Any issue using Type B vent pipe from water heater back to chimney?

Is there any issue using Type B ventpipe as far as drafting or venting? Will it draft as well as single wall? Reason is my run to the chimney runs real close to combustibles...they will be replacing the single wall that is coated with adhesive from foil tape and also the fire caulking...we are trying to rule out that is what is causing the smells after the heater has been running for about 5 minutes


If smell is still there the Kenmore is coming out and a Bradford White is going in as that means the smell is the water heater producing it


So Type B ok to use?

Nothing wrong at all. The hotter you keep the flue gasses the better. Where I used to live it was code to use b-vent as the vent connectors.

What zl700 said- B-vent will draft BETTER than single-wall, since the exhaust gases will be hotter, less dense, more buoyant.

Ok thanks guys that is good news

Thanks, that makes me feel quite a bit better

heater

And if you STILL have the smell after you install the BW, what then? It means that you never found the source of the smell in the first place, and spent a lot of time and money needlessly. I doubt that it is the smell from the tape, although that flue should have been class "B" because of the proximity to the combustible wood surfaces.

hj said:

And if you STILL have the smell after you install the BW, what then? It means that you never found the source of the smell in the first place, and spent a lot of time and money needlessly. I doubt that it is the smell from the tape, although that flue should have been class "B" because of the proximity to the combustible wood surfaces.

Click to expand...

Well the smell is suspiciously close to the smell of the adhesive of the tape....and these pipe were loaded with it but yes I can't be sure that is it.........if it isn't from the adhesive on the pipes it has to be the water heater not working correctly? The "smell" floats up the stairwell to the cellar door and is up high near the ceiling.... Would a lazy flame indicated improper combustion? If not enough secondary air would that produce a combustion smell? The design of the BW air intake system appears to be superior to the crap design on the Kenmore?


Yes the B pipe will be a welcome improvement..I will still wrap the pipe in the 3m Fire blanket near the combustibles for extra protection


The one thing that changed in the basement was the water heater...no combustion smells , no adhesive smells...nothing that I can recall...could it be because of a lesser BTU rating? If the new WH is 40000 btu and the 20 year old Vanguard was lets say 32000 btu would that have any effect on the venting??


I'm not trying to argue or dispute ...just trying to figure it all out...like I said, old water heater no smells or issue..new Kenmore goes in and all hell breaks loose......very odd


Do any of my questions make sense?

heater

Smaller btu input WOULD require less drafting, by definition, but as I stated previously, I would want to be there to check the heater, AND smell the odor, because what you smell may not always be what you think it is.

Ok hmm wondering if having the 40000 btu is contributing to the issue hmmmmmmmm Should a competent plumber be able to tell what smell is and if it is combustion smell?

I sure does smell like a plastic adhesive smell...I guess once the new vent pipes are in that will rule one thing out I guess if it still smells

I wonder if I should look into a GE lesser BTU water heater

Ok did some more reading and I'm guess my 20 year old Vanguard was not a 40000 btu water heater.....

So that being said.....could it be that a 40000 btu water heater could be part of the issue here? Would 4000 btu's (36000 vs 40000 btus) make a difference as far as odors or the amount of secondary air required? Could that be why the old water heater ran ok even with the negative air pressure? I can say the flame on the water heater is not short and crisp.....it is sort of tall and a bit well lazy I guess

Sorry I'm just trying to understand if perhaps the 40000 is too big for my cellar?


Am I over analyzing to a fault here?

Well he replaced the vent pipes..had to do single wall to start because of how close to the copper gas line the run goes.....there is maybe an inch between the copper gas line and the single wall..he called a plumber and asked and the plumber told him that as long as not touching should be fine...agree?


In any event we did some test runs and the results look promising so far..no smell and when looking outside at the chimney we could see some white exhaust coming from the stack...is that water vapor?


I'll know better after I run through some showers



Big question now is do I still go for the Bradford White?