[TheForge] Murphy strikes again. But fails!

Tue Feb 21 07:11:45 EST 2006

	Frosty, Good news on making it thru that one with little loss other than
repairing chimney parts.

Ralph

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Jerry Frost
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2006 10:13 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: [TheForge] Murphy strikes again. But fails!

Okay, so it's really the "non-reciprocating law" more than Murphy's law. You
know the one that says, "If you talk about something bad it'll happen and if
you talk about something good it'll NEVER happen?" Yeah, that's the one.

Remember a little while ago we were talking about chimney creosote? I was at
work today, yeah, I know it's president's day and working for the state I
get it off but there's a lot of stuff to clean up after the last couple
weeks weather and a little OT is always a good thing. . .  Uh, where was I?
Oh yeah. Work, Jay and I are taking morning break and my cell rings with the
distinctive "home" ring. It's Deb. Cool! I like talking to my sweetie.

"Hi sweetheart," I say brightly.

"I think we have a chimney fire," she says without preamble, warning or any
other attempt at softening the news or shielding me from harsh reality. "The
elbow on the stove is orange," she continues with no attempt whatsoever at
reassuring me. "What do I do?"

Can YOU feel the adrenaline rush? The single wall adjustable elbow we need
to get the stove to makeup to the stack is maybe, MAYBE a minute from
failing all together. The Metalbestos triple wall pipe from there to the
roof will hold, probably (PROBABLY) till the creosote burns itself out but
NOT the elbow.

Okay, it's do or die and there's maybe a couple minutes of window to fight
this thing so I start talking Deb through killing a stack fire. First shot
is a 2lb. box of baking soda aimed at the draw gap in the internal baffle. I
can HEAR it roaring over the phone, I hear it muffle for maybe ten seconds
then clear out and start roaring again.

By now I had my head out of my ass and sent her for the fire extinguisher;
much closer than the soda had been but soda was the first thing I thought
of. I talked her through using the extinguisher which has been sitting next
to the front door for some eight years now and though I take a look at the
gage every so often I hadn't knocked the chemical loose. Ever. So, I tell
her how to bang it on the floor to unpack the dry chem, pull the pin and aim
it at the draw gap in the baffle.

Of course I forgot to tell her to give it quick burps so I hear the gurgley
roar of the extinguisher for maybe five seconds before she lets go of it.
She can't hear me yelling at her to stop but the dry chem blasting back in
her face convinces her to give it a break. Okay, so I tell her to just fire
half second bursts and let the draft draw the chem up the stack and after
half a dozen bursts have her shut the stove up again.

No joy. CRAP it's not as hot but the roar is picking back up. Not quickly
and it's stuttering but it's picking back up regardless. I send her for
water and have her start throwing a cup at a time into the stove and
slamming the door in between. I tell her to keep doing it and call 911. I
hang up.

Jay's sitting on the other side of the truck, motionless, looking at me with
the same expression a passenger in an out of control car gets. BAD SHIT is
happening and there's not a single damned thing he can do but not distract
me and hang on.

Of course my cell starts beeping "dead battery" so I won't be able to check
on Deb. #^#&^#%#*$& !!!!! I grab the radio and shout for Sue, my foreman,
and tell her what's up and that I'm heading for the barn and maybe home. Jay
doesn't need me to say anything to bail. I head for the shop. I don't know
if Jay said anything to me. Probably but I don't remember.

About 15 mins later I roll in. It's normally it's a 20-25 min drive from
where we were to the shop. I didn't "speed" or do anything reckless, I just
took every advantage I safely could. Working for the State has definite
advantages, while I can't blow through stop signs and red lights, I can
legally run them if it's safe, IF it's "job" related. So, at every red
light, I hit the strobes, picked a gap and ran it.

I get to the shop and phone home. The FD is there, it's all okay. Deb and I
managed to pull the fire's teeth and the FD finished it off. During her call
to 911 and the three minutes it took the FD to cover the two miles and get
there she dilligently threw cups of water in the stove every 30 secs or
minute or so. Even so, it tried to take off again while the FD was watching.

I finished the day at work though the adrenaline hangover had my stomach
churning and me babbling. Can you imagine it? ME babbling? <grin> After an
hour or so and a bite to eat i was okay. In fact I'm still feeling the
"disaster survived" high I always get dodging a bullet.

Well, I got home a little while ago and though the house smells of wood
smoke and hot metal everything's okay. The steel elbow is blistered where it
was hottest and the seam is bulged, starting to separate. Maybe a minute
from collapse, MAYBE. I figured out what the problem is too. The stove, for
all it's faults is air tight, the fire should've gone out or at least slowed
WAY down when Deb shut the door but it didn't. It wasn't the stove though,
nope it was the joint where the adjustable elbow makes up with the
telescoping double wall pipe. (intermediary between the stove and triple
wall metalbestos pipe) There was a little gap where air was able to get in.
It's a gap large enough to slip my little finger in right now, it grew.

That won't happen again. That joint will get gasket rope chinked into it and
the swiveling joints in the adjustable elbow will get a wrap of muffler
tape. All new parts of course and maybe an all new stack. If I have to
replace the stack, it'll get encased in double sheetrock and wrapped with
Kaowool. Overkill? Maybe. HAH!

You might be wondering how often we clean our stack. We have the recipt from
the chimney sweep dated six weeks ago. I usually sweep the stack myself but
having that recipt once a year makes the insurance Co. happier, especially
if they have to pay off. We already pay the premium for a wood stove and
having it professionally swept saves some.

I don't think we'll be using those guys again. Heck, I'm thinking the sweep
is going to be paying for the inspection and maybe damages even if I have to
take him to court. We'll have the fire chief's incident report and the
inspector's report to back us in court. Everything else was good: two year
old, cut and split wood, sans bark, proper fire habits, we don't burn paper,
presto logs, etc. etc. There shouldn't have been enough creosote built up to
burn in just six weeks.

I'm happier than I can express to be sitting here tonight at my own
computer, in our home with all our pets and possessions alive and intact.
(if dusty <grin>)

Frosty
-------------------------------
If it ain't forged
it ain't real.
Wrought iron is.
The FrostWorks

Meadow Lakes, AK.

http://www.artmetalradio.com/

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