I've heard people mention using aluminum tape instead of duck tape on exhaust vents. Trouble is, does it really make a difference over duck tape. I notice that duck tape doesn't do squat for exhaust vents - it just wrinkles up and shrivels away.
Also, what does this stuff look like and is it available from the Borgs? Last time I looked, somewhat half-assed, I only saw duck tape.
Home Depot and Lowes both have it. Ask for the duct tape that is UL listed. I think it's about 15 or 20 bucks a roll.
Is it actual tape, or something that I'll have to carefully clean the vent before using and then apply an epoxy to cure it? (yes I'm being hyperbolic but just to make a point)?
One of the nice things about duck tape is that you can practically apply it underwater and it will stick just fine.
It's tape. But it'll stick better to clean surfaces.
e.g.
Thanks, I didn't need the link, but at least now I know what the stuff looks like.
I'll go over the vents with steel wool and rubbing alcohol before applying it.
If it's really exhaust vents you're doing, there's some high temp stuff (a bit harder to find) you should use. I didn't read carefully the first time. All this stuff has a range of temperatures to which it's applicable.
CJT wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@prodigy.net:
There are a zillion kinds with a zillion certifications. Covalence Adhesives makes the popular Polyken, Nashua and others.
That might be why they recommend something else.
Duck tape was never meant for ducts, aiui. I'm not even sure it was named after ducts. Maybe ducks. Sort of like Gorilla Glue.
I'm sure they have more at the Borg than duck tape. Unless you went to Just Duck Tape, or Duck Tape 'R' Us.
I don't know what point you are making. If it is dirty enough, nothing will stick. If it is only a little dirty, everything will stick. Everything else falls somewhere in between. What are you going to do, use something that doesn't work, that shrivels up, just because it sticks well at first? I would dust the places about to be taped, and then I would tape the worst one or two joints and see how well it sticks over the next month or two. If it doesn't stick, I'd clean the others before I taped them. But I have a feeling you're just trying to goof on us with your reference to steel wool and alcohol. I think things will go better here if you show you are trying to be funny instead of just putting us on.
I wonder about posts like these. It sounds legit, but then there's an aspect that is so boneheaded as to raise suspicion. If indeed the poster is wondering about stickiness, then we should advise him to properly prep the area first.
Aside from that, aluminum tape is the correct stuff for ductwork that requires insulation. Good old duct (not duck) tape is the correct stuff for ductwork that does not require insulation. You can use aluminum tape in place of duct tape, but not the other way around.
Duct tape is ok for temporary uses but for long term use you need the real thing. You will usually find it in the heating and air conditioning section, not with the regular tape. It will be more expensive and you will need to peal off a layer off the adhesive as you use it.
As noted if you are working with the vent from a fuel burning heating device (not like a dryer or furnace duct), you may need a different material.
Ask. They have it. It's expensive and it does the job. Looks like duct tape, only it's metal.
That's your problem...look for DUCT tape.
Exuast tape I dought is code, proper exuast pipe instalation is all that is needed. Tape is for idiot hacks on exuasts
Duck tape is a brand of duct tape, but I don't think the name is the OP's problem. I think the problem is that he tried a half-assed search in a store instead of doing a full-assed search. It's amazing how much stuff I don't find when I don't look for it.
Not sure why googling "aluminum tape vent" didn't occur to him...
R
imho:
You said it, it is different, duct tape dries out, seperates, and fails.
I've found only cheap HVAC guys use duct tape, and I've been yelled out in the past for even suggesting it's use. Let the DIY'ers use it. :)
later,
tom
You mean like idiots that can't spell "exhaust"?
Dought say things like that!
Naw, its just for the furnace exhaust and the hot water heater exhaust vents.
Just out of curiosity, what kind of device would be burning too hot for aluminum tape? Fireplace insert or something similar?
Because then I wouldn't have gotten all the remarks suggesting I was lazy.
Honestly, people post in these groups because they want to hear a little bit more than a glorified shill.
Oh, just for a bit of education From the Wikipedia on Duct tape
"The origins of the name "duct tape" are the subject of some disagreement. One view, popular among many Internet Q&A sites[5][6], is that older references to a different fabric product called duck tape, which the OED states perhaps was altered to create the origin of duct tape, in combination with a popular tale about WWII Army soldiers comparing the invention's waterproof qualities to that of a duck, proves that the original name of the product was, coincidentally, duck tape. This view is summarized most notably in a New York Times article by etymologist William Safire in March of 2003. The other view is a more conservative etymology, noting that documented use of the word "duct" to describe the product in question predates any documented use of the word "duck" to describe the same, by many years, and that there is no evidence supporting the WWII story or that the product got its name by altering the name of a different product.[7] This view also accepts the simpler explanation that people have just confused the effectively identical pronunciation of two similar but unrelated products through the process of elision, and the rest of the "duck" etymology is folklore or fabrication. This view was summarized most notably in a Boston Globe article by etymologist Jan Freeman, also in March of 2003."
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