does 11 year old kaowool blanket need to be replaced?

[ydelamater]

How can we tell when it's time to replace the 11 year old kaowool blanket on our Quadra Fire 3100 woodburning stove? It has looked very shaggy ever since its last chimney cleaning (see photos below, including one taken before 9-2008 chimney cleaning). We don't want the blanket's fiberglass/ceramic fibers to deteriorate and become airborne when we open the stove door to tend the fire. I tried to find the answer online but couldn't.

Thanks!!

Yvonne

 

[Hurricane]

If it is still intact I would say no.
I knew it was time to replace mine when it fell apart while taking it out to clean the chimney.
I am not sure that time is the measurement of when to replace, rather condition of it. I replaced mine at 11 years but as I stated it fell to pieces in my hand.

It seems a lot thicker than mine, is it bunched up in the front there ?

 

[cycloxer]

No, it doesn't need to be replaced.. You could if it is getting too messy for your liking.

 

[ydelamater]

Thank you for your replies!

I can't vouch for if it's bunched up in front or not. It's always looked thick.

The photo on the right side with the nearly pristine kao blanket is from a year ago before the chimney was cleaned. The two on the left are from this morning. It puzzles me how it could change so radically in one year when in ten it hardly changed at all.

The chimney sweep last year had a time of it because he'd never cleaned a Quadra Fire. He didn't want to remove the pipes so instead he took off the baffle and blanket but didn't know how to do it. I had to read him the directions from the manual. I think the kao blanket got switched around when he put it back, i.e., with a different face forward.

Yvonne