Ok so there is some discussion going on at work about insulating the liner when doing a wood insert into a ZC box with a 1700 deg listed flue. Reading the Quad manuals they want the liner to meet UL1777 unless the old flue is already tested to 2100 deg (UL 103 HT). Pretty much no prefab air cooled chimneys are tested to UL 103HT.
We were putting feelers out to see how others we getting an insulated liner down an 8" ZC flue. You have 6.25" OD SS flex + 1/2" insulation wrap you end up around 7.5" if you are lucky, not very easy to jam it down an 8" hole with snap ring flanges are other things poking out. Add an offset into the ZC flue and its near impossible to get an insulated liner down there.
The feedback we are getting from other contacts is that NO ONE else is even attempting to insulate the liners in ZC flues. One guy said something along the lines of, you are putting a SS flex liner down a 1700 deg rated chimney so if a local inspector is requiring insulation he does not have any common sense. Apparently his comments are as good as gold because he has been doing this for 30 years. Well I have been doing this for 3 years and rather than building on tradition I have come to my own conclusions based off actual fact, not my own opinion or "common sense". I have also heard from a contact that deals with fire investigations that a lot of the wood insert claims he sees are from liners run down ZC chimneys that do not meet the code and/or listing.
Codes and listings don't always follow what most people would consider common sense, but they sure will help you get out of a lawsuit.
So... any and all feedback is welcome. I would like to hear from any other installers or DIY who have done this type of install.
We were putting feelers out to see how others we getting an insulated liner down an 8" ZC flue. You have 6.25" OD SS flex + 1/2" insulation wrap you end up around 7.5" if you are lucky, not very easy to jam it down an 8" hole with snap ring flanges are other things poking out. Add an offset into the ZC flue and its near impossible to get an insulated liner down there.
The feedback we are getting from other contacts is that NO ONE else is even attempting to insulate the liners in ZC flues. One guy said something along the lines of, you are putting a SS flex liner down a 1700 deg rated chimney so if a local inspector is requiring insulation he does not have any common sense. Apparently his comments are as good as gold because he has been doing this for 30 years. Well I have been doing this for 3 years and rather than building on tradition I have come to my own conclusions based off actual fact, not my own opinion or "common sense". I have also heard from a contact that deals with fire investigations that a lot of the wood insert claims he sees are from liners run down ZC chimneys that do not meet the code and/or listing.
Codes and listings don't always follow what most people would consider common sense, but they sure will help you get out of a lawsuit.
So... any and all feedback is welcome. I would like to hear from any other installers or DIY who have done this type of install.
