluation as a professional chimney specialist. That might sound condescending and it is not meant to belittle anyone. It's just the truth of the matter. Chimney safety is a complex discipline and is rarely understood by house inspectors or uncles. Sometiimes the house inspector or uncle is also a chimney specialist, in which case they would likley be a better choice for advise than this forum. But if your uncle is not a chimney specialist I would recommend that you pay a few real specialists to come out to your site and give you advise. I would charge about $100 for the visit in my local area, but you would get better infomation that way. Of course, not everyone calling themselves a chimney specialist is truly a competent contractor. Get referrences and testimonials. As usual, buyer beware.

Sean