Chris-PA
Where the Wild Things Are
Several years ago we hired a chimney guy to line the double flue that runs to our basement stove and the fireplace in the main room above it. He put in an insulated 6" SS flex pipe to the basement, and an 8" to the fireplace. The fireplace flue got a damper on top with a cable down into the firebox. There is a cleat to hook the cable on to hold it down.
He did a lot of repair to the top of the old stone chimney top, which is a common flue for the top 10' or so (it's from about 1835). He did really nice work and the basement flue worked fantastic, but there was a problem with the fireplace. He forgot the rule that the area of the flue pipe must be at least 10% of the firebox opening, and the 8" pipe was not even close. It didn't draw and couldn't work. The guy was a an honest man and refunded us enough to buy a small stove (I picked a Hampton H200).
I added an 8" to 6" reducer and fed the damper control through a small hole in it. The stove worked great and we've been very happy with it. The damper never got used.
A week or two ago I lit the small stove in the morning and while I was eating breakfast I heard a banging from behind the stove. I was pretty freaked out but realized the damper had come loose from the cleat. I thought this strange, but re-hooked it. The stove was hot by then and seemed OK. A day or two later and it came off again, so I wired it on. But the stove didn't draw like it used to. It worked fine when stopped down, but not with the door open.
Just like what happened to the main stove last year when a piece of the big slate on the chimney top delaminated and fell across the opening. Last time I put a ladder up the side of the house - there is a tree there and I can't plant it correctly so it's too steep. Wasn't going to do that again, so I made a chicken ladder so I could get up there (metal standing seam roof too steep to get traction on and the upper part is on lath).
Sure enough another chunk of slate had come down on top of the damper, which explains why the cable came loose. But the kicker - pulling on the cable CLOSES the damper. I'm an idiot. I've never used that damper nor did I have any instructions. The mechanism is obvious when you see it, but it isn't visible unless you get up there.
It turns out that the damper has been almost closed all these years, but when it came lose this time I did a really good job of closing it further. Only the dirt and junk up there kept it from fully blocking off. Well, it's all clean up there now, and the stove is burning great. Not a puff with the door open when I lit it.
He did a lot of repair to the top of the old stone chimney top, which is a common flue for the top 10' or so (it's from about 1835). He did really nice work and the basement flue worked fantastic, but there was a problem with the fireplace. He forgot the rule that the area of the flue pipe must be at least 10% of the firebox opening, and the 8" pipe was not even close. It didn't draw and couldn't work. The guy was a an honest man and refunded us enough to buy a small stove (I picked a Hampton H200).
I added an 8" to 6" reducer and fed the damper control through a small hole in it. The stove worked great and we've been very happy with it. The damper never got used.
A week or two ago I lit the small stove in the morning and while I was eating breakfast I heard a banging from behind the stove. I was pretty freaked out but realized the damper had come loose from the cleat. I thought this strange, but re-hooked it. The stove was hot by then and seemed OK. A day or two later and it came off again, so I wired it on. But the stove didn't draw like it used to. It worked fine when stopped down, but not with the door open.
Just like what happened to the main stove last year when a piece of the big slate on the chimney top delaminated and fell across the opening. Last time I put a ladder up the side of the house - there is a tree there and I can't plant it correctly so it's too steep. Wasn't going to do that again, so I made a chicken ladder so I could get up there (metal standing seam roof too steep to get traction on and the upper part is on lath).
Sure enough another chunk of slate had come down on top of the damper, which explains why the cable came loose. But the kicker - pulling on the cable CLOSES the damper. I'm an idiot. I've never used that damper nor did I have any instructions. The mechanism is obvious when you see it, but it isn't visible unless you get up there.
It turns out that the damper has been almost closed all these years, but when it came lose this time I did a really good job of closing it further. Only the dirt and junk up there kept it from fully blocking off. Well, it's all clean up there now, and the stove is burning great. Not a puff with the door open when I lit it.
