 Failed Duct Putty Seal |
In Friday Fax issue #655 in April we detailed how FST Foam Duct Sealant helps contractors comply with NEC Codes on raceway seals. Now that detail is available as a sales tool in the form of a report on NEC Raceway Seal Code Compliance in PDF format. The report, directed at specifiers, includes an important photo of a typical "compliant" duct seal attempted with standard duct putty. The image is a familiar one to experienced field personnel. It clearly shows a failed seal. The putty has dried and sagged in fairly short order. We can see that the putty has contracted and completely separated from the top of the duct wall, creating a breach through which all the intended targets of the seal may march unimpeded, including water, gas, mice, snakes, fire ants, bees, spiders, lizards, and nanobots from the Axis of Evil. This so-called seal would slow down would-be copper thieves about one second. Such duct putty "seals" are probably the most common form of NEC Raceway Seal Code compliance. Another photo shows a second common method of "compliance": open-cell aerosol foams. These inexpensive canned foams are intended to reduce airflow and bugs in gaps and cracks. They are not specifically formulated for duct sealing. They do not produce the robust, airtight, watertight seals that closed-cell FST Foam does. Canned foams are really no better than duct putty at effectively sealing conduits. There will always be those who take the cheapest route to raceway seal code compliance--even when they know it's a temporary fix at best. But there is an even bigger group of potential customers who understand the enormous value of an effective long-term seal, true spirit-of-the-code compliance, and real-world copper-theft deterrence. They are the target of your sales effort and this new support tool. |
