Installation of chimneys made of stainless steel

Stainless steel chimneys are best suited for self-installation. Even an ignorant person in the stove business will cope with this work, since all that is required of him is to connect the ready-made component structures by the type of the designer. Of course, there are some nuances in this matter, on which the efficiency and durability of pipes depend. From this article you will learn all about how to properly collect stainless steel chimneys with your own hands.

Design features

Stainless steel chimneys have a second shorter name - "sandwich-chimneys ».Just like in the case of sandwich panels, this name is explained by the peculiarities of the pipe design - they are created from several layers. The inner layer is made of stainless steel, so that the condensation that occurs during the operation of the furnace or boiler does not destroy the pipe ahead of time. Behind him comes a heater that does not allow the smoke to cool down too quickly( if hot smoke collides with cold outdoor air, condensation will appear).As a thermal insulation, as a rule, non-combustible basalt materials( mineral wool) are used. The outer layer is made of stainless or galvanized steel( budget option), which gives the strength of the structure.

Such a device makes it possible to extract flue gases and soot as successfully as possible, because the inner layer of stainless steel tolerates extreme temperature changes, and its smooth surface does not retain particles of soot. The latter will be very popular with those who decided to replace the brick chimney with steel - it will have to be cleaned much less often.

Advantages of stainless steel chimneys:

1. Possibility of mounting at any time of the year.
2. Elementary maintenance and care - since the internal circuit does not contribute to the accumulation of soot, it is sufficient to clean the chimney once a year.
3. In case of breakage of any segment, it is not necessary to dismantle the entire structure - you can detach and replace the faulty section.
4. Due to the low weight of the chimney, it is not necessary to erect an additional foundation under the furnace, as in the case of brick products.
5. There are variants of chimneys for all types of fuel: coal, firewood, gas, oil. When installing this or that kind, it is necessary to know that it will most effectively remove smoke only in the case of furnace heating with suitable raw materials.
6. For the production of contours in a metal alloy, titanium is often added to impart strength. For sale there are heat-resistant pipes with a wall thickness of up to 1 mm, capable of withstanding heating to 600 ° C.
7. The durability of a structure is determined by its quality. Good stainless steel pipes for the chimney will last 20-30 years.

Of course, some pipes for installation are not enough - you need a lot of hardware and fasteners( brackets, revision, adapters, tees, knees, yokes, rosettes, etc.).For more details on the structure of the stainless steel chimneys and the installation, see the video below:

The upper part of the chimney must necessarily be cone-shaped, and also have a spark arrester, a wobbler or at least a thermo-fuse to protect the roof from fire and so that the sediments do not get inside. Thermal insulation of sandwich chimneys allows them to be taken out along the outer wall of the building, but if possible, it is better to let it pass inside the house in order to reduce heat loss.

Types of metal chimneys

Entering the building store, you will see several varieties of chimneys. They differ not only in value but also in structure and purpose. The above products have two walls, between which a heater is placed. Such pipes are suitable for installation on fireplaces, boilers, gas appliances and stoves.

There are also inexpensive single-walled pipes. They do not have a heater, so there is no question of any insulation capabilities. Such products are designed to repair a segment of a metal chimney, create connections in brick chimneys and strengthen the structure.

There is also a third kind - the most expensive one. Coaxial tubes appeared on the market relatively recently and immediately demonstrated their effectiveness. They have an unusual structure - a smaller pipe is placed in a larger diameter pipe. Through one smoke leaves the furnace, through the other fresh air penetrates inside and maintains intense burning. Coaxial chimneys allow you to make heating appliances more autonomous and are used in those cases where a constant supply of oxygen is necessary for combustion of fuel.

Connection methods for

pipes Standard stainless steel parts are used for connecting stainless steel sandwich flues, but the fixing methods may differ depending on the desired result.

There are two methods of joining the sandwich-chimney elements:

1. Smoke - this method guarantees the protection of the interior of the house from the penetration of carbon monoxide. It is often used when installing heating equipment inside a bath or a residential building. It is very important to isolate qualitatively all the seams, otherwise the condensate will wet the heater.
2. On condensate - this technique allows creating conditions under which the condensate formed due to a sharp temperature drop flows down the pipe in a directional manner. With this method of assembly, the inner tube of the upper segment is injected into the socket of the lower one, and as a result, the water running down from above can not in any way damage the heater. However, smoke can enter the house if there is at least one small gap.

In the first case, the chimney can suffer from condensation, in the second - there is a risk of poisoning with carbon monoxide, so what to choose? If you build a chimney inside the house, it is better to give preference to the method "by smoke", if in the utility room - "by condensate".However, in both cases, pay special attention to the sealing of all joints.

Chimney installation

The chimney dimensions of stainless steel depend on the dimensions of the building and the required traction. The standard length of one segment can be 50 cm or 100 cm. Mounting starts from the bottom near the stove and gradually moves higher, inserting one element into the other. However, many experts recommend acting with the exact opposite - to collect the chimney from the top to the bottom, starting from the roof. This will allow, in the event of a breakdown, not to disassemble the entire structure, but to easily remove the faulty part and replace it with a new one.

