Coalpail.com Forum

I am installing an Alaska Kodiak coal stove in place of my wood stove. Would I be better off just pulling my Current SS liner soon before it disintegrates and possibly caves in in a few years ? From what I have read, I might be able to get by with just having the unlined good condition masonry chimney if I am ONLY burning coal?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

If the chimney is in good condition and reasonably sized for the stove, I would pull the liner out.

If it is a stainless steel rated for coal, it will last a lot longer than you think, and in that case you may want to leave it there, it may give yo a better seal and a better draft, the hot air column rising is what produces draft, and sometimes it's hard to heat that air if the chimney is too cold with big mass. Lucky for you a stoker won't have the trouble since it has its own combustion blower, and does not rely on draft to start the coal.

CoalUserWannabe wrote:If it is a stainless steel rated for coal, it will last a lot longer than you think, and in that case you may want to leave it there, it may give yo a better seal and a better draft, the hot air column rising is what produces draft, and sometimes it's hard to heat that air if the chimney is too cold with big mass. Lucky for you a stoker won't have the trouble since it has its own combustion blower, and does not rely on draft to start the coal.

stainless "rated for coal" ? that would be 316 or 316ti which won't last long. I've seen 316/ti fail with oil, I've seen them fail with coal, and there was a 316ti liner that failed in about three years with anthracite coal. After tearing down stainless stacks that appeared (from the exterior) to be in good shape, the interior was pinholed and rotted. I tore two out in the last year like this, one with oil, and one with only a few years on coal.

Stainless doesn't last with coal and is a poor choice. If someone has actually inspected the inside of their stainless stack or liner after 5+ years of coal use and had little or no damage they would be the exception, not the rule.

remove the liner and don't look back. be sure that your stack is high enough for your home to have proper operation especially if it's a large exterior stack - ideally 3' higher than the peak regardless of where it exits, remember the 10/2 rule is a minimum requirement, NOT a recommendation!

Stack being chimney I would guess & 3' above your roof ridge line is perfect. I agree 100% with Berlin on losing the SS liner--I've seen them disintegrate & plug the chimney & that is a pain in the butt clearing it out. I believe someone here on the FORUM had that problem. Sounds like a great move on the stove my friend. PS--welcome to the FORUM

Berlin wrote:stainless "rated for coal" ? that would be 316 or 316ti which won't last long. I've seen 316/ti fail with oil, I've seen them fail with coal, and there was a 316ti liner that failed in about three years with anthracite coal. After tearing down stainless stacks that appeared (from the exterior) to be in good shape, the interior was pinholed and rotted.

Now you have me worried. My coal stove goes into a Class A chimney, Metalbestos brand I think, but I have no idea what grade of stainless it is. Is it going to disintegrate? And which will go first -- the bottom where it is hot, or the top where it is not? I have noticed some very minor interior pitting each springtime when I clean it, but I am only looking up from the bottom so the top could be like swiss cheese and I would not know.

Thanks all. I don't think I will have trouble with draft as I have not had any problems with the draft on the wood stove I am using and soon taking out. My chimney is least 25 feet tall and the top is about 8 feet taller than highest interior ceiling.

Glennjenny wrote:Thanks all. I don't think I will have trouble with draft as I have not had any problems with the draft on the wood stove I am using and soon taking out. My chimney is least 25 feet tall and the top is about 8 feet taller than highest interior ceiling.

Forget the interior the chimney needs to be 3+ feet taller than the highest point of the house, roof line, ridge line, peak, OUTSIDE.

Yea, I was trying to figure where that interior calculation came from. 3' above roof ridge as stated above.

I have been running a tile line chimney for 30 years. 28 with a hand fed now with a stoker. I am barely above my peak with a chimney cap installed and have great draft. Just because mine works well, other factors in your install may require following the rules listed previously.

rberq wrote:

Berlin wrote:stainless "rated for coal" ? that would be 316 or 316ti which won't last long. I've seen 316/ti fail with oil, I've seen them fail with coal, and there was a 316ti liner that failed in about three years with anthracite coal. After tearing down stainless stacks that appeared (from the exterior) to be in good shape, the interior was pinholed and rotted.

Now you have me worried. My coal stove goes into a Class A chimney, Metalbestos brand I think, but I have no idea what grade of stainless it is. Is it going to disintegrate? And which will go first -- the bottom where it is hot, or the top where it is not? I have noticed some very minor interior pitting each springtime when I clean it, but I am only looking up from the bottom so the top could be like swiss cheese and I would not know.

well, my experience has shown me two things, it's usually along the whole stack with one exception where the top few sections were totally shot and the rest had just minor pinholes on 316 stainless with, I believe, about 3 years with coal. In my experience they fail quickly, but there's a few people on this site that claim theirs has held up with coal and had no observable damage (however, I would bet differently if they took it apart).

With coal you have the trifecta of sufur corrosion, chlorine corrosion, and iron pitting corrosion from the iron in the flyash. (this is why stainless stacks aren't supposed to be cleaned with steel brushes - bits of steel become embedded in the stainless and allow corrosion to form below the passivation layer)

Berlin wrote:... 316 stainless with, I believe, about 3 years with coal. In my experience they fail quickly ...

So -- is there ANY Class A stainless chimney suitable for coal? I don't know what "316 stainless" means. Are all Class A chimneys made of 316 stainless, or are there other types?

Bottom line, Nothing is better than tile, period....

rberq wrote:

Berlin wrote:... 316 stainless with, I believe, about 3 years with coal. In my experience they fail quickly ...

So -- is there ANY Class A stainless chimney suitable for coal? I don't know what "316 stainless" means. Are all Class A chimneys made of 316 stainless, or are there other types?

I just chimed in so I have to ask why do you need a liner, did I miss something?

grumpy wrote:I just chimed in so I have to ask why do you need a liner, did I miss something?

I'm not talking about a liner, though that what the title of the thread says. I have a Metalbestos Class A chimney. So I'm wondering, if SS liners don't hold up well, will my SS chimney hold up or hole up.