Stove Pipe Maintenance?

First, thanks for having this forum. Lots of good info here.

We burned wood for many years and loved it. However, we moved back to the home place and did without for several years. With the gas/oil prices going up, we decided to install a coal heater in September. Love it!!

My question is, when the heating season ends what maintenance should I plan on as far as the pipe? I have single wall black pipe going up to the double wall SS pipe. I like not having to worry about creosote, but should I brush and oil the inside of the SS pipe? Also, should I clean the single wall black pipe and oil the inside or just get new each year? We're burning anthracite and I honestly don't know about any acids that may or may not be present.

Thanks in advance.

Groucho

We have galvanized pipe, clean it out once a year. Our furnace burns year round so trying to treat it with anything is uneeded. The one we have is heavy gauge and has been in use for 25 years now with no signs of deterioration. The ones in my Grandmother's house are the regular gauge commonly used, they have to be checked each year for weak spots and are usually replaced about every 5 years. Her furnace is usally turned off for a few months in the summer so this decreass there lifespan.

I clean mine whenever I turn it off due to warmer temps and so on. Its easy to run a brush down the SS liner from my roof. I heard that in the spring, it is a good idea to toss some baking soda down the liner to neutralize the acid during the humid months. Anybody know if this works> CoalMan, you have your stove on year round?? What kind of stove are you using??

It's not a stove but a furnace, I was referring to the exhaust pipe going to the chimney. We leave it running for two reasons 1) it heats the hot water before going into the hot water heater and 2) stoker furnaces shouldn't be turned off for extensive amount of time. It's insulated so it doesn't heat the house, just the water.

What kind of furnace is it? Brand name?

I clean my pipes every year in the spring...I leave the flu pipes off the stove to prevent moisture from rain and humidity during the summer from causing any rust in the stove....

I clean grates..and oil them and then clean all fly ash from inside stove....and spray with a anti corrosive spray....I wash coal hopper out....sand it if any rust has formed over winter use...and paint it with rustoleum..

clean pusher block area...oil it up...and it is good to go for winter use....

then I run a poly brush down the chimney to break up any ash that may have collected...

all this takes a half a day...but saves problem later

Al

Thanks for the advice. I figured I'd have to do some maintenance and don't mind it a bit. A little P.M. goes a long way and it's cheaper than buying new every year or so.

I've been running the Hitzer since October, so maintenance is nothing more than filling the hopper and dumping the ash. Come spring, it's clean, brush and oil time. I like the part about pulling the black pipe. Good thought.

Regards,
Groucho

davemich wrote:What kind of furnace is it? Brand name?

It's a Van Wert, they've been out of business for quite a few years now. I think the one we got may have been one lasts ones produced. Keystoker and EFM still make similar models. I don't think Harman has anything in there line quite the same.

Groucho wrote:A little P.M. goes a long way and it's cheaper than buying new every year or so.

Actually that's what running the furnace year round in my case is. It does a lot more than prevent the pipes from getting screwed up, there's many internal moving parts plus it's a boiler and the seals tend to leak if you don't keep it running. As I said it actually saves money because it heating the hot water anyway.

For the smaller stokers which many use here this is obviously not an option.