Well, I had a little surprise this evening, about 1/2 hour ago. Started out about the last two or three times I've used the drolet eldorado (inside wood stove) and noticed that the temps of the single wall was lower than "normal" (previous burns). I just attributed it to the somewhat milder temps we had been having outside and figured the warm temps were also affecting the draft some. 99 and I had no good TV programs to watch (again) so we set up a card table near the stove and played dice. Checked the temps again and also noticed that there was a very slight smoke smell-kinda like when you open the door to feed the stove. At this point, I did a visual inspection with a flashlight and sure enough, where the single wall enters the thimble of the masonry chimney, there was a gap. Somehow, the single wall had worked loose and slid out enough to create a very poor connection on one side (the back side that you can't see). May have worked loose from continued opening and closing of the stove door? Don't know, but the door is never swung open hard, or even that far to hit the stops. Got it pushed back into place with a pair of leather gloves and will add some of rutlands hi-temp sealer tomorrow once it has cooled down again. I was just about ready to take the whole vent apart and check for cleaning, but decided to wait another month until the end of the burn season here.
With a vacuum leak there, it prolly was stealing from your draft. I would expect sluggish burns while it leaked. Good you found it and mysterious how that gap opened up unless the stove was walking around a bit. Maybe the pipe deformed or somethin'?
I had a similar 'find' when I pulled the cast iron surround of my insert. The flue adapter had a gap on one side almost enough to stick my pinky into. My stove had a tendancy to burn hot and overfire, I noticed the last two years, since I installed a block off plat, that it seemed to not want to overfire. Good chance it had been like that for 2 years. However, it seemed to help! I never had even a whiff of smoke nor did any of the detectors go off. Anyhow the adapter was impossibly jammed and I had to pull it. Since I am debating on upgrading to the Woodstock Ideal Steel I decided to just leave the insert unhooked for the time being and running just my pellet burner now until the end of the season.
I sealed up the culprit this morning now that the fire was out and the pipe was cooled. Nothing like starting out the day with a nice bead of hi-temp rutland black gunk on your fingertips! I am wondering if the slight vibration from the blower motor on the el dorado could have caused the pipe to loosen a bit and "walk out" of the thimble? That, and maybe there was some stress/pressure on that last adjustable 90 that helped feed the problem. I'll probably give it a fire up in the morning on Sunday and of course will be keeping an eye on it from now until too long from now. If nothing else, I'll re-do the whole kit-n-kaboodle single wall!
No, I don't think so. All the clothes I put into the wood stove never come clean. The blower motor is just a very quiet motor that occasionally makes a very slightly louder noise for a short while. The stove itself is still in the same footprint as it was placed in.
I was asking if you had a washing machine on the floor above your stove ! That could have vibrated the pipe off kilter.
Pipe probably worked loose as a result of many heating/cooling cycles and resulting expansion/contraction. IME if you want smokepipe junctions to stay in place, you use a few sheet metal screws per junction.
Here is mine I mentioned earlier... can't really use sheet metal screws here. The retainer bar was in place, but one tab had actually bent inward to the point that the end of the bar with the bend on it slipped up into the flue area. And it rotated slightly such that the pin on the other side was unable to be removed since it was pointing right against the stove top. It was jammed up really good.
Not the case here cty. I have always used screws (zip) and of lately added the hi-temp sealant to the arsenal. As far as two many heating/cooling cycles, again, not the case. Probably shy of a face cord burnt through it at that point. I firmly believe that there was a little tension on the pipe and that the added slight vibration from the blower motor was just enough to help it "walk" out from the thimble. I have since added sealant around that joint in order to prevent such an action again. I will take a better look at it once I remove everything for the cleaning. Gark-All the pipe is new of course. No deformities there. My first thought is that the stove also was "walking around a bit". (Explains the noises I heard from the basement at night with the lights off). Seriously, I made sure that the stove was level before I hooked up the venting. The leveling shims ares still in place, so that's not the culprit. I think that maybe 99lbs gave it a kick every time she went past it??? Ahh! Now it's easy to see. If you get the new stove, you can address that during the install. What made you think of pulling the surround?
I only pulled the surround to measure just how high the lintel was, when I was contemplating putting a new stove in a few weeks ago. Was very surprised to see that to say the least! With the tight clearance with the insert, its a pain to get hooked up especially with just 1 person! But with a freestander infront, should be a piece of cake to hook up (I hope).
