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#1
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duct taping exhaust pipes
I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has
come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno |
#2
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duct taping exhaust pipes
"Uno" wrote in message ... I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno Not a good idea. Put it back together and then drill a small hole and put a sheet metal screw through it. |
#3
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duct taping exhaust pipes
Ed Pawlowski wrote:
"Uno" wrote in message ... I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno Not a good idea. Put it back together and then drill a small hole and put a sheet metal screw through it. And then use foil tape to seal it. (yeah, I know, it leaks at the bottom anyway, but just on general principles...) -- aem sends... |
#4
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Aug 17, 6:36*pm, Uno wrote:
I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. *Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno I have used aluminum foil duct tape for YEARS to "fix" the adjustable elbows and secure joints on flue pipes with no ill effect. I don't know if it's "ok' but it has worked fine for me w/o problems. Do not use the fabric or plastic duct tapes for this application. cheers Bob |
#5
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:14 -0600, Uno wrote:
I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? I don't know what you can and can't expect, but I would expect it to melt. Use foil tape meant for that purpose. |
#6
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duct taping exhaust pipes
I'd use the real aluminum tape not the mylar type stuff. 3M makes good one
expensive but you get what you pay for in this case, have used both at work and now wouldn't use anything but the real McCoy "Uno" wrote in message ... I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno |
#7
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Aug 17, 8:36*pm, Uno wrote:
I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. *Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno Sounds dangerous to me. Isn't exhaust pipe leaks where carbon monoxide gets into the house or do water heaters burn so little fuel that it doesn't give off much exhaust? |
#8
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Aug 18, 11:08*am, hibb wrote:
On Aug 17, 8:36*pm, Uno wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. *Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno Sounds dangerous to me. Isn't exhaust pipe leaks where carbon monoxide gets into the house or do water heaters burn so little fuel that it doesn't give off much exhaust? no, it's definitely a concern. Most residential water heaters are in the neighborhood of 30-40K BTU or higher IIRC. I would follow the advice already given and screw it together. If it was put together properly in the beginning, the smaller, crimped ends of all the connections should be pointing in the direction of the exhaust flow to minimize the possibility of backdraft, even without sealing the joints. I suppose if you are anal retentive using some muffler cement might work, covered with metal foil tape (as others have said, NOT any other kind of "duct" tape - that would be doomed to a presumably quick, smelly failure.) nate |
#9
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duct taping exhaust pipes
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#10
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duct taping exhaust pipes
N8N wrote:
On Aug 18, 11:08 am, hibb wrote: On Aug 17, 8:36 pm, Uno wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno Sounds dangerous to me. Isn't exhaust pipe leaks where carbon monoxide gets into the house or do water heaters burn so little fuel that it doesn't give off much exhaust? no, it's definitely a concern. Most residential water heaters are in the neighborhood of 30-40K BTU or higher IIRC. I would follow the advice already given and screw it together. If it was put together properly in the beginning, the smaller, crimped ends of all the connections should be pointing in the direction of the exhaust flow to minimize the possibility of backdraft, even without sealing the joints. I suppose if you are anal retentive using some muffler cement might work, covered with metal foil tape (as others have said, NOT any other kind of "duct" tape - that would be doomed to a presumably quick, smelly failure.) My understanding is that the crimped ends should be pointed down to contain condensation within the pipe instead of letting it drip out at the joints. This is important for wood stoves. |
#11
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duct taping exhaust pipes
Bob F wrote the following:
wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:09:52 -0230, "don &/or Lucille" wrote: I'd use the real aluminum tape not the mylar type stuff. 3M makes good one expensive but you get what you pay for in this case, have used both at work and now wouldn't use anything but the real McCoy It's not as expensive as replacing his home after the duct tape ignites and burns his house down. Duct tape is made for ducts (warm forced air), not HOT exhaust pipes. In reality, most "duct tape" is not approved for ducts. It just doesn't last. For general use, I use the clear type (3M and others). I have used some of it outside and it has been there for years, Summer and Winter, without deterioration. Forget the silver grey type. It just delaminates over time and the remaining glue is almost impossible to remove cleanly. |
