Replies

1. 
   FredB | Oct 10, 2000 05:52am | #1

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   Don't know about the health hazard but it does very little to seal the duct. Either foil tape or mastic are the recommended sealants. You can get either at almost any hardware store.

1. 
   calvin_ | Oct 10, 2000 01:08pm | #2

   *Regular cloth duct tape will with heat, fail over time and come loose. Probably smell like duct tape too. I've found the best tape to use to be the foil type Fred mentions. Good strong lasting seal. However, do not rely on it to hang your pipe.

1. 
   Bob_Walker | Oct 10, 2000 02:54pm | #3

   *Old joke:What do duct tape and the Star Wars Force have in Common?They each have a dark side and a light side, and each holds the universe togetherFWIW, as a home inspector I see a lot of loosened duct tape, and sometimes some that's still tight.Of course, I usually don't know when it was installed, so I can't come up with life expectencies, but I've read that studies at the Livermore labs have concluded duct tape has a pretty limited life. I use the silver foil myself for my own projects.Bob

1. 
   David_Thomas | Oct 11, 2000 06:37am | #4

   *I concur with everyone on the superiority of foil tape. To answer Gary's question, I not aware of any nasty compounds in "duct tape". There is a lot of toulene (a suspected human carcenigen) in some brands of electrical tape, but I've never gotten hits from the lab on duct-taped soil samples. The stuff is especially lousy in the sun. My fix-it kit includes foil tape, red vapor-barrier tape (for edges of polyethylene sheeting), 3M brand electrical tape, and 10- or 20-mil pipe wrap - great in the sun or underground for at least 5 years. About the only thing I use "duct tape" for is wrapping ice chests for shipments of lab samples or salmon (needed life: 48 hours) and for temporary jigs and lashings. But nothing permanent. -David

1. 
   Matt_G. | Oct 13, 2000 04:44am | #5

   *FYI:All foil tape is i not created equal! I've got some that an HVAC guy gave me... can't remember the name of it, but that stuff sticks like you wouldn't believe. It's got the foil face, and I believe a blue film that you peal to reveal the thick (~1/32") grey mastic. He said it was about $20 a roll. If anyone is really interested, I'll dig it out and post the name.

2. 
   Crusty_ | Oct 18, 2000 04:09am | #6

   *Matt, would appreciate the name of the tape you refer to. Around here there's lots of things people in the trades have never heard of. I will go behind my HVAC installers in a few weeks and check the ducts for tightness. I happen to use an "ultrasonic" gun (detector) in my work which comes with a high frequency "warble tone" generator. You just set the generator inside a duct and run the gun around the joints on the outside. Any leaks "sing" like a canary.

3. 
   Matt_G. | Oct 19, 2000 04:09am | #7

   *Polyken 360-17 Foilmastic Sealant. Polyken Technologies, Mansfield, MA 02048.

2. 
   gary_weiss | Oct 19, 2000 04:09am | #8

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   Was wondering if anyone could tell me if using regular duct tape on the inside of a furnace register would pose any type of health problem with all the hot air running over it. I had to modify a vent during a kitchen remodel and the only way to seal the vent without hiring a sheet metal expert was to liberally use the tape. Any advice would be very helpful, thanks in advance.