Stove pipe, which direction?

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NCPT

Love my saws
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I know this has been asked a million times and make end towards the stove makes sense, but if I only have 3-4ft of stove pipe (and that's where all the hot is) why should I worry about creosote?

I'm asking because I'm about to get a magic heat for my shop and my house, and both stove pipes were installed with female end towards stove by the previous owner.

Will creosote build up and leak down with such short/hot sections of stove pipe? Both stove pipes go into long flues with a chimney cap. Thanks.
 
The preferred method is male end down. My personal feeling is If you’ve got either creosote running down or smoke puffing out then you have bigger problems than which way you oriented the pipe.
 
The correct way to install stove pipe is with the male end down towards the stove. One reason I have heard is that when moisture hits the pipe the water always stays inside with out it seeping onto the outside which would cause much more rust. As far as creosote is concerned that has not anything to do with how the pipe is installed. There have been plenty of years where I had mostly softwood like Fir and Pine that is supposed to cause real problems, but did not. The area that you said were a concern are not a concern. If you have triple insulated pipe or flu then those sections that are insulated are the sections that get the hottest thus do not often have creosote buildup. The sections of pipe that are exposed to air do not get very hot because the air in the room is constantly moving around the pipe cooling it down allowing plenty of creosote buildup. I try to burn real hot fires often which burns away the creosote buildup. Thanks
 
My

My Dad has been using one his his garage/workshop for 25 years (had gone through several).
Most thermally efficient woodstoves generate a lot of creosote when their exhaust gasses are cooled sufficiently. Very close attention is required. It does not take much research to find many 'magic heat" disaster stories. I would recommend one to my worst enemy.

For the same effect as a Magic Heat you could just plumb in a 30 gallon steel barrel for a fraction of the cost for the shop. For the house, you would be a fool.
 
Most thermally efficient woodstoves generate a lot of creosote when their exhaust gasses are cooled sufficiently. Very close attention is required. It does not take much research to find many 'magic heat" disaster stories. I would recommend one to my worst enemy.

For the same effect as a Magic Heat you could just plumb in a 30 gallon steel barrel for a fraction of the cost for the shop. For the house, you would be a fool.

He has gone through a few stoves in the garage, none have been anything fancy. One was made out of a 55 gal drum, one just a home built plate steel. The current one is a Vozelgang?, I think from Harbor Freight. The place is just heated when needed, so usually someone is in there, no real worry about the stove causing issues.

The magic heat is nice that the fan helps to move the air around. Granted a $25 box fan would likely do about the same. Growing up it seemed like most shops had one on the stove. I left Maine in 2001, so not sure these days.
 
Creosote is mostly caused by low heat and cooling in the pipe before it reaches the top and is exhausted out. That causes the smoke to condense on the pipe building up layer after layer. This is why a stove that is to big has problems because it can't reach high enough temps to re burn the smoke. It's better to have a smaller stove that can be run at higher temps so that doesn't happen. The better the pipe is insulated the less creosote issues you should have. You wanna keep the smoke as hot as possible till it reaches the top of the chimney.
 
I know this has been asked a million times and make end towards the stove makes sense, but if I only have 3-4ft of stove pipe (and that's where all the hot is) why should I worry about creosote?

I'm asking because I'm about to get a magic heat for my shop and my house, and both stove pipes were installed with female end towards stove by the previous owner.

Will creosote build up and leak down with such short/hot sections of stove pipe? Both stove pipes go into long flues with a chimney cap. Thanks.

Yes it will. My neighbor asked why his pipe was all streaked with black stuff. He didn't believe me when I told him the pipe was upside down.
 
Thanks for the replies and more research is needed before installing a magic heat.
 
Creosote is mostly caused by low heat and cooling in the pipe before it reaches the top and is exhausted out. That causes the smoke to condense on the pipe building up layer after layer. This is why a stove that is to big has problems because it can't reach high enough temps to re burn the smoke. It's better to have a smaller stove that can be run at higher temps so that doesn't happen. The better the pipe is insulated the less creosote issues you should have. You wanna keep the smoke as hot as possible till it reaches the top of the chimney.

All true but I'd like to add in the combustion efficiency part of the equation. The products that form the creosote are all combustible so the higher the combustion efficiency of the device the less that is left behind to form creosote in the first place. A key factor.

A magic heat put on a low efficiency device becomes a creosote manufacturing device unless in is run hard enough to keep all chimney part hot enough that creosote doesn't form. This waste a lot of fuel as heat up the chimney.
 
All true but I'd like to add in the combustion efficiency part of the equation. The products that form the creosote are all combustible so the higher the combustion efficiency of the device the less that is left behind to form creosote in the first place. A key factor.

A magic heat put on a low efficiency device becomes a creosote manufacturing device unless in is run hard enough to keep all chimney part hot enough that creosote doesn't form. This waste a lot of fuel as heat up the chimney.

You don't have to keep a hot fire going all the time. I like to run mine hot a few times a week depending on how much I have been using it. It also depends on the model of heater, some are better then others. Sometimes after I have ran it hot for an hour or so I can tap the pipe and hear all the crystals falling. It does build up at the top where the baffle is and if it builds up to much and blocks air flow and my draft slows down. I only clean it once a year.
 
In the hvac world we always put the male end away from the furnace. It's probably not so critical on a natural drafting appliance with a good draft chimney but on a forced draft appliance you dont want to push anything out the crimped part of the pipe. I run my stove pipe with the male away from the wood furnace. There is no creosote in the stove pipe anyways it stays hot enough.
 
Solid fuel crimp goes down. Liquid or gas fuel crimp goes up.

In the event of fire, creosote buildup will liquify and run down the inside of the pipe. If the pipe is installed crimp up and not sealed completely, the liquid will exit through the joints and spread through the house.


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I have one of these crimping tools for gutters and pipes. Totally invaluable tool for doing stove pipe install on single wall sections of pipe
https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-86550-5-Blade-Crimper/dp/B0002RI8ZA

51miKcmOpYL._SL1000_.jpg
 
Temps in a chimney/flue needs to stay above 250F to prevent Cresote from forming. Wet wood or wood with a high moisture content creates steam at 212F, cooling the temps inside the chimney and will cause cresote to form. Non insulated pipe cools easily from air temps outside the pipe and smothering fires dont create enough heat inside the pipe to prevent cresote from forming. As for which end of the pipe to turn toward the stove, I have never seen a stove connection yet that had the pipe covering that connection. As far as I know, the connection is made to slip the crimped end of the pipe into the stove, not over the connection. Male end down all the way from stove to cap so there is no way any cresote can run down the outside of the pipe at the connections. Check the temps of the smoke exiting the chimney and if its below 250f you are either burning to wet of wood or you are smothering the fire and burning at to low a temp.
https://www.uky.edu/bae/sites/www.uky.edu.bae/files/AEES-36_0.PDF
 
I bought one of the Harbor Freight cast iron box heaters. It's a FIRE HAZARD. The thing has lots of air leaks and gets to roaring like a freight train. The draft slide plate has holes and the chemny baffle is limited to 45%.
If you can't control the fire it can, will , burn your house down. I keep a metal Ash bucket handy and was able to coat the logs and slow the fire. I moved that crap out and put my old heater back in the house. I was told, never did it, but was told that if you get a real hot fire and toss salt in the heater that removes chresote. Have no idea if it works. I replace my inner pipe every other year. So far ( over 20 years using only wood to heat house) no problem.
Be blessed.
 
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