#12
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duct taping exhaust pipes
The proper name for Duct Tape is Duct Insulators Tape. It's original
purpose was to hold the canvas in place over the insulation while the Duct Insulators sewed the canvas up thus making the installation more durable. That is why it is a cloth tape that is extremely sticky. It is meant to conform to the canvas used to cover the old style insulation used on ducts back in the day. It was never intended for use directly on ducts. It was certainly never meant for use on gas appliance vent tubing. -- Tom Horne On Aug 18, 6:21*am, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:09:52 -0230, "don &/or Lucille" wrote: I'd use the real aluminum tape not the mylar type stuff. 3M makes good one expensive but you get what you pay for in this case, have used both at work and now wouldn't use anything but the real McCoy It's not as expensive as replacing his home after the duct tape ignites and burns his house down. * Duct tape is made for ducts (warm forced air), not HOT exhaust pipes. |
#13
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:12:13 -0400, mm
wrote: On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:14 -0600, Uno wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? I don't know what you can and can't expect, but I would expect it to melt. Use foil tape meant for that purpose. AKA "Duct tape" - not "duck tape" which is what the cloth stuff is ACTUALLY - originally made of "cotton duck" - a type of cloth |
#14
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duct taping exhaust pipes
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#16
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:40:11 -0400, mm wrote:
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:58:37 -0400, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:12:13 -0400, mm wrote: On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:14 -0600, Uno wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? I don't know what you can and can't expect, but I would expect it to melt. Use foil tape meant for that purpose. AKA "Duct tape" - not "duck tape" which is what the cloth stuff is ACTUALLY - originally made of "cotton duck" - a type of cloth Others said what I just did more strongly, so let me put it another way. You're thinking of the difference between duct tape and duct tape, a worthwhile distinction, but neither of them is the tape for exhaust pipes. That is metal foil tape. The foil made for exhaust pipes doesn't work worth a damn. The flexing caused by the pressure waves of the exhaust quickly cause the tape to fatigue and rip. I've never heard of such a patch lasting a whole month. |
#17
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:50:36 -0500, AZ Nomad
wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:40:11 -0400, mm wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:58:37 -0400, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:12:13 -0400, mm wrote: On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:14 -0600, Uno wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? I don't know what you can and can't expect, but I would expect it to melt. Use foil tape meant for that purpose. AKA "Duct tape" - not "duck tape" which is what the cloth stuff is ACTUALLY - originally made of "cotton duck" - a type of cloth Others said what I just did more strongly, so let me put it another way. You're thinking of the difference between duct tape and duct tape, a worthwhile distinction, but neither of them is the tape for exhaust pipes. That is metal foil tape. The foil made for exhaust pipes doesn't work worth a damn. The flexing caused by the pressure waves of the exhaust quickly cause the tape to fatigue and rip. I've never heard of such a patch lasting a whole month. Well now you have. Mine was put on in November I think and lasted a whole winter. It weet on an oil furnace just two inches from the flue collector, the steel part screwed to the furnace immediately past the heat eachanger, so it gets hot. Another piece was went about 8 inches up from there and 3 inches over, out of the hot air flow but I'm sure it got hot. It was wrapped around the damper (that's hinged and has an adjustable weight) by some furnace guy and was there for a few years when another furnace guy took it off. |
#18
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On 08/18/2010 09:42 PM, mm wrote:
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:50:36 -0500, AZ Nomad wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:40:11 -0400, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:58:37 -0400, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:12:13 -0400, wrote: On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:14 -0600, wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? I don't know what you can and can't expect, but I would expect it to melt. Use foil tape meant for that purpose. AKA "Duct tape" - not "duck tape" which is what the cloth stuff is ACTUALLY - originally made of "cotton duck" - a type of cloth Others said what I just did more strongly, so let me put it another way. You're thinking of the difference between duct tape and duct tape, a worthwhile distinction, but neither of them is the tape for exhaust pipes. That is metal foil tape. The foil made for exhaust pipes doesn't work worth a damn. The flexing caused by the pressure waves of the exhaust quickly cause the tape to fatigue and rip. I've never heard of such a patch lasting a whole month. Well now you have. Mine was put on in November I think and lasted a whole winter. It weet on an oil furnace just two inches from the flue collector, the steel part screwed to the furnace immediately past the heat eachanger, so it gets hot. Another piece was went about 8 inches up from there and 3 inches over, out of the hot air flow but I'm sure it got hot. It was wrapped around the damper (that's hinged and has an adjustable weight) by some furnace guy and was there for a few years when another furnace guy took it off. I think he meant on the muffler of a car, which is a much harsher environment than the flue of a burner due to the cyclic stress imposed by the pulsing of the exhaust of a piston engine. nate -- replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply. http://members.cox.net/njnagel |
