Metal-Fab Chimney Pipe

Does anyone else here use Metal Fab chimney pipe and caps? When I bought my stove in 2006 I bought a install kit that included the ceiling support, stainless steel pipe and stainless steel rain cap and everything to finish off the roof where the pipe comes out.

My problem is the rain cap keeps rusting out and has to be replaced about every three years. The bottom of the cap where the spark arrestor and locking ring are is what rusts away then of course the cap falls apart. When I clean my chimney pipe in the spring I wash the rain cap with hot water and baking soda but they keep rusting away. The cap on it now will make it through this winter but will need to be replaced in the spring again! My dealer is charging $125.00 for these caps and I think that is a lot of money for something that doesn't last more than three years.

I contacted Metal-Fab about my problem and they told me that if I don't have my chimney serviced by a licensed chimney sweep they wouldn't cover it under warranty. What the heck would a chimney sweep do that I am not doing?

The cap is the coolest part so receives the most condensation. What I think helps is to burn some wood at beginning and end of season. The wood smoke seems to neutralize the fly ash. I think you should get rid of the spark arrestor too.

You might try a cap constructed out of 316 ss. such as
https://www.northlineexpress.com/6-round-homesave ... -1204.html
Mine is going into it's 5th year, still looked good last summer when I brushed the flue.
It's disgusting what some mfg will use for an excuse.

Thanks for the link Pa papa. I will give one of them a try, yea Metal-Fab said they wouldn't cover it unless I had my receipt from a chimney sweep. What a poor excuse these caps don't last more than three years even when cleaning them. I sure won't use their products any more.

Pap,

Join the club...haha. Here's a short story I'm sure you'll enjoy, being a Metal-Fab user.

I was having an issue with my chimney height and decided to call in a professional chimney company. I had an older chimney and the company was having trouble matching something up so they decided to replace everything from the roof up with Metal-Fab Temp Guard 2100. The following season I decided to move the location of my stove and call the same chimney company back. The estimate was quite expensive so I decided to perform the work myself. Since I already had 12' of Metal-Fab SS pipe ($$$) I decided to stick with Metal-Fab products. I purchased the roof flashing, storm collar, roof support straps, ceiling support box and interior black pipe. The new install went smooth and I gained some valuable experience doing it! The bad part is that Metal-Fab does not deal directly with the public. I had to special order the parts through a local supplier. Since it was all special order they were mine, whether the parts worked or not! Thankfully they worked. After about 2 seasons my cap was completely rusted away and the top 4' section of SS pipe was showing signs of corrosion. Here's where the circle jerk began!!! It took months (yes months) of fighting with both Metal-Fab and my local chimney company about getting these parts replaced. Metal-Fab would not deal directly with me since I had a chimney company perform the work. They told me to take my issue up with the chimney company (way to stand behind your products Metal-Fab)! The chimney company claimed to have left several messages with Metal-Fab and Metal-Fab claimed they never received any calls from the chimney company. They were pointing fingers at each other and neither wanted to honor the warranty. The chimney company told me the cap damage was due to a chimney fire. A chimney fire, really...with coal??? Metal-Fab's claim is that coal bi-products are very corrosive (yes they are) and will not be covered under their warranty, but the Temp Guard products state "for use with coal". Then Metal-Fab stated they require a professional chimney company to perform the cleaning and maintenance for the warranty to be covered. I asked the Metal-Fab rep to show me where it states that the warranty is void if cleaning is not performed by a licensed chimney company, no answer! After much research I found out the Stainless Steel that is used on Metal-Fab products is of lower quality. Again, no answer when I questioned the rep about this information. I was getting down to crunch time since heating season was fast approaching. I threatened with a law suit and finally got the ball rolling, imagine that. Within a few weeks I had a new cap and 4' section of double wall SS pipe installed. Metal-Fab told me they replaced the pipe as a courtesy but it probably won't be covered under the warranty in the future, we'll see about that!

Lesson learned, customer service is about dead in this country!!!

Tom

I had a missing part when I installed the 7" SS Selkirk SuperPro Chimney, I was missing the storm collar for the roof flashing.
Since I had ordered through Northline I called them to check on what to do, I was told they would get it out that day and I received it in about three days. I mentioned it to a buddy who worked in a tinshop, and he checked with his boss, the boss checked with Selkirk and was told if I did not receive it quickly he could get me one from Selkirk. All I would need is proof of purchase of the roof flashing. I told when it came.
I just recently move the SS chimney from the oil boiler to the woodstove as my masonry chimney was starting to fall apart inside. I will order another SuperPro chimney to replace the one on the oil boiler eventually.
Dan.

Looks like Sparky...temporary light took good care of you up on that scaffold.

I went through the same thing with my dealer. Dealer told me to get in touch with Metal-Fab. Metal-Fab said talk to my dealer. I ended up going to the Metal-Fab web site and read their warranty. The warranty says to ship the bad item back and pay the shipping. They will check the item and decide if it is covered. If it is covered they will replace it one time, and I will again have to pay the shipping. But if you don't have a work order from a licensed chimney sweep they won't cover it at all. What a bunch of crap. I also called and talked to a sales rep at Metal-Fab. She said what ever the warranty says is what they do. I asked why the caps only last three years she had no answer. My dealer was charging me $125.00 for the caps, I went to Amazon and they have the caps for sixty some dollars. I know the dealers need to make money but twice as much as Amazon? Oh yea I left a review at Amazon for the cap while I was there.

McGiever wrote:Looks like Sparky...temporary light took good care of you up on that scaffold.

Yep worked very well to finish out the work on the chimney, the next day was supposed to be cold and rainy so I decided to work into the night. I also have a string of temporary lights also that I could have strung but that one was quicker and easier.
Dan.