# fixing a leak in stove pipe joint, any type of caulking material?



## hpi_jeep (Feb 13, 2007)

so i have a small woodstove in the basement i used single wall black stove pipe, and 2 of the joints are leaking. is there any type of heat resistant caulking material i can use to patch them up? 

i have only had a few fires this year because the wife complains of the smell. if i could get it patched up i could burn some of this wood that i am selling every weekend.


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## Moddoo (Feb 13, 2007)

Menards sells some high temp latex that's good to around 1500F.
I used it to refurbish my sheetmetal wood furnace in the shop.
I seems to work well.
It is red though


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## blueknobbuck (Feb 13, 2007)

whats leaking? maybe your pipe is assembled backwards, pipe above should go into pipe below


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## hpi_jeep (Feb 13, 2007)

one of the joints is were it comes out of the back of the stove and 90's up the other leaky joint is were it goes from vertical back to horizontal, the 90 is leaking there. it is very small (non visible) holes.

to determine were the leaks were i built a fire with un seasoned woods and held a flashlight all along each joint and i could see a very small amount of smoke coming from both places i described. 

beleive it or not i did assemble wrong, so i pulled the pipe down and reassembled. 

i have a small mig welder i was going to try and "patch" things up a bit but then i got to thinking about some automotive grade silicone. then after all that thinking (wheew got a head ache  ) i figured they have to make stuff for this problem. (right?)


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## PA Plumber (Feb 13, 2007)

There is a red flag going up here. 

Are you sure the chimney/flue is clean. If mine needs cleaned it will let some smoke out when first starting the fire.

Yes, the pipes could be installed overlappin the wrong way, but the flue should still pull a draft.


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## PA Plumber (Feb 13, 2007)

If the flue pipe is galvanized, please don't weld it at all. A small hole or seam should be no problem if the flue is drafting properly.


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## blueknobbuck (Feb 13, 2007)

good point pa plumber, if you have a good draft all the smoke should go up


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## Patrick62 (Feb 13, 2007)

*Look it all over again*

I think that lack of draft is the problem!

First off, 90 deg's should be avoided at all costs, they severly reduce the draft.
If there is no other way to hook it up, then go up a size in pipe ( 8 inch? )

The reason that pipe is put together backwards to what seems natually correct is that creosote will dripple back down to the stove instead of making a real fine mess of the beautiful pipe.

There should be sufficient draw that any leaking joints will allow air in, not smoke out!

-pat


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## turnkey4099 (Feb 14, 2007)

I agree with others. If any smoke at all is coming out of holes there is a serious problem with the draw (draft). Any leaking through a hole in the pipe should be going in, not out. 

I sounds like your pipe comes out the back into a 90 el (so does mine), straight up, the anothe r90 and horizontal to the exit. Bad installation. If you have to have it exit that way, maybe you can come off the back of the stove at an angle up to the outlet doing away with that 2nd 90. 

If you do have to retain the horizontal section, be sure to dismantle and clean it out every year. I had one that way in the shop for a few years. The standard pipe would only last a couple seasons before it rotted out.

Harry K


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## PA Plumber (Feb 14, 2007)

If your swinging double ells, you could swivel them so they are 45 degree off sets and get rid of 2 sharp bends for two "soft" ones.


Could you take a pic and post it? Would help alot with the visual.


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## STEELHEAD (Feb 18, 2007)

*draft measure..*

Could nt you check the draw/draft by holdind a match up to a hole in the pipe maybe by the dampner, and see if the flame is positive or negetive, should be on a calm day I suppose,and maybe checked on a windy day as well..


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## PA Plumber (Feb 19, 2007)

STEELHEAD said:


> Could nt you check the draw/draft by holdind a match up to a hole in the pipe maybe by the dampner, and see if the flame is positive or negetive, should be on a calm day I suppose,and maybe checked on a windy day as well..



Welcome to AS.

On post number 4 he has effectively done that.


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## jellero (Jan 12, 2013)

PA Plumber said:


> Welcome to AS.
> 
> On post number 4 he has effectively done that.



draft is the problem and it is caused by using a wood stove in the basement. i used to have to heat up the pipe with a torch to get a basement stove to draw. j


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## johnnylabguy (Jan 13, 2013)

Just use seasoned dry wood and that will also help your "smoke leak" problem will go away. 

The long chimney run and bends in the flue do make it take longer to warm up for a good draft. So use some good dry kindling wood to get it going.


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## turnkey4099 (Jan 13, 2013)

Just a general obsrvation. _Any_ smell of smoke in the house other than when just starting a fire is a danger sign. Several years ago we were woke up at Oh Dark 30 by the detector screaming about CO2. Discovered the bird screen at top of chimney was plugged with powdery dry creosote. That screen got pulled that day. I had been ignoring the problems I had been haveing getting a draft going.

Harry K


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## CTYank (Jan 13, 2013)

jellero said:


> draft is the problem and *it is caused by using a wood stove in the basement*. i used to have to heat up the pipe with a torch to get a basement stove to draw. j



Nope. Mine has worked just fine in the basement from day one. Insulation and sealing helps. 

Yours may well have a problem, but that's no reason to generalize. (You could well have two flues "competing.")


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## Wood Doctor (Jan 13, 2013)

*Stove Gasket Cement*

You can buy stove gasket cement that will go all the way up to 2000 F at just about any home improvement center. $6 will get you a 4-oz tube. I use it to fasten the door seals tight. It should work on pipe joints also unless the gap is huge. If it is, replace the pipes.


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## turnkey4099 (Jan 14, 2013)

Wood Doctor said:


> You can buy stove gasket cement that will go all the way up to 2000 F at just about any home improvement center. $6 will get you a 4-oz tube. I use it to fasten the door seals tight. It should work on pipe joints also unless the gap is huge. If it is, replace the pipes.



If the pipe needs sealing to keep smoke from leaking there is something drastically wrong.

Harry K


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