#19
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On 8/18/2010 10:01 AM, Bob F wrote:
N8N wrote: On Aug 18, 11:08 am, wrote: On Aug 17, 8:36 pm, wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? -- Uno Sounds dangerous to me. Isn't exhaust pipe leaks where carbon monoxide gets into the house or do water heaters burn so little fuel that it doesn't give off much exhaust? no, it's definitely a concern. Most residential water heaters are in the neighborhood of 30-40K BTU or higher IIRC. I would follow the advice already given and screw it together. If it was put together properly in the beginning, the smaller, crimped ends of all the connections should be pointing in the direction of the exhaust flow to minimize the possibility of backdraft, even without sealing the joints. I suppose if you are anal retentive using some muffler cement might work, covered with metal foil tape (as others have said, NOT any other kind of "duct" tape - that would be doomed to a presumably quick, smelly failure.) My understanding is that the crimped ends should be pointed down to contain condensation within the pipe instead of letting it drip out at the joints. This is important for wood stoves. Thanks all for replies. Once I read them all, I realized that screwing them together is what I wanted to do. If they are not together in a convincing way (screws are very convincing), there is definitely a CO exposure you don't want to have in the place where you hang out to prepare your meals. (Yes, here in New Mexico, many of us have water heaters in our kitchens.) So here's how it went down: 1) Refrain from using hot water for a half hour so that ducts won't be hot. 2) Duct tape up the back of this joint so it stays together for the next 5 minutes. 3) Use an 1-1/4 screw to make a penetration right on the knuckle. When you get through the top, stop. 4) Use drill bit to prepare hole for screw. 5) Install screw. 6) Remove duct tape. 7) Thank the nice folks on usenet who helped me out here. I think I'll foil tape it for good measure. Cheers, -- Uno |
#20
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On 8/18/2010 6:54 PM, Uno wrote:
So here's how it went down: 1) Refrain from using hot water for a half hour so that ducts won't be hot. 2) Duct tape up the back of this joint so it stays together for the next 5 minutes. 3) Use an 1-1/4 screw to make a penetration right on the knuckle. When you get through the top, stop. 4) Use drill bit to prepare hole for screw. 5) Install screw. 6) Remove duct tape. 7) Thank the nice folks on usenet who helped me out here. I think I'll foil tape it for good measure. Cheers, ps I used a different screw for the fastening: a little, metal duct screw. -- Uno |
#21
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:42:19 -0400, mm wrote:
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:50:36 -0500, AZ Nomad wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:40:11 -0400, mm wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:58:37 -0400, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:12:13 -0400, mm wrote: On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:14 -0600, Uno wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? I don't know what you can and can't expect, but I would expect it to melt. Use foil tape meant for that purpose. AKA "Duct tape" - not "duck tape" which is what the cloth stuff is ACTUALLY - originally made of "cotton duck" - a type of cloth Others said what I just did more strongly, so let me put it another way. You're thinking of the difference between duct tape and duct tape, a worthwhile distinction, but neither of them is the tape for exhaust pipes. That is metal foil tape. The foil made for exhaust pipes doesn't work worth a damn. The flexing caused by the pressure waves of the exhaust quickly cause the tape to fatigue and rip. I've never heard of such a patch lasting a whole month. Well now you have. Mine was put on in November I think and lasted a whole winter. It weet on an oil furnace just two inches from the flue collector, the steel part screwed to the furnace immediately past the heat eachanger, so it gets hot. Doh! I misread it as an OT automotive question. A furnace isn't going to have the exhaust pressure waves of an internal combustion engine. |
#22
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:50:01 -0400, Nate Nagel wrote:
