Stuck chimney flap

dr.fuzzenstein

OK, can't get what I need locally and can't buy it online at the moment due to the usual January cashcrisis.



So for now I will proceed with firecement and since I am missing some other bits and pieces, like a clamp to secure the flex pipe to the top of the chimney, with bits of wood, string, sticky tape, nails, screws and whatever I can make from an old bicycle, but this stove is going into production this weekend!
Pics later, i keep saying this but I haven't managed to take any.

dr.fuzzenstein

OK, the story so far.
After some battle it was possible to open the chimney flap and install all the necessary bits.



With much suffering and after almost getting stuck in the chimney, I was able to pull the flex pipe past the cursed flap.



The car jack got it's revenge by dropping on my head, luckily I wore an old bicycle helmet.



It managed to gouge quite a dent in the helmet.



Where a hole should be, but wasn't.



Tap and Die set on sale for €10 at LIDL saved the day.

dr.fuzzenstein

After the flex pipe was pulled down I got down to installing the adaptor, flue pipe and stove.



In order to secure the whole arrangement, I fixed the solid pipe with a bracket.



Adding more fire cement to the collar, just to be sure



The finished article. This stove better work!

Well, it won't work quite yet, though. The flex pipe is still sticking a meter past the chimney and is taped in place with plastic bags and black sticky tape, I think it's the type used for taping up bales of sileage.

Robbie.G

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

After the flex pipe was pulled down I got down to installing the adaptor, flue pipe and stove.



In order to secure the whole arrangement, I fixed the solid pipe with a bracket.



Adding more fire cement to the collar, just to be sure



The finished article. This stove better work!

Well, it won't work quite yet, though. The flex pipe is still sticking a meter past the chimney and is taped in place with plastic bags and black sticky tape, I think it's the type used for taping up bales of sileage.

Looking good only a few things by right the bracket should have been a base support bracket as that one is only to stop sideward movement and not the weight of the flue.
Also the chimney should be back filled as there is a massive void around it but to do that a closure plate would need to be fitted at bottom of chimney.
You would be able to work away as is if you find your having draw problems or a lot of smoke in house you will need to insulate flue.
All said it's not a bad job at all especially with the obsticules you had to face.

dr.fuzzenstein

Robbie.G wrote: »

Looking good only a few things by right the bracket should have been a base support bracket as that one is only to stop sideward movement and not the weight of the flue.
Also the chimney should be back filled as there is a massive void around it but to do that a closure plate would need to be fitted at bottom of chimney.
You would be able to work away as is if you find your having draw problems or a lot of smoke in house you will need to insulate flue.
All said it's not a bad job at all especially with the obsticules you had to face.

Thanks Robbie. I will fill the void at some stage in the future and add a closure plate.
I was considering to insulate as far as the chimney flap (I mean from flap to top, as the void below is way to big to fill) but still add a closure plate just above the chimney breast to avoid having a heat trap.
The bracket is indeed only preventing sideways movement, the flexi pipe will be clamped by the chimney top and is also stuck pretty solid in the chimney flap, I had to hang off it with all of my 110 kg to pull it down. So very little weight bearing down from the top. I am glad I left the flap in place, as it now functions to hold the pipe in place. A happy coincidence.
It is funny that I nearly killed myself installing this and it looks like it has always been here. I have to give the missus credit for selecting the stove, I would have gone for a plainer stove, but anything to modern won't go with my house, it has to have a certain "ye olde" style.

Robbie.G

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Thanks Robbie. I will fill the void at some stage in the future and add a closure plate.
I was considering to insulate as far as the chimney flap but still add a closure plate just above the chimney breast to avoid having a heat trap.
The bracket is indeed only preventing sideways movement, the flexi pipe will be clamped by the chimney top and is also stuck pretty solid in the chimney flap, I had to hang off it with all of my 110 kg to pull it down. So very little weight bearing down from the top. I am glad I left the flap in place, as it now functions to hold the pipe in place. A happy coincidence.
It is funny that I nearly killed myself installing this and it looks like it has always been here. I have to give the missus credit for selecting the stove, I would have gone for a plainer stove, but anything to modern won't go with my house, it has to have a certain "ye olde" style.

