To Silicone or not to Silicone, that is the poll!

[Rubicon 327]

Just curious what most of you do on this subject. I know it is recommended in the manual but is it really necessary? Lets hear your thoughts.

Is it supposed to keep smoke & gases in the pipe?

Does it help with draft?

What is it actually supposed to do?

 

[Lousyweather]

well, I assume its to help seal the pipe, but what it really does is lock the pipe together making it very difficult, if not impossible, to take them apart for cleaning in the future. We use either metal tape, and replace it every couple years, or silicone tape.

 

[tinkabranc]

Everthing is silconed on my vent pipes EXCEPT the tee cap.

 

[bjr23]

I don't silicone for above mentioned reasons. I paid waayy too much for the pipe not to be able to take it apart and clean it bjr23

 

[DAKSY]

All I siliconed was the stove starter & around the
pipe where it enters & exits the wall thimble...
Excel pellet vent is manufactured with RTV
silicone seals built in & extra silicone is not
needed after the stove starter...

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

1. Is it supposed to keep smoke & gases in the pipe?

Yes and no, it is to make certain that combustion byproducts have only one way to go and that is through the pipe.

2. Does it help with draft?

Only if the sealant actually seals a leak.

3. What is it actually supposed to do?

Prevent injury and death due to inhalation of combustion byproducts that can and do leak out of unsealed joints.


Think of it as protection in depth for those folks that use a pipe with internal siliconed seals.

Depending upon what your stove installation manual has to say it may even be mandatory for venting with internal silicone seals.

 

[DAKSY]

The Excel pipe is manufactured to such tight tolerances that the RTV silicone
gaskets seal the SAME if not BETTER then goobing on external silicone.
It's tested & approved for residential installs in both the US & Canada.
Not only does it look better, but you can take it apart by simply removing
three screws, rather than having to cut thru the externally applied stuff.
It's your home. It's your install. You do what you want & think you need to do
to keep yourself & your family safe. If you wanna overkill the seals, use
extra silicone on the outside & then you can even wrap it with foil tape...
The "Department of Redundancy Department" attitude is not always a BAD thing...
Tis MHO & YMMV!

 

[Rubicon 327]

Thanks for the info guy's!

 

[Xena]

Only thing I had to silicone was the appliance adapter.

The few twist-lock pieces I have do not leak, and the
majority of the run up the chimney is ss flex.

 

[Dr_Drum]

All I siliconed was the stove starter & around the
pipe where it enters & exits the wall thimble...Excel pellet vent is manufactured with RTV
silicone seals built in & extra silicone is not needed after the stove starter...

Ditto, excellent product and highly recommend. The seals have free lifetime replacement also.
Mike -

 

[dac122]

All I siliconed was the stove starter & around the
pipe where it enters & exits the wall thimble...
Excel pellet vent is manufactured with RTV
silicone seals built in & extra silicone is not
needed after the stove starter...

Agreed!

I took a bath on my Duravent PelletVent pipe (not the PelletVent Pro), despite many calls to Tech Support, and more silicone and tape, including Seal It Right, than you can possibly imagine.

To me this is an irrelevant question - silicone just the adapter, buy pipe that doesn't need silicone, like Excel (which will be the last pipe you ever buy), save yourself a bunch of grief, and sleep tight knowing you will never have a leak or smell smoke.

 

[slls]

I just silicone inside, none outside and I still can't get it apart.

 

[Augmister]

I used the red silicon on the starter pipe and then on the outside wall (clear high temp silicon) where there is a gap between the wall and the stove pipe protruding to the outside. My pipe vents straight out so all I need to remove the the end cap, when cool and shove the bad boy Rigid vacuum hose down the pipe from the outside in, to clean. Whatta country!

 

[krooser]

I siliconed the hell outta the pellet vent adapter... the tech who inspected my install said I had 0% leakage as checked with his CO monitor. the rest of the vent is Selkirk with a silicone seal so no additional silicone is req'd.

 

[joefraser]

I have Duravent. It leaks like crazy. I sealed it with metal tape so I can clean it. Looks tacky but you can't see it unless your heads behind the stove.