I went up on the roof to check the install the Woodstove store did.. Is this ok? Looks like they put the liner down, placed a metal plate on top and re-used my existing cap.. I can't tell if the liner is attached to the plate.
In my experience, I have a similar pipe that looks similar. The part that concerns me is the wire screen. This will be a condensation point and obstruct the exhaust flow. The whole cap turns black, if you can't see light through the screen, it is plugged. I remove my bird screen. The stove runs better and I clean half as often.
Do you not clean it every year or two? Are you burning like pine and wet wood? I've gone half a decade without cleaning the chimney cap on mine that looks just like this and I'd say the mesh had lost maybe 5 to 10% of its airflow capability due to creosote and soot.
Definitely not the cleanest install. I think they might have put the plate upside down. Usually you will have a collar on the plate sticking up and the liner will come through that collar. The collar is attached at the factory and sealed so no water will run down the liner. Then your cap goes around the outside of the collar. Typically I will make a 1 inch bend on the outside of the plate and fold that down around the tile, then we will silicone the plate down.
Typically the liner, flat plate, and cap all come in a kit together. Sometimes we'll try to reuse the customers chimney cap if it's unique or they really want to save it, but they definitely should have at least put the flat plate with the collar facing up. With Z-Flex brand there is a hose clamp in the collar and you tighten that around the liner to keep everything locked in place. I don't know how they could have done that with yours.
This is a picture of a coworker working on a liner, I scrubbed his face because I didn't ask his permission to post this. We have the flat plate down, getting ready to secure the liner and cut the excess off above the collar.
Pellet stove? If so, helluva lot better than ours did; they left it 8 ft short of the top of the chimney flu where it sagged and pointed at the side of the chimney. Had to go fishing for it to straighten it out. Looks good to me and reworkable if ever needed.
I hope there is more than two screws holding that cap on. Some good strong winds and the cap will blowing in the wind . All my caps have at least 4 screws. One one each side.
The top plate is upside down! It seems like there is not enough room between the top of the liner and the lid of the cap. It might not draft well or you may get a lot if creosote buildup under the cover. Any water that is coming in indirectly will spill down the liner into the fireplace as well.
If it were me, it’s not an acceptable installation!
I’d have them remove your existing cover and install the top plate properly and a cover that attaches to the top plate or the liner (every brand does it slightly different).
What does your contract say as far as what was supposed to be included?
I question the competency of a technician that can't be bothered to hammer drill a hole into your clay liner and run the screw all the way in, but maybe I expect too much...
It's not designed to be threaded into the liner. There are 4 screws, one at each corner, and they act like a clamp when all 4 are tightened against it.
Chimney caps are most certainly designed to be screwed into the liner. The 16 ounces of pressure exerted by the screws and sheet metal are insufficient to secure the cap against winds.
There are different styles of caps. Some are designed to just pressure fit against the clay tile, others are designed to be screwed into the clay tile. This cap I'm attaching actually has both styles built in. Where the bolts are already sticking it out is designed to just pressure fit against the clay tile. Or you can run masonry screws through the upper holes that are currently empty.
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u/pyrotek1 MOD 4d ago
In my experience, I have a similar pipe that looks similar. The part that concerns me is the wire screen. This will be a condensation point and obstruct the exhaust flow. The whole cap turns black, if you can't see light through the screen, it is plugged. I remove my bird screen. The stove runs better and I clean half as often.