lavvu stove chimney

[ricksurfgod]

Hi wanting a bit of advice, I've got a Bison Tundra lavvu got the stove at the same time for cheapness of postage. In my keenness to test it out we went to wales last year and unfortunately between a few teething problems and my inept pitching the missus isn't too keen on it.
The main problem was in a rain storm (fairly big one) we got a lot of water drip down the chimney side between the heat shield and the chimney itself. My question is do I realy need the heat shield on? it just seems that the tent top would get a better seal.
Any thoughts?

 

[littlebiglane]

Hi wanting a bit of advice, I've got a Bison Tundra lavvu got the stove at the same time for cheapness of postage. In my keenness to test it out we went to wales last year and unfortunately between a few teething problems and my inept pitching the missus isn't too keen on it.
The main problem was in a rain storm (fairly big one) we got a lot of water drip down the chimney side between the heat shield and the chimney itself. My question is do I realy need the heat shield on? it just seems that the tent top would get a better seal.
Any thoughts?

I would keep the heat shield on - not only to save any heat damage to your lavvu but for safety. It would be a shame to see it burn down with you inside it. Can you not modify the heat shield to give it a 'choke' to reduce the gap at the top end of the heat shield?

 

[MagiKelly]

I have thought about packing the gap between the heat shield and the flue with glass wool to stop any dripping. Another option would be fitting a king of cowl above the heat shield to shed water out past the gap.

I would however definitely keep the heat shield. I have had the flue red hot in places so it would definitely have at least damaged the tent.

 

[sandbender]

Yep, definitely keep the heat-shield, I have known the flue to be red hot two or three meters above the stove.

My solution was to cut up an old aluminum tray, making a disc with a hole in the middle, the hole was very slightly larger than the flue but the disc width was large enough to rest on the heat-shield. It's small, light and keeps the rain out.

More of a problem with the Tentipi Lavvu design was that the canvas cowl around the flue was fastened in place with velcro and in strong winds the flue would sway about with the tent forcing the cowl open. I fixed this by replacing the velcro with a canvas draw cord.

 

[MagiKelly]

My solution was to cut up an old aluminum tray, making a disc with a hole in the middle, the hole was very slightly larger than the flue but the disc width was large enough to rest on the heat-shield. It's small, light and keeps the rain out.

Great idea. Simple and will stop the warm air going out the gap as well.

 

[spamel]

Be careful not to completely block the airflow, this could result in the stove pumping out a bit of CO which could prove fatal if your flue leaks anywhere inside the tent. Fire blankets may also be an option, I'd take a look at what is available on the market already for both tipi type tents and canvas wall tents fitted with stoves.

 

[sandbender]

Great idea. Simple and will stop the warm air going out the gap as well.

I am, however still looking for the perfect lavvu stove to go with my chimney

 

[Ogri the trog]

Rick,
I would be exceptionally careful about interfering with the airflow around the heat shield. It is the free movement of air out of the top that keeps both the flue and heat-shield cool - you definately need the shield in place or you risk the top of the tent catching fire. This airflow also carries out any CO2, CO etc - if you block the outflow of toxins, there's a good chance you would suffer because of it.
You said yourself that it was a big rainstorm, so why not accept it as part of the experience and try different fixes - was the chimney down-wind of the apex? Also, was the stove in use? as mine has cooked off most of the rain that has dared to enter the heat-shield. If you weren't using the stove, you could have removed the chimney and secured the cowl to seal any gap.
Perhaps with a little more experience, it'll become the idealtent.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[SMOKOE]

I have recently imported a 3 Dog stove for my tundra 8. it comes with a 5" stove pipe which means that there is not much room left through the tophat for a heat shield that's much wider than the pipe its self.

So, only yesterday, I set the stove up in the garden with about 8 feet of stove pipe ( i've got 12' in total). Around the end section of the 8' I wrapped a fire blanket and to simulate the fabric of the Tundra I tied a towl around the blanket.

As soon as I had built the stove up to a good heat burning 3" logs the towl caught fire and within 5 mins was burnt to a cinder through the fire blanket.

So a heat shield is deffinatley vital, I have also been considering a stove jack but dont fancy cutting a hole in my, tent although done professionally it would work.

Has anyone ever fitted one ??

 

[sandbender]

So a heat shield is deffinatley vital, I have also been considering a stove jack but dont fancy cutting a hole in my, tent although done professionally it would work.

The stove jack is probably your only solution

Thats a nice looking stove (I presume that its this one?)

http://www.tentsmiths.com/tent-camp-accessories-stoves.html

In my search for the ideal stove I purchased a Zeltofen Sved TP12

http://www.feuerzelte.de/shop/show_det.php?det=88&nav=36&rb=60

Which didn't come with a heat shield so I knocked one up out of three coffee tins and some bolts, I glued the bolts onto the inside of the cans which allowed me to hand tighten the bolts onto one of the chimney pipe. It works, however the Zeltofen is quite small and doesn't generate the heat that the Tentipi or Hellsport stoves do.

 

[SMOKOE]

Yes that's the one Sandbender, it's a great stove, almost worth the extortionate shipping costs

I,m going to have another experiment with a heat shield alothough it will only have about a 1/2 inch clearance of the pipe and I dont know if that will be sufficient.

If that fails it'll have to be a stove jack but I think I would have to try and get it professionally fitted, cause you'd also want a storm flap to seal it when not in use.

 

[sandbender]

I,m going to have another experiment with a heat shield alothough it will only have about a 1/2 inch clearance of the pipe and I dont know if that will be sufficient..

I reckon you may get away with only 1/2 an inch, there will be a lot of air moving through the gap so the heat from the flu will only be transmitted along the spacing bolts.

You will just have to experiment I guess