Leaking stove pipe

[TAC_Double]

Hello,


Yesterday when the wife tryied to start a fire the stove pipe was leaking smoke at all the seams. Scared the wife, I was not home, so my father in law came to check it out. He could not find and blockage and the pipe was good and clean.

Is this caused by a draft problem? Or is there a way to seal the seams of the stove pipe. I am using durablack stove pipe and this is the first time we have had any problems out of this stove.


Let me know what you think...


Thanks!

 

[weezer4117]

was the smoke coming from inside the pipe or was it burning something off the outside? sometimes liquids can run down the whole length of the pipe (external) causing it to smoke.

if it is coming from the inside then yes there is a draft problem, the pipe should be sucking room air into the gap not letting smoke out. it can be fixed with some high temp furnace cement if thats the case. how was she starting the fire? the pipes have to be "warmed up", this can be done with a few pages of newspaper or small pieces of cardboard prior to stafting a fire. this temp change allows the chimney to heat up a bit to start a draft. but i would be willing to bet something was being burnt off the outside of the pipe.

 

[TAC_Double]

It is coming from inside the pipe. It's leaking at all the seams. I thought she was crasy till I I was able to reproduce it. It's odd that it just started. Been running the stove all winter, and never had an issue. But we really do have one now. I am wondering if some of this wood is not as well cured as what we were burning earlier in the season.

I hate to cement the joints, but I really have no choice... rather do that than fill the house with some. I have some extra chimney sections here, I might try adding another 3ft to the chimnet pipe itself.

 

[weezer4117]

ok, have you done a quick visual inside the pipe from the roof to make sure there are no abnormal obstructions in the chimney? have you made sure the cap isnt clogged? if it has been running fine all winter and all the sudden you have a problem then there is something not allowing proper air flow (draft)

 

[oconnor]

It is coming from inside the pipe. It's leaking at all the seams. I thought she was crasy till I I was able to reproduce it. It's odd that it just started. Been running the stove all winter, and never had an issue. But we really do have one now. I am wondering if some of this wood is not as well cured as what we were burning earlier in the season.

I hate to cement the joints, but I really have no choice... rather do that than fill the house with some. I have some extra chimney sections here, I might try adding another 3ft to the chimnet pipe itself.

My guess is you have an external stainless flue. Am I right? Possibly even a basement stove?

Likely what you have is a really cold flue that is not drafting well initially (assuming no blockages found as per your comments) When you start up, the heat is stopped by a "plug" of cold air, and once it moves along, the chimney starts to draw.

Before you start the fire, see if there is a cool downdraft in the stove. If so, light some newspaper and hold it really near the flue outlet. That should get the flue to draft, and then the smoke will say in the pipe.

Likely when your father-in-law came in, the flue was warmed up, so the phenomenon didn't happen.

 

[Highbeam]

You've been burning all winter so you know how to run a stove in the cold. Unless your wood supply has changed, like maybe you're into wet wood, your cap is clogged. It happens to the best of us. Pop up there and clean the cap. The chimney is most likely quite clean.

 

[LLigetfa]

Maybe the wife had a load of clothes in the dryer and the range hood going on high causing a negative pressure.

 

[fossil]

Slathering a bunch of furnace cement on your stovepipe joints isn't going to solve your problem. If you didn't have a draft problem of some sort, then the joints wouldn't be leaking anything into the living space, they'd be drawing air into the pipe. Figure out what's causing the lack of draft, and you'll solve the problem. Seal up all the pipe seams, and the problem will simply manifest itself elsewhere. As Highbeam suggested, start at the chimney cap. Rick

 

[Prada]

If there's a Spark screen on the cap.......that's probably where the problem is. We threw ours away! lol

 

[TAC_Double]

Thanks everyone for your ideas. I took everything apart today do see if there was any blockage. The stovepipe and chimney are really clean, much cleaner than I expected. I was not able to get to the cap due to the snow on the roof. I plan on checking on this in a few days.

I tried to start a small fire and get the flue hot, never could get it really going. The flow just seams to be running in reverse. I have another 9ft. of chimney left over. I think I am going to add another 3ft. and see if it helps. My wife is very upset that we had to fire up the furnace, we have been able to heat all winter from the stove trouble free.

I will let you know if I am able to solve this with the addition to the chimney pipe.

Thanks again!!

 

[fossil]

I don't think the flow is "running in reverse", I think the problem is that there's no flow. Sounds like a clogged cap to me. Good luck, and be careful on the roof. Rick

 

[savageactor7]

Yup gotta be in the cap or close to it...smoke rises, it's like a force of nature TAC.

 

[TAC_Double]

Thanks everyone,


I was able to get out on the roof today, 55+ here. The screen in the cap was clogged, only about three openings that were flowing. Cleaned the cap and all is well. She is running like a champ. Thanks!

Is it safe to remove the screen? I would love to get rid of it, if it is safe.

 

[Prada]

We've been running a year now without ours and no problems at all. Some areas and some home owners insurance may not like it but we havn't worried any with doing it. I totally respect anyone that leaves theirs on but I am not putting up with it myself. lol