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[coolidge]

Are you guys using a chimney cap on your 250's?

[martyinmi]

I'm not, but......
I'm wondering if it might be a good idea to do so.
When I do my weekly cleaning there are usually clumps of ash that have solidified from rain/snow going down the exhaust and landing on the shelf that separates the horizontal exchange tubes.
Water and ash mixing together is kinda like mixing fire and gasoline.

[boilerman]

I don't think there is anything wrong with a chimney cap, but if it has a "spark arrestor" screen in it, they tend to plug up and even ice up at really cold temps.
Mine looked like a ball of ice one morning. Needless to say, things were not working well. 
So I removed the screen after some of these issues.
Works fine now and does keep most of precipitation out.

[johnybcold]

My spark arrester lasted about a month, now it is a rain cap;-)

[jreimer]

I have a rain cap on mine.  Seems to work fine.  I certainly would not want the rain or snow falling into the boiler for corrosion reasons.