From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
Hello all,
Thinking about putting a diesel or solid fuelstove aboard my 1964 30' allied. However the boat is older... and i am worried about the installation of the stoves stack as it pentrates the overhead of the cabin. Has anybody any advice or experience on preperation of the overhead to avoid allowing moisture into the fiberglass? Maybe fiberglassing the edges of the penetration after its cut?
Also with diesel or solid fuel, how many issues have you run into with soot and blackening of the sails and cabin top?
Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
We have a Luke solid fuel stove aboard our Corbin 39. Where the chimney passes through the deck it is insulated with fire blanket which should be available at most fireplace stores.
The chimney is stored in a forward sail locker while under way. A simple cap then covers the opening.
For fuel we cut up "fire logs" into quarters. Most grocery stores sell these. We then add fuel pellets or drift wood.
Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
Current diesel doesn't burn as well as the diesel of a few years ago. Even then, stoves produce some soot. "Red Devil" is a product that is added to stove diesel that causes higher combustion temps. Used occasionally to clean soot from exhaust. Also there are catalysts that help diesel produce a more complete burn. I use Archoil 6200 in all my diesel fuel. I started using in my diesel pickup and got more that 5% better mileage and better cold weather starts. Now I use it in the boat.
Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
@bikewfish, very handsome looking stove, nearly fire place you have going on there! I like the idea of fire blanket, never thought about that. Did you gasket in the fire blanket around the stack?
And the epoxy is a great idea, have you ever used the high heat stuff?
Sadly i dont think ill have room to have it deck mounted- but the polar regions near the feet would be best. Especially since I hear the interior stack heats the cabin almost as well as the stove itself.
Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
Safety from the heat and chemicals of combustion are of paramount importance. From the stove the flue must be connected with secure and sealed joints perhaps using a high temperature cement as a gasket material. The internal flue might want to be protected from burning your hands as you pass by. Some regulations demand that interior flues are lagged.
The deck joint needs to be a mechanically secure unit and you can buy an adaptor which will connect your internal flue to your external chimney and sealing the deck joint. The heat will be dissipated by the design of the flange.
Fire is a very large hazard in fibreglass boats and any form of fire is banned in many countries. You can't put out a fibre glass fire as it is an exothermic reaction and the boat will burn happily as it sinks below the water.
The external chimney might need to be lagged as when the pipe heats up, the interior is hot but the outside is cool. You can then get the flue gases condensing on the outside and dripping all over the deck. An insulated chimney is a must in cold climes. I usually just put a larger chimney over the top of the smaller chimney. Much cheaper!
Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
Contrary to other opinions here my experience with diesel fuel is very positive. The key to clean burning diesel is to balance the fuel supply with draft. The flue pipe must be hot enough to produce a positive draft and there must be an excellent downdraft cap. Soot is only produced by uncombusted fuel so proper balance between fuel and air supply solves any sooting problems.
Starting is the time most people experience sooting problems and can be eliminated with installation of a draft fan available from Dickenson. Once proper heating of the flue occurs the draft fan can be shut off. Heat at the deck head penetration is easily controlled by using a proper "Charlie Noble" also available from Dickenson among others. Also once proper draft has been achieved you can scavenge excess heat off the flue without any sooting.
The other soot creator is down drafting. The most effective flue cap for downdraft control that I've found is the Vac-U-Vent it has completely stopped all downdrafting problems on my boat even in 45+ knot gusts.
Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
Everything Sailor1924 said. We have two Dickinsons on board and would have moved ashore were it not for them.
The stove in the aft quarters does not have a draft inducing fan and I can see a very small (4"dia?) area of soot on deck at the base of the chimney. None at all from the forward stove with the fan. No biggie, but I will be getting a fan for that one prior to next winter
Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
TN has a diesel heating stove. Where the chimney meets the deck, I have installed a stainless deck plate, the flange of which I have drilled and tapped to attach a charley noble, which can be replaced with the deck plate cover.
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Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
Let me emphasize what has been mentioned before: use a proper fitting designed for running the chimney through the overhead. It will keep the high heat away from the overhead, which also solves the problem of too much heating of the epoxy you will use to seal the edge of the cutout in the overhead.
Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
I used 3 inch thin wall tube for the flue of my woodstove. As it was on a steel boat the issues going through the deck were not too bad, but I had wood lining and polystyrene insulation to worry about. I welded an upside down pot with a hole cut into the bottom onto the flue. This was securely bolted down onto a flange on the deck with an inch or so clearance around the flue (much more to the lining and insulation). I put some glassfibre lagging around the flue in this area, then an airgap and glass wool insulation.
Ive tried a variety of tops. The H type works reasonably but not perfect, even a half H can work as well. That vac u vent looks good.
One big factor to consider is the expansion of the flue as it warms up. I put a slip joint near the stove to account for this.
Ive had the lower portions of the flue glow red hot. Make sure there is good sheilding from the radiant heat, and no one can grab it by mistake.
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Re: From all you, experiences of chimney installations of marine stoves
All this info! Ive started a pad. So some considerable before plannong is very necessary. The deck joinery options allow alot of weary out of the way. Still cant decide on diesel or solid- may go diesel to have that aux. diesel tank if the main went dry.