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Old 04-06-2018, 03:50 PM   #12
Jim Jacobs
Junior Member
 
Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 29.2
State: Virginia
Posts: 25
THOR #9819
I called Thermo Tec this morning and asked them about corrosion and splitting of pipes.

They said that they have encountered split pipes when the wrap is put on too thickly. They recommend overlap of no more than 1/4" (and I've even suggested to them that they add a stripe using some non-combustible material such a chalk which would help gauge the wrap overlay). The overlap is necessary to keep the wrap uniformly on the pipe. The problems have arisen when people have double wrapped pipes and retained too much heat. Their instructions are very clear not to do that, but apparently some people have done it anyway.

Usually, according to them, this occurs when someone has a hole in a pipe already and tries to use their wrap to fix the hole. This, invariably, doesn't work. Keeping the extra heat at that point causes the pipe to crack even further.

As for corrosion, they have not encountered that. They have encountered light rust, which they feel does not cause any problems other than being unsightly. When I asked about water retention, they said that as long as the wrap is applied with a 1/4" overlap, most of the material is of a single thickness and dries out very quickly on account of the heat.

Their other suggestion is to spray the wrap with their high heat coating, something they list in the instructions as "optional". This both helps seal the wrap and keep it in place better. They recommend re-coating it every year or two, depending on how it looks. I will probably get a can or two of the spray and try it, though keeping it from over-spraying while crawling around under our MH in tight quarters may prove challenging. The biggest problem I'm likely to encounter is the fact that the wrap is black and the spray is black, so I will likely not get as good a coating as I would if I had used the light tan wrap and then sprayed with black.

The reason, in case I didn't mention it before, for the black wrap is that it contains graphite which allows the wrap to be more flexible. Installation is easier. Having worked with both the original tan wrap and the black graphite wrap, I can say that the black is easier to apply, though not as much easier as I had expected, i.e. the black wrap is still pretty stiff. I plan to wet it for any future applications, at least to keep down the fiberglass particles and perhaps to help make it more pliable.

I also asked them how long the wrap will last. They said 3-4 years is reasonable, especially if sprayed, but that one of the techs at their company has a pickup with wraps all the way to the manifolds and he's been using it for the last 6-7 years with no difficulties (so far). I took that to mean, "no corrosion" and "no split pipes", but I didn't specifically ask if that's what they meant.

Given what I know (and don't know) at this point, and given my mania to make the MH quiet enough to hear my wife talk to me without shouting while driving at 65mph on an interstate (which is mostly what we do), I've decided to finish wrapping the exhaust system all the way to the tailpipe.

Wish me luck.
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