A little reading turned up something to mention. The caps. While some are functional and some not, Im looking to have one that keeps the rain out of the pipe and probably other creatures like birds. Since the wind comes mostly from the south, Im wondering if the kind of cap that sort of turns in the wind works best since it has a half shroud that seems to really cover the gap aside from the tapered opening. Anyone really take a lot of looking for their cap?
Don't worry about the wind at your inland location. Just buy the matching cap from the class A brand that you use. The real question is whether to have a screen/filter in the cap and if so, what size mesh. This is what keeps birds out but can clog up on you and restrict flow. My two chimneys have no screens. They are duravent caps and can be ordered with or without the screens and the screen can be removed. I have never had a bird come into my house chimney in the last 10 years since I installed it. The other chimney on my barn in the middle of a huge pasture has swallowed several sparrows during the non-burning months. So far the birds have been found just sitting in the woodstove waiting to be released when I find them. No big deal. I would never put a screen in unless the city/county whoever inspects your installation requires it.
Caps are something we've never really worried much about. Some do seem a bit restricted and I'd stay away from them. If birds do become a problem (usually not), you can always put a piece of hardware cloth on the cap to keep them out or simply plug the cap in summer months.
I know someone else posted this as a thread but the design of the cap doesn't make much difference does it? Not sure if im worried more about birds but more or less sparks. If it really doesn't matter I'll just get something simple and have at it.
I guess sparks could be a problem but I've never known of it to happen. I do remember one time coming home late at night and passing an old friend's house I could see he had a chimney fire. Naturally I stopped. Strange part is that he was not concerned at all. I left. His house still stands but man were the sparks and flame shooting out of there like crazy. I could hardly believe he was not concerned but I guess he'd had it happen a few times. Some learn slowly.
I aim to clean mine with a bit of practice. These threads just really give me something to think about and I don't want to give up the practical and functional capabilities of the cap for something that doesn't work. I often only see the same stainless steel or heat painted caps. Nothing too special. One thing I did see in my search was a piece of stove pipe maybe 8 inches long and has a cloth that is like a spark arrestor. I dont know if this went on top or nearer to the stove.
Weird I typed up a similar search for the caps again and I couldnt find what this sleeve was called. It looked like some fine legging cloth that filtered out the sparks and let everything else out just looks like an 8-10 inch piece of steel with this orangeish yellow "cloth". Probably really fine flexible fiberglass. Looked practical for the mid sections of the pipe just before exiting out. I'll try again unless anyone else can find a picture of it for me.
That could be one of the caps they recommend for mobile homes. According to code, mobile homes have to have some sort of a spark arrestor for a cap.
Exactly what happened at the cottage! A guest asked if that was a bat hanging on the inside door glass...sure enough! A nice wrap of hardware cloth took care of that....bat got set free. Wrapped underneath the rain cap down to the outside of the class A