I like the stove it looks as if it grew there.
Just right for the style of fireplace.
It just that the stove shouldn't support the weight of the flue in case of movement to stove but as the flues wedged it should be ok.
The insulating of the flue will make the stove work more efficiently as there could be to much heat loss causing the flue to cool causing condensation and poor draw.
As I said if you start to have problems insulate.
But all in all a fine job looking good
Congrats on install

dr.fuzzenstein

Well, not working quite yet. The flex is still hanging halfway down my roof and I am awaiting a thingmabob to clamp and secure it to the top if the chimney. Then a hat to top it all off and then its finally time to light that sucker.

Tom44

This is like good TV.
Can't wait till next update.
T.

dr.fuzzenstein

Tom44 wrote: »

This is like good TV.
Can't wait till next update.
T.

It will be
Stove IV: The Revenge
Now it's personal!

shedweller

I can see the opening scene now.
The detective is typing away on his computer and notices a common theme with all the crimes he's seen recently: Car jacks.

Tom44

shedweller wrote: »

I can see the opening scene now.
The detective is typing away on his computer and notices a common theme with all the crimes he's seen recently: Car jacks.

I would have burnt down the first house and built a new one !
Not promoting an insurance scam but the moral of the story is " If the stove won't fit "

dr.fuzzenstein

Now this update is a bit late, since the stove has been working for a while now.
I was able to install the chimney cowl (and as you can see in the pic, I was unable to cut the square baseplate because my anglegrinder died) and clamp for the flex pipe with minimal loss of blood (those flex pipes are razor sharp when cut, wear gloves), the top got sealed with some heat resistant silicone (if the top of the chimney does ever go beyond 300 degrees, there will be something else quite wrong) and the stove was up and running. After a week or so, I then installed some vermiculite flashing to stop heat escaping up the chimney and sealed that with fire cement.
At some stage in the future I will fill the cavity with vermiculite and put a permanent cap on the superfluous chimney pot, but there is no mad rush on that. If I do I might update this thread, but I make no promises.
So far the stove works well, it pumps out a nice bit of heat and does most of the heating of the house during the day. In the evening we then put on the woodpellet stove which also heats the water and the radiators. Heating bills should hopefully come down and later on in the year there is plans for a solar panel.
BTW: I was originally going for steel flashing, but opted for vermiculite instead. It is great to work with, because it cuts very easily, my jigsaw just zipped through it, hot knife and butter kinda stuff. It is supposed to be fireproof, so I decided to put that to the test. I took an offcut and stuck it in the fire for an hour or so. See below what happened to it. Just one warning when you're working with this stuff. It is quite heavy and because it is compressed mineral dust, it is quite fragile. I lifted it into place, it fell down and broke. On both sides. It is also quite expensive. So I decided to just stick it up anywayterfcuk and glue it all together with fire cement and silicone. Seems to work fine so far, but it will have to bear the weight of loose vermiculite that will fill the chimney. Since the stuff is supposed to be light, I'm not too worried.
Some pics:



The kit for the top



As viewed from below



Vermiculite board now stops heat escaping up the chimney. This is before it was sealed, but it's such a messy job, I spare you the sad sight...



But is this stuff really fireproof? Stick it in the oven, 1 hour at wood and coal mark IV



Yes it is! Your vermiculite cutoffs will be completely useless as fuel for your fire.

my3cents

Just wonder if it would be possible to use a dry vermiculite/cement mix for the first fill of the chimney so the bottom half slowly sets and supports that above it? I'm suggesting a dry mix as you don't want to drop a wet mix on your blanking plate, a wet mix would obviously be better.

dr.fuzzenstein

Could consider that. I think in any case I would have to add more brackets to the board.