On 08/18/2010 09:42 PM, mm wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:50:36 -0500, AZ Nomad wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:40:11 -0400, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:58:37 -0400, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:12:13 -0400, wrote: On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:14 -0600, wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? I don't know what you can and can't expect, but I would expect it to melt. Use foil tape meant for that purpose. AKA "Duct tape" - not "duck tape" which is what the cloth stuff is ACTUALLY - originally made of "cotton duck" - a type of cloth Others said what I just did more strongly, so let me put it another way. You're thinking of the difference between duct tape and duct tape, a worthwhile distinction, but neither of them is the tape for exhaust pipes. That is metal foil tape. The foil made for exhaust pipes doesn't work worth a damn. The flexing caused by the pressure waves of the exhaust quickly cause the tape to fatigue and rip. I've never heard of such a patch lasting a whole month. Well now you have. Mine was put on in November I think and lasted a whole winter. It weet on an oil furnace just two inches from the flue collector, the steel part screwed to the furnace immediately past the heat eachanger, so it gets hot. Another piece was went about 8 inches up from there and 3 inches over, out of the hot air flow but I'm sure it got hot. It was wrapped around the damper (that's hinged and has an adjustable weight) by some furnace guy and was there for a few years when another furnace guy took it off. I think he meant on the muffler of a car, which is a much harsher environment than the flue of a burner due to the cyclic stress imposed by the pulsing of the exhaust of a piston engine. Yes, I usually think of the exhaust of a furnace refered to as a chimney pipe. |
#24
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:04:04 -0500, AZ Nomad
wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:42:19 -0400, mm wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:50:36 -0500, AZ Nomad wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:40:11 -0400, mm wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:58:37 -0400, wrote: On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:12:13 -0400, mm wrote: On Tue, 17 Aug 2010 19:36:14 -0600, Uno wrote: I just was cleaning my water heater and see the exhaust pipe on it has come loose in the middle. Can I just duct tape it for now and not expect it to melt? I don't know what you can and can't expect, but I would expect it to melt. Use foil tape meant for that purpose. AKA "Duct tape" - not "duck tape" which is what the cloth stuff is ACTUALLY - originally made of "cotton duck" - a type of cloth Others said what I just did more strongly, so let me put it another way. You're thinking of the difference between duct tape and duct tape, a worthwhile distinction, but neither of them is the tape for exhaust pipes. That is metal foil tape. The foil made for exhaust pipes doesn't work worth a damn. The flexing caused by the pressure waves of the exhaust quickly cause the tape to fatigue and rip. I've never heard of such a patch lasting a whole month. Well now you have. Mine was put on in November I think and lasted a whole winter. It weet on an oil furnace just two inches from the flue collector, the steel part screwed to the furnace immediately past the heat eachanger, so it gets hot. Doh! I misread it as an OT automotive question. A furnace isn't going to have the exhaust pressure waves of an internal combustion engine. That didn't clue me in. I figured maybe some new fancy furnaces do! |
#25
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duct taping exhaust pipes
I think that some trolling has been going on, but in case the question was for real, the answer is: Repair the duct, screw the pieces together. The duct- in fact any duct- should be mechanically sound before any sealing. Duct tape, as used in the trades, is used on some ducts to overlay a seam, but the seam itself must be tight, entirely closed and sound before applying the duct tape. I've seen inspectors use a pick or knife point to test just that issue. For a vent pipe, this is even more important. Personally, I've never seen a professionally installed water heater, boiler or furnace vent pipe held together, spliced or even reinforced with duct tape. It'll burn, dry out or fail. Possibly the aluminum "tape" could be used, but even that has an adhesive that would probably fail due to the heat. You're much better off replacing the bad section of the vent, from the draft hood up. The cost isn't that much and you're going to be a lot safer. Nonny |
#26
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duct taping exhaust pipes
On Aug 19, 9:22*am, "RES" wrote:
I think that some trolling has been going on, but in case the question was for real, the answer is: Repair the duct, screw the pieces together. *The duct- in fact any duct- should be mechanically sound before any sealing. Duct tape, as used in the trades, is used on some ducts to overlay a seam, but the seam itself must be tight, entirely closed and sound before applying the duct tape. *I've seen inspectors use a pick or knife point to test just that issue. For a vent pipe, this is even more important. *Personally, I've never seen a professionally installed water heater, boiler or furnace vent pipe held together, spliced or even reinforced with duct tape. *It'll burn, dry out or fail. *Possibly the aluminum "tape" could be used, but even that has an adhesive that would probably fail due to the heat. You're much better off replacing the bad section of the vent, from the draft hood up. *The cost isn't that much and you're going to be a lot safer. Nonny Possibly the aluminum "tape" could be used, but even that has an adhesive that would probably fail due to the heat. The aluminum tape I put on my water heat flue in 1980 is still performing fine. cheers Bob |
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