Missionary in Albania Needs Some Advice.

I have read, here or on a Selkirk (Metalbest Chimney Products) forum, that the max desirable cumulative total of (elbows and tee's) bends in a given chimney assembly should be no more than 180 degrees. I can't say that's written in stone, but it was an interesting rule-of-thumb. Looking at your assembly, and assuming there is an additional 90 bend (elbow or tee) behind the wall into the vertical run of the chimney, you may have as much as 360 degrees.

Another thing I haven't seen mentioned, does the chimney have enough build-up inside or soot accumulation in an area that it needs a cleaning? I know you mentioned that the assembly off the stove was newly made, and that you had an insert placed at the top of the chimney to aid draft, but I didn't know if you knew about the condition of the rest of the run in between, or if you'd already done enough burning over the past months to cause build-up. I began thinking about this, because I just examined our pipes after one month of heavy burning, and we already had 1/8" of fly ash build up - so I'm going to need to get a brush and keep on it every month or two.

Also, do you have a manual pipe damper, and are you adjusting it when needed?

One other thought, does anyone you know have a manometer so that you can check the actual draft?

Concerning what kind of coal you have, I can only speak to my experience with our Sub-Bit, and I think with our stuff, if you went to polish it with a cloth it would ignite - so it doesn't seem like that's what you've got.

Kielanders wrote:I have read, here or on a Selkirk (Metalbest Chimney Products) forum, that the max desirable cumulative total of (elbows and tee's) bends in a given chimney assembly should be no more than 180 degrees. I can't say that's written in stone, but it was an interesting rule-of-thumb.

Looking at your assembly, and assuming there is an additional 90 bend (elbow or tee) behind the wall into the vertical run of the chimney, you may have as much as 360 degrees.

Another thing I haven't seen mentioned, does the chimney have enough build-up in side or soot accumulation in an area that it needs a cleaning?

I know you mentioned that the assembly off the stove was newly made, and that you had an insert placed at the top of the chimney to aid draft, but I didn't know if you knew about the condition of the rest of the run in between, or if you'd already done enough burning over the past months to cause build-up.

I began thinking about this, because I just examined our pipes after one month of heavy burning, and we already had 1/8" of fly ash build up - so I'm going to need to get a brush and keep on it every month or two.

One other thought, does anyone you know have a manometer so that you can check the actual draft?

Sorry if someone already brought these items up and I missed it in the thread.

Good points thanks. There is no one I know of with a manometer, even the "pros" here really don't know what they are doing. They just connect and go. It's not uncommon to see 10 feet of horizontal run going across a room to the chimney connection... Small leaky pipe, not good. I have done my research and tried to set things up to a higher standard so we can have a more reliable better running stove, but there are still some tweaks to be done. I think probably the best thing to do at this point is get rid of one elbow and sleeve the chimney which is quite large, probably 24x12 or so. I tried to get the pipe guy to do that (put a sleeve in) when he put the extension on the top, but he said the extension would be fine. There really is little scientific know-how in this area so convincing someone that using a 13cm pipe when I am supposed to have 15cm pipe is REALLY hard. It's really quite frustrating...

alasavio wrote: I think probably the best thing to do at this point is get rid of one elbow and sleeve the chimney which is quite large, probably 24x12 or so. I tried to get the pipe guy to do that (put a sleeve in) when he put the extension on the top, but he said the extension would be fine. There really is little scientific know-how in this area so convincing someone that using a 13cm pipe when I am supposed to have 15cm pipe is REALLY hard. It's really quite frustrating...

If you can connect to the inside of that thimble and run 6" pipe to the top of that chimney, you will fix your draft problem. You won't have to worry about those elbows either... Right now, your chimney is essentially the height of your interior section of 6" pipe. You likely won't need that fan in the pipe either. How high is the overall chimney? dumping a 6" flue into a 24X12 is only slightly better than just running straight to the outdoors from that thimble connection...

I see moving the stove is not an option... I should have paid more attention to your description...

dj

Looks like you are burning lignite which I did burn for a while tell I found some sub-bit coal to replace it with.
The only way I could get it started was to start a good hard wood fire and after it was burning good then add the coal.
My proublem with it was I was away for 11 hrs at a time and after the shake down would not have enough coals left to restart the new coal.
To remedy this I would add 3 or 4 splits of wood to the remaing coal and let that get started good then add the coal kind of like starting al over agian.
Got good heat from it but like the sub-bit coal 1000 times better to light.

Sometimes an oversize chimney can be improved by simply closing down the hole in the chimney top with a piece of sheet metal with a smaller hole in it. It will help to keep more heat in the chimney in the same way a damper keeps more heat in the stove. Cheap and easy to try.

24x12 ID or OD on the stack?

franco b wrote:Sometimes an oversize chimney can be improved by simply closing down the hole in the chimney top with a piece of sheet metal with a smaller hole in it. It will help to keep more heat in the chimney in the same way a damper keeps more heat in the stove. Cheap and easy to try.

alasavio wrote:"The stovepipe is connected to a large rectangular chimney that extends well above the house. (I paid to have a sheet metal insert made that is fitted in the chimney at the top of the house to increase the draft)"

Franco b - I think he already did that... But it's not totally clear to me what this part is... I think we need a complete picture of his chimney, inside and outside. Dimensions: internal flue dimensions, height of chimney, chimney cap etc.

Alasavio, Go take a ton of pictures and get some measurements. Lets see the outside of the house, chimney, the whole system...

dj

Berlin wrote:24x12 ID or OD on the stack?

Yep I'm thinking thats OD? That would be a big ID chimney for a one family house but who knows? I have 3 chimneys on this place. One is a 8"x8", the other 2 are 12"x12"s ID. If that is infact his inside diameter, then a liner would certainly be the way to go.