Selkirk chimney failing

Hey, long time follower, first post, I searched with not much luck.

My wife and I bought a house 3 years ago and this forum helped me a ton in figuring out how to operate our coal-ez stove. It heats our 2000 sf house with minimal attention but I have one major dilemma. Our chimney has a date of manufacture of 10/2013. I went up to check the cap and sweep it this week to make sure there were no birds nests. I noticed the whole top inner section of selkirk ultimate one pipe is literally falling apart after 5 heating seasons. I always sweep it beginning and end of the season. I'm not sure if selkirk is going to honor any warranty as we were not original purchaser and the company it came from may no longer be in business.

I'm going to contact selkirk and hope they honor their 15 year warranty but very disappointed in the life span. I didn't check down any lower as I didnt take a light up with me. If I need to spend money on a new one after 5 seasons it's not cost effective for us to burn coal. Anyone have any suggestions? I will climb back up this weekend to take some pictures. I cant believe they use 28 ga 304 as that is only .016" thick. And most of damage seems to originate at the interior seam.

Bacon the sulphur gassed produced from the burning of anthracite is very hard on stainless. It seems to eat it like candy near the top where it comes in contact with moisture. I am due to replace another cap soon on a remote boiler install at my rental property, it’s just something I’ve learned to deal with.

You probably will not like this but a masonry chimney is the only proper answer here. Improved draft and no rot are the benefits.

Search “stainless flue” or “stainless chimney”. This topic comes up here fairly often.

I believe 304 stainless steel is only for wood. Coal requires 316L stainless steel. I also agree with coaljockey. Build a masonry chimney and never look back.