24GA stovepipe rots out in 1yr

Yep, just replaced the pipe connecting the stove to the masonary chimney. It was the cheap "Home Depot" pipe. From the moisture in the basement, it rotted from the outside as well as inside. I was sanding the rust off to repaint when my hand went thru the pipe!!

Good thing I decided to piant it before use!

I just bought a replacement online (2 90* elbows & a 2' section) made of 304 stainless. It probably would have been cheaper to replace it every year (but not as expensive as 316 SS) but who the hell wants to do that?

The SS pipe was a pain in the ass.....it's supposed to fit the RIGHT way (seams facing up, although there won't be any creosote to leak out), but the only way it would fit was upside down. It's a Heatfab pipe, made right here in "lovely" MA. There are stickers on the new pipe with arrows indicating "UP" (which are all pointed to the floor). The crimped end that is supposed to fit nicely in the top of the pipe is too loose, as is the crimped end that's supposed to fit into the stove. Sooooooo....

Had to flip it around & force ends together, but it worked & looks decent. Started the first fire of the season last night to cure the firebrick mortar I used to fill the huge gaps where the pipe enters the chimney. Too warm during the day to keep burning, so I just let it go out today. The house was nice & warm this morning, & the cats were killing dozens of mice, moles & snakes!! (cellar door open)

Was going to post pics, but it's getting to be about time to hit the wrapper. 5 A.M. comes quick!

I had the EXACT same damn problem. I even disconnected and semi cleaned all my pipes and they still rusted inside and out. I ended up just buying new pipe.

When I used to burn wood I had a stove in my family room, this is about 1980 or so. I had a real roaring fire in the stove, and kept seeing what I though was dust burning off the surface of the stovepipe. I was seeing little incandescent flashes of yellow/red, like the speck of dust finally reach ignition temperature then flashed for a split second as it burnt.

I was wrong, the next day I decided to wipe the dust off the stovepipe. My hand went right through the pipe like you said. The little flashes I had seen the night before were small perforations in the paper-thin pipe. Pretty scary stuff, what if it had burnt through during the night?? Bye-bye house!!

Jerry from Leisure Line offers this: wipe or sponge down the inside of the stove and flue pipes as much as possible with a solution of baking soda. This will neutralize the acids from the fly ash. Then stuff wadded-up newspapers in the inlet/outlets of the stove and pipe. The paper will absorb humidity that would react with the fly ash and make acids.

My elbow coming out of my boiler showed a fair amount of internal rusting after only one season, I didn't do any baking soda wash or other preventative measures last spring. I expect to have to replace next year.

Could you post a link to the sites you looked at to find the SS pipe and elbows??

Take care, Greg L

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Greg,
Olympic Chimney supply in Scranton Pa. All styles of stainless 304/316
Jerry

Old pipe: (click on the pics for a better view.....)
[img][img]http://thumb7.webshots.net/t/14/15/5/43/88/2059543880082271867JqBMWH_th.jpg[/img][/img]

New pipe:
[img][img]http://thumb7.webshots.net/t/57/557/6/67/31/2392667310082271867zATTXy_th.jpg[/img][/img]
[img][img]http://thumb7.webshots.net/t/59/159/0/93/52/2148093520082271867JCCFaH_th.jpg[/img][/img]

I bought the pipe from http://hartshearth.com/chimney/chimneys.htm

Think I paid about $133 delivered

I bought some stainless fittings (collars elbows and pipe ) at Higgins Energy in Barre Mass..they have alot of piping

AL

I had that problem also. It is just something you have to keep an eye on and pretty much llive with unless you want to shell out an ungodly amount of money for the triple wall pipe. However, the black stove pipe seems to last longer than the regular silver galvanized.