As stated the presence of moisture makes all the difference. I have a SS double wall insulated chimney that is 20 years old and still going strong.
I took a real close look a the thimble a couple weeks ago when I did my end of season clean out and it doesn't have any holes in it and isn't flaking away. I can't see the length of the chimney, but the top section also has no holes of flaking. The cap at the chimney bottom on the T is also in good shape still. The only part that failed was the collar on the chimney cap and the screen on the chimney cap.
Last fall I rigged up some 12gauge copper wire to hold the cap in place since the collar was gone and that did the trick for this past winter. I was curious to check out the copper this spring and it is still in good shape, I will get another winter out of it.
Class A Chimney Recomendations
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- Location: Central Maine
- Hand Fed Coal Stove: DS Machine 1300 with hopper
- Coal Size/Type: Blaschak Anthracite Nut
- Other Heating: Oil hot water radiators (fuel oil); propane
MacGyver would approve.titleist1 wrote:Last fall I rigged up some 12gauge copper wire to hold the cap in place since the collar was gone ... it is still in good shape, I will get another winter out of it.
- Lightning
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- Location: Olean, NY
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
- Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite
I used a black stove pipe for my first year. It did good. I noticed when the sun was hitting it I got one hell of a draft draw lol. This year I am going to repair my block chimney to use. Have a look at the post belowWiz wrote:After reading this post it's making me rethink my choice. Thought a good stainless steel chimney would last for several yrs without issues. So if stainless doesn't hold up why not just use black stove pipe?
Stove Pipe Chimney Rescue
- Wiz
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- Location: Tannersville Pa
- Stoker Coal Boiler: Keystoker Ka 6
- Coal Size/Type: Casey Junk Coal :(
I believe it's fair to say that every situation is different which causes certain outcome. Knowing masonry chimney is by far the best for coal burning, some look at SS 304 316 and black pipe. Here comes the debate on SS or black pipe, but you'll need to remember why some get better results then others. Location of piping from what I've been reading is a factor, wet basement,damp area your going to have issues. Poor maintenance of not cleaning fly ash out of pipe during shut down season. The members who has good results do they burn year round, dry location,good maintenance? Friend used SS chimney and one season it looked like Swiss cheese, following season he decided to just get black stove pipe. Black stove pipe after one season looks new, so you ask why. First year he wet coal with water to keep dust done, now he uses oil.