Rain cap on OWB?

[mrwood]

What is the pros and cons to not using any kind of a chimney cap on your OWB? I have wonder this for a while. There are alot of people in my area with nothing. I thought they were just cheap and lazy as it did cost $85 to get one on my cb. But in another post I noticed that dean does not have one, I could be wrong on this but it did not appear so. Now my feeling is if a maximum efficiency guy like dean does not use one there must be a reason. Any thoughts?

[Dean186]

Maximum efficiency guy, now that is funny mrwood.   ;D  I do try to be as efficient as possible, more because extra firewood is hard work.

My dealer did not recommend a chimney cap when I asked him about it.  Just no need in one he stated.  I put the shipping cap/cover back on the stove pipe during the off season to keep rain water, birds etc out.

[mrwood]

Well I was always told that it is a bad idea to run without one. But all that say that cannot really give an explanation of why. So I thought I might reach out to some more experienced players

[mrwood]

Maximum efficiency guy, now that is funny mrwood.   ;D  I do try to be as efficient as possible, more because extra firewood is hard work.

Ps. Dean that statement was not intended to be sarcastic. I admire your ability to try everything possible to maximize your stove. I on the other hand do not really bother with all of that. I live a very busy life style and although the slab wood that I burn is alot of work, it is VERY VERY inexpensive. So I am not worried about it as much. I may be able to load my stove and get more burn out of less wood if taken time to load a certain way but I enjoy just raking the coals and loading her up

[Dean186]

mrwood, I took your statement as humor and as a compliment.  No worries as my son would say.

Asking the more experienced sounds like a good plan.  I can see the advantage to having one installed on an indoor fireplace.  I too will be interested in hearing the advantage of having one installed on a gassification OWB.  It would serve as a spark arrestor on the non-gassification furnaces.

[gspren]

My P&M is a non gasser and when I first started burning last winter I had a rain cap on but it caused condesation to form on the cap and drip on the stove. My dealer said get rid of the cap when burning and no more drip. I take the entire stack off over the summer and put the shipping cap over the outlet. As far as sparks, after 2 winters of burning I have never seen a spark come out the stack and I tend the stove in the dark every night. The long horizontal passages on my stove seem to burn up any sparks before they get to the vertical stack, one of the reasons I purchased this model.

[beenthere]

If it is easy to take on and off, then just put the cap on during the non-heating season. A cap will likely restrict good draft to some extent, which may or may not be a problem.
But one is neither right nor wrong regards a rain cap. Do what feels good.

[mrwood]

I have noticed the condensation drop marks. And although it causes no problem it bugs the crap out of me. (OCD).

[sparky1]

I put the cap on mine. The only reason was because i live in the middle of the woods. I wanted to do everything within my control of preventing a possible fire. I have only seen sparks once at the top of the stack (and they were contained in the cap)  I belive it cost me about a hundred dollares for this cap, but if it saves me a fire im happy!  It least it looks like i tried!!

[boilerman101]

Years ago when I first installed my old Classic, I put a chimney cap/spark catcher on my chimney. One January morning it was full of wood and my water temp was down to 110 degrees, the damper was open and the fire just did not want to burn. I looked up at the chimney cap and the condensation and blowing snow had turned it into a big ball of ice. It has been laying somewhere out in my back woods ever since  :D....Perhaps if the screen was taken out and just used as a rain cap it would be ok...I use a bucket over the top when I shut down the furnace at the end of the burn season to keep the rain out.

[stumper]

Rain Caps areillegal in Maine on new boilers.

[Joe99]

This is my first winter with a e-Classic. I put a cap (no screen) on just to keep the rain out. Seams like this winter we have had more rain than snow. Without the cap do you get much if any water in the stove ? Seamed to me the way they have the "T" coming out the back of the stove that any water coming down the pipe would run into the back of the stove and down into the reaction chamber throught the rear tubes. Granted you would not get alot of water with a 8" pipe but we have had some pretty heavy rains this winter.

[beenthere]

Rain likely wouldn't bother if the stove is burning.

[sawdustandmud]

On My Central Boiler i run a cap for the simple reason where we live we usually get HEAVY lake effect snows upward of 30" or more and in a short time. I awoke one morning to find 30+inches of new snow on the ground and the fire in the furnace out cold. It snowed so hard and fast that it plugged the chimney off. My neighbors had the same problem and a cap seemed to be the answer. It also holds down the sparke when i burn the junk mail too! In installing the cap i did cut the bird deflector ring out . . .John

[chevytaHOE5674]

I have no cap and get plenty of snow where I live. When the stove is burning there is enough heat in the chimney that the snow/rain has never been an issue. I know plenty of people UP here in the snow belt with OWB's and I'm not sure I've ever seen a chimney cap on one.

[Gary_C]

Last spring I had a fire that apparently started from a spark from the chimney of my CB during a heavy snow event with a wind straight out of the east. I talked to my CB dealer about a cap and he did not recommend one as he said I would have to be cleaning it all the time. So I did not buy one.

Not sure if it is right to not have one, but I no longer have a building nearby. 

[Corley5]

  I had a cap on an OWB and it made a mess of the thing.  Condensation, rain water dripped onto the roof along with creosote and soot.  A stove with the pipe coming out the back like a CB I suppose this wouldn't be an issue but one with the pipe coming out the roof I'd never use a cap except to cover it in the off season.

[doctorb]

I do use a cap with my 2300, which has 3 sections of chimney, and this is my third heating season with it.  The spark screen was removed before the cap was installed.  It has not hurt the performance of my stove, as far as I can tell.  My problem is that, in the non-burning season, birds like to get under it and get caught in the pipe.  I guess they are chasing bugs.  But I have had starlings and bluebirds in the back of my stove that were unable to exit the pipe once they entered it.  I'll be putting something over my cap this spring after shutdown to prevent this.