was in my basement today because my laundry room is typically quite warm in the winter despite not having a heat vent. Figured there had to be a leaky duct joint somewhere, sure enough, I found it. Where the main supply trunk makes a 90 up by the ceiling, it connects to a plenum, and along the top of the duct it was connected with a Z-shaped piece of metal. Apparently it'd either been assembled wrong or at some point was flexed and put back wrong; the one piece of duct was completely outside the "Z" making a massive leak, and it was only (partially) held together with duct tape. I ripped all the tape off, disassembled enough stuff to get the "Z" piece out, and went to the store (I'd mangled the "Z" pretty badly getting it out.)
I was able to find a new "Z" piece but not replacements for the other pieces that hold the sides of the duct together. Those are like a "U" that's been flattened and closed, and the pieces of duct have the sheetmetal ends bent back on themselves. I'm sure those of you who have messed with HVAC stuff know what I'm talking about. I was able to mangle those back into shape enough to put the duct back together, but if I need to buy any of these in the future, what should I ask for, so I can call around and see if anyone has them rather than drive to a whole mess of different stores and be disappointed?
thanks
nate