We bought a used wood stove recently. Nice stove but I didn’t notice that the secondary combustion tubes were severely corroded until it was in place…in the basement.
Secondary Air Tubes Severely Deteriorated
As Li Ling described earlier, these tubes are where the magic happens. According the manufacturer’s brochure:
Pre-heated secondary combustion air is delivered to the stainless steel secondary combustion tubes (2B) which
introduces oxygen to the firebox and promotes re-burn of most of the smoke and gases that would otherwise line your
flue as creosote and exit your chimney as smoke.
When we bought the stove we assured that it would get a thorough inspection and be brought up to top working condition before delivery. Naturally I was a bit dismayed that this obviously didn’t happen so I called up my sales associate at the shop that sold us the stove. He got me a complete set of new tubes at no cost. The only catch was that I had to install them myself. It was a messy job. The tube kit comes with a special tool for removing the pinch pins (pretty ingenius little contraption!) but the worse tube was so far gone I had to take a Sawzall to it. As the old adage goes, there are 3 essential items every tool kit should have:
- Duct Tape for things that move and shouldn’t.
- WD-40 for things that don’t move and should.
- A Sawzall for things that should be there in the first place!
I needed #3 for this job.
The Right Tool for the Job!
A word to the wise, don’t run a sawzall inside a dusty stove unless you like getting wood ash in your eyes and nose and ears… Needless to say, it got a little dirty, but I got ‘er dun! Here’s the finished product.
New Stainless Steel Secondary Combustion Air Tubes Installed
Today the stove is burning much better and the wood seems to be lasting longer also. Success!
Energy Freak Show 
Leave a Reply