Flu pipe connections

[ncboman]

talking woodburning space heater to chimney flu pipes.

Cleaning mine up and one is rusted thru (couple of pin holes) and since I have new ones, I decided to use them. My heater uses one section up from the top of the heater to an elbow where another section runs horizontal to the chimney intake. I'm reusing the same elbow as it looks ok.

Is there a 'correct' method in direction of male to female connection at the elbow or does it matter? :rolleyes:

[M99ER]

It doesn`t really matter but if you have a choice it should be male to female in the direction of flow for the least turbulence.

[Bill Gunn]

Female on bottom, male on top (Of course). Pitch down back toward the stove on the horizontal runs....

Keeps the rain, snow water & creosote inside the pipe

[Sidekick]

Female on bottom, male on top (Of course).

Dude, If that's all you got in your playbook you're missing out! ;)

[Bill Gunn]

Dude, If that's all you got in your playbook you're missing out! ;)

Why, You interested :confused: :confused: :eek:

I might be an old dog, but I can still bury a bone... (Just not in your back yard :D )

[ncboman]

I knew before I posted, this will go south quick. :D

[greenjeans]

whenever connecting pipes make sure you connect the crimped end the direction of the air flow is moving so no leakage can hapen

[Bayrat]

Everything I've read about the proper way to hook up stove flue pipes says what Bill said for the same reason.


Female on bottom, male on top (Of course). Pitch down back toward the stove on the horizontal runs....

Keeps the rain, snow water & creosote inside the pipe

I did it the opposite way with my first stove and had crap leaking out of every joint.


As far as air leaks, it doesn't matter how the joints go. Because of the pressure differances inside vs outside the pipe, and air being a light-weight gas that moves easily, it will leak room air into any unsealed joint no matter if the connections are male, or female down.

Bayrat

[Rock Chuck]

whenever connecting pipes make sure you connect the crimped end the direction of the air flow is moving so no leakage can hapen

I did that the 1st time I installed a wood burner. Every time it rained, creosote ran down the outside of the pipes. It was a big mess. As said before, the female end of the pipe goes UP to keep water inside the pipe.

[greenjeans]

I dont know what you did wrong to have rain come down the chimney through your pipe instalation. How is your chimney toped off?

You want to pitch up wards torwards the chimney. Crimped or male end the direction or the airflow make sure all of your connections are tight i dont know the materal you are using if its regular round pipe though two zip screws into every joint you joining.

[Bayrat]

Creosote doesn't go on dry, it's a wet, gooey tar like stuff that can get runny in houses with high humidity, or during damp, rainy weather, and or, burning wood that is not dried enough. It can go on wet enough (creosote condensation) that it runs down the insides of the flue pipe. When it gets to a male-end-up joint it runs out the joint and down the outside of the pipes.

And it's not just a problem for wood burning stoves. Male-end-up, my coal stove will rain coal ash dust every time I shake the grates.

And, if you ever have a chimney fire, the fire will burn along the creosote tracks like a slow burning fuse right out the joint following the creosote tracks. Even happens in old, unlined brick chimneys where creosote has leaked in between loose bricks over the years. The fire can leave the chimney flue following the creosote tracks all the way to the wood framing of the house.

Bayrat

[ncboman]

If you burn a couple of 2 liter plastic bottles once a month, the creosote dries, curls up, and most of it falls to the bottom for easy cleanout.

I just scoop it out and recycle it in the heater. :)

[Rock Chuck]

Never heard of that one before.

[ncboman]

I'm not sure I should have posted it. :rolleyes:

[ncboman]

I googled for confirmation and found none but did get amused.

Perhaps my camera can confirm it. I burned bottles day before yesterday. ;)

[Bayrat]

Maybe it's not the plastic. Was there any 'shine' stored in them? :D


The hardware stores, Home Depote, Lowes, all sell 'powders' you burn once in awhile that are supposed to remove the creosote. Since I don't burn wood anymore and it's not needed with the coal stoves, I've never tried them. Don't know if they work, but this brand has been around for a long time.

http://www.rutland.com/productinfo.php?product_id=4

Bayrat.

[Bill Gunn]

I've been heating exclusively with wood now for 32+ years with one of the original large Fisher Stoves. I do have an oil furnace for backup, but haven't bought oil in 4 years now (I am using it up a little at a time on purpose now, just to get a fresh tank fill).
I found that the biggest reason for excessive creosote build up is that it's such a PITA to get up on the roof and clean it out. About 2 + years ago I got a Gardus #RCH205 SootEater Chimney Cleaning System (with a set of extensions because my chimney is +/-25' tall) that I just hook up to a 18 volt drill.
The chimney is cleaned in 15 min. and I never leave the ground.
It is a 2 person job to handle the rod, and turn it up into the chimney through the clean-out door, but it is VERY easy to do.
It can be done by one person by only connecting a few rods at a time, but I put all 27 feet together, and give it hell in one fell swoop ;)

Two runs up and down is all it ever took to get 'er done... :)


http://www.amazon.com/Gardus-RCH205-SootEater-Chim-System/dp/B0010H5JXA

........

[Bayrat]

Being an old Victorian house that originally had cedar shake roof, my chimneys are 37 feet high to keep sparks away. I used to use a chimney cleaning service. I finally got tired of paying more each year to make a mess, so I bought the brushes and rods so I could make my own mess. :D

Shortly after that I got into coal stoves, so no need to clean chimneys except once every 3 years, the coal ash dust that collects in the chimney base and about a coffee mug's worth of dust in the 6 foot flue pipe.

However, I finally got to use the brush again. This summer a Squirrel had built a nest in the top of the chimney and I used the brush to pull the nest material down to the clean-out door. Then, shortly after that, I used the pellet gun to turn the nester into stew meat. ;)

Bayrat.