Connecting Your Stove to the Chimney for the Season...

So, as the time approaches I have been wondering. When do you make final connections to the chimney for the season? Each day I prepare a little more for the upcoming match run.

Since I'm going into my second season of burning I don't want to connect my stove too early, especially with this rain lately. I don't want to find a rusty mess inside the stove as I just discovered in my horizontal run because the rain is forcing it's way through my cover and down the liner.

So, what is the SOP? The day before you light up? Day of? Or the weekend you light up?

Odd that you brought this up because I just got finished hooking up the Glenwood No 6 just 20 minutes ago. I am going to light some Charcoal in it to dry out the basement from last week's gift from Irene. There is no better way I can think of to dry it out down here.
But to answer your question, you can wait until you are almost ready to light up the stove. Just don't let the cold weather catch you by mistake.

I think what is going to happen for me is, I'll tie it in and want to light it. I think I'll still try to hold off to the last possible minute before tying it all together.

I have both of mine hooked up and ready to go. They both have new pipe and the Glenwood in the kitchen never seems to get any moisture. The chimney does have a "cap" of sorts. It's just a flat piece of some concrete product supported by 4 legs that hook over the top of the bricks. Works well though.

As far as the curing of the Herald goes, I was also thinking of a couple charcoal fires on some nippy evenings.

I'm going to have to rethink my cover for the top of the chimney for next summer. I just removed the plate that covers the front of my fireplace hearth and discovered a puddle of rusty water. Guess my cover doesn't "cover" the chimney and liner well enough. I'm going to replace the elbow at the bottom of the stove since its starting to rust through. I just hope my SS 316Ti liner hasn't collapsed or rotted through as well. Two weeks ago before Irene everything was dry.

I was actually thinking about having a few charcoal fires too.

Now you guys have me itchin' to get one goin' too.
I might just do that. it's been in the 50's and low 60's. And really damp in the house.
It could use a good drying out.

I think it's a good thing you try to solve the problem of the chinmney's cap first. Stove pipe connected or not. For my personnal case I never disconnect the stove pipe from the chimney except for the cleaning but I put it back after. Air circulation is important just like in a house, basement...
I'm workink to find a permanent solution for the ant corrosive effect on the metals, iron, cast iron and SS.
You know even if a chimney is capped at both ends, humidity still present and does the rusting job with the acidic ash dust from ant burning. So I preffer having air circulation inside all the system from the stove air inlet to the chimney's cap. Lot have vacum system to pull air out of the basement..., with a chimney we have the same effect. The problem doesn't come from air circulation in the system but from the very low PH deposit. Even after the cleaning, a corrosif thin film still on all the parts.

I don't connect the stove until I'm ready to light up. That goes for the water coils too. Once everything is hooked up, it's time to burn - otherwise I'd be replacing this crap every year. Lots of moisture in my basement.

Smitty, I've got a lot of moisture everywhere now. Water is seeping up through the floor in my basement, I've got water dripping down my chimney liner and into my fireplace.

I've gotta go out and pickup a new elbow for the chimney now, since the old one is starting to rust out. I'm still gonna wait for a few weeks before I hook up. But I am liking the idea of a charcoal fire just to take the edge off at night until the real heating season begins.

I think in my case, the bricks of the chimney absorb any raindrops that get past the caps because I've never gotten any moisture on the kitchen range and The Herald has been hooked up for a couple months at it too is completely dry. I've checked it several times after heavy rains and wind. Either that or any rain that does get in just falls past the thimbles since they do poke into the chimney an inch or so and act like a little roof.

I must've had a lot of water coming down it at one point these past two weeks. The floor behind my stove and inside the hearth is rust orange. I've since pulled the cap I had to block the chimney off and put the actual rain cap back on then covered the whole thing with a tarp for the next few weeks. Tomorrow on the way home from work I'll buy a new elbow.

You guys must have some serious humidity because I never unhook mine and I never find the mess you all describe. I've been ready to go since the last fire went out.

I would suspect that the orange mess is from your thimble if it is angled downward. Orrrr, old brick dust???? Who the hell knows

freetown fred wrote:I would suspect that the orange mess is from your thimble if it is angled downward. Orrrr, old brick dust???? Who the hell knows

Nah, its rust. The elbow that had the water pooling in it is rusting. I've got a new elbow to put on tomorrow.

Water is getting into that chimney liner some how. I think you mentioned it had a liner in it? Something's wrong to have that much. The cap must be messed up.