On each segment there is one narrowed end - it must go to the wide end of the next part. All links should be mounted so that the condensate accumulating on the walls can freely flow down and not stay in the seams.

Useful trick: In order to connect two pipes in a qualitative way, pull the inner contour of one of them by 15 cm, then insert it into the other pipe, then fix the outer contours. Each joint is sealed with a sealant and reinforced with a steel yoke. The sealant must be special - the usual simply straightens out from the heat at the first furnace.

How to get the chimney out

First of all, when putting a chimney on the outside wall of a building, care should be taken to ensure its stability. Sharp wind gusts, strong hail or accidental impact can be a fatal unpleasantness, threatening to leave the house without heat. To prevent this from happening, the chimney must be firmly secured. To do this, use different brackets, which fix the chimney to the wall every 1.5-2 m.

If the design provides for the installation of a tee or a hose, these parts should also be attached to the wall. They will keep the chimney strictly vertical, will not allow it to collapse and remove some of the load from the docking elements. In this case, between the chimney and the wall should be able to withstand a small distance - an offense. To calculate the amount of the deviation, it is necessary to take into account the thickness of the wall of the heating equipment, the nature of the furnace( open / closed), the flammability of the wall finishing materials. Let's take an example: for example, the wall thickness of a furnace with a closed fire chamber is 65 mm, and it stands near an unprotected wall from a fire. In this case, the safe distance will be at least 50 cm. If the oven has thicker walls, say 120 mm and is located near the brick non-combustible wall, then the indentation can be reduced to 20 cm.

If you need to install a chimney inside a box or between two walls, on the outer wall should make two window openings of 150 cm².One window should be located on the lower floor, the other - closer to the roof.

Passage of floors

If you lead a chimney inside the house, then sooner or later you will rest against the overlap between the floors. How to be in this case? To remove the pipe through the overlapping outside, it is necessary to make a special box with a hole in the middle. In this box, insert a pipe with a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the chimney. The thickness of the box must exceed the thickness of the overlap by 7 cm on each side.

The main purpose of this box is to protect the ceiling from ignition. During operation of the furnace the chimney can be heated up to 100C and more, which creates a fire hazard situation, so it must be insulated. The box must be carefully fixed in the ceiling and connected with the pipe. The nozzle inside must be integral( without joints, otherwise they will disperse quickly from temperature differences).

When you install the box in the ceiling, the branch pipe must be insulated qualitatively. To do this, it is better to use special mineral wool mats with a foil coating that reflects heat. Such mats are covered with fireproof mastic and are not afraid of high temperatures. A hole in the roof, too, does not prevent us from installing such mats for reliability.

Bringing a chimney to the roof of the

So, the installation of the chimney from stainless steel is nearing completion, but there is still a very important moment - the removal of the pipe to the roof. This can be done with a special link - roofing. Cutting should be selected in accordance with the angle of inclination of the roof slopes.

How to remove the chimney:

1. Use the marker to mark the inner surface of the roof. The diameter of the future hole should be slightly larger than the diameter of the chimney( only a few millimeters).
2. Cut a through hole in the roof, alternately slitting and removing each layer of the roofing cake. Do not even try to cut it all in one fell swoop - the result will not please you.
3. Inside the hole, place a steel spigot to insulate the roofing layers.
4. From the inside to the roof attach a steel sheet with a hole for the chimney in the middle.
5. Pull the pipe out and install the roof trim on top.
6. Mount the required number of links above the cutting.
7. At the very end, attach an umbrella or spark arrester to protect the pipe from rain and the roof from fire.

Important: Where the pipe passes inside the roofing cake, there should be no joints!

Useful advices

Stainless steel flues are a product of a new generation and successfully replace massive brick structures. And although their cost sometimes exceeds the installation price of even ceramic chimneys, the benefits become noticeable after a few months of operation. So, steel chimneys need less cleaning and less break, and if this happens, you can just buy a new segment and quickly replace it without dismantling the entire riser.

And to use the chimney it became even longer and more convenient, we prepared some useful tips:

1. When it's time to clean, start work from the top, after making sure that the chimney is not blocked( the bird could have built a nest for it in summer, the leaves attacked, etc.).
2. If the chimney is clogged with something, do not try to pull out the blockage, but simply push it to the nearest revision. Revisions are special installation elements that are installed in several places along the entire length of the chimney. They accumulate debris falling from above. Before cleaning, all revisions must be closed.
3. To remove soot, purchase a special brush, the diameter of which should be slightly larger than the diameter of the chimney. First, work ruff, and when the soot settles, clean the inspection tanks.
4. To clean the chimney as little as possible, try not to burn the oven with softwood. It contains resins that settle on walls inside pipes and form hard-to-remove impurities. The same will happen if you stove the stove with raw firewood.
5. It is not recommended to burn domestic garbage in a "home" oven - use an old metal barrel on the street for this.
6. For prevention from time to time throw into the oven a few aspen wood - quickly burnt, they give a powerful high flame, burning soot inside the chimney.

Installation of chimneys made of stainless steel is not so complicated, if you choose the right pipes and know how to handle them. Use the recommendations in this article and you will succeed!