Coalpail.com Forum

Was loading our Harman MkIII last night, experimenting with a mix of pea and nut. Made a mistake -- let the flames go out which, as expected, resulted in a puffback. My fault, I know. Lesson learned.

The problem is, this puffback blew the pipe off of the stove/chimney. Evacuated the family and pets, called the fire department who shut down the stove and vented the house. Assessing the "damage" today, and I discovered that the chimney pipe was not secured to the stove, and the flue collar was not secured to the masonry behind the stove. Also, the pipe was not secured to the elbow coming out of the stove, so when the gasses lit, it blew the flue collar out of the wall and the pipe from the stove. Pipe has 2 screws (not 3) securing it to the collar.

Thing is, we had the chimney/stove inspected in fall and they replaced the pipe.

Should all sections of the pipe be fastened? I can, without much effort, remove the pipe/flue collar from the wall and stove. This doesn't seem right. I'm about ready to call the company and give them a piece of my mind, but figured I'd get a sanity check first.

All connections should have 3 screws securing them at each joint.

You betcha ALL sections should be.

Thanks guys, thats what I thought.

What about the flue collar/chimney adapter? Should that be secured to the wall? There are predrilled holes in the collar that look like they're supposed to be used for mounting hardware.

Pictures:

gbru316 wrote:Thanks guys, thats what I thought.

What about the flue collar/chimney adapter? Should that be secured to the wall? There are predrilled holes in the collar that look like they're supposed to be used for mounting hardware.

That's why the holes are put there.

Paul

Sunny Boy wrote:

gbru316 wrote:Thanks guys, thats what I thought.

What about the flue collar/chimney adapter? Should that be secured to the wall? There are predrilled holes in the collar that look like they're supposed to be used for mounting hardware.

That's why the holes are put there.

Paul

lol that's what my thought was, but since this is only my second season with stoves in general, I wasn't sure if there were acceptable deviations.

They're sending someone out first thing tomorrow morning to fix everything and they're going to talk to their insurance company about the carpet. I plan on staying home from work to "supervise" given that they dropped the ball so spectacularly the first time around.

Is there a guide that shows/explains exactly how the stove should be connected to the chimney? Attachment points, types of fasteners, etc? I'd prefer to know exactly what needs done tomorrow to make everything safe so it's not the blind leading the blind.

Welcome to the BIG puff back club G.

freetown fred wrote:Welcome to the BIG puff back club G.

Maybe I can use it as leverage to convince my wife to buy a stoker

It appears to me that the elbow came apart at the seam. Unless the pipe needs to be mounted at a funny angle, I would use a tee or a non-adjustable elbow at that location.

Rob R. wrote:It appears to me that the elbow came apart at the seam. Unless the pipe needs to be mounted at a funny angle, I would use a tee or a non-adjustable elbow at that location.

Thanks, this is why I posted

I'll ask the guy if this is an option.

http://www.midlandhardware.com/631796.html?gclid=CJzhxPLO1tICFQhWDQodeLkHtA

and screwed in three places both ends. I agree with Rob, the elbow opened up. Forget the stoker, just use that great stove properly. The school of experience is the best. Its just that the fees are high. You will never do that again.

I'll ask the guy if this is an option.

Do it yourself the guy is an idiot.

coalnewbie wrote:http://www.midlandhardware.com/631796.html?gclid=CJzhxPLO1tICFQhWDQodeLkHtA

and screwed in three places both ends. I agree with Rob, the elbow opened up. Forget the stoker, just use that great stove properly. The school of experience is the best. Its just that the fees are high. You will never do that again.

I'll ask the guy if this is an option.

Do it yourself the guy is an idiot.

You're damn right I'll never do that again

Agree that guy is an idiot, but he said there'd be no charge to make the repairs. He specifically asked me what I wanted done, and I said "make it safe." So long as he's receptive to my guidance, why would I stop him from doing the work and paying for it?

Also, my 1 year old CO detector never went off. Max reading in the room with the stove was > 300 ppm per fire department. Detector displayed a max reading of 267 ppm when I regained access. Kind of scary that the stove could be directly venting to the house and I'd be unaware of it for a significant period of time.

I know they design delays into CO detectors to avoid false alarms (this one says 150 ppm for 10-50 minutes), but there's gotta be one that is a bit more "trigger happy," preferable with a digital display so that I can decide if there's an issue or not. Any recommendations?

Rob R. wrote:It appears to me that the elbow came apart at the seam. Unless the pipe needs to be mounted at a funny angle, I would use a tee or a non-adjustable elbow at that location.

Good call on strong replacement parts, I also would use 22 gauge as well.

Gee I don't know.... Looks like all the joints are screwed to me. The thing blew apart the 90. Ya cant fault anybody for that Too, with that much pipe into the chimney and it still blew out.... I don't think Id be ready to label the guy an idiot, and he did offer to come and fix it.