Insulating the diesel heater exhaust pipe

[SailingAlaska]

I have an Ardic forced air diesel heater on my Nordic 34. I was looking to replace the old insulation that was falling apart on the exhaust pipe. Does anyone have any suggestions for what to use for new insulation. Should I look for some type of asbestos cloth or what? Just wanted to see what someone else had used. I had contacted a fireplace vendor and they had a ceramic cloth for $25/square foot that they used in installations for their exhuast pipes...kind of pricey but nice stuff for sure. Overkill though?

Thanks in advance,

Sam
Seward, Alaska

[Faster]

Forced air heater so this exhaust line is out of sight?.. we have what appears to be a fiberglass type of cloth wrapped around a short bit of pipe between our engine exhaust manifold and the RW injection elbow.. looks (and may well be) like roving. It's simply spiraled around the pipe.

Alternatively, in industry we use preformed f/g insulation that is jacketed with either foil or a white cloth layer.. if the run is fairly straight you might find some of that at an industrial cladding and insulation supplier. Regular foam pipe insulation would , of course, melt....

[bluwateronly]

This should work Moyer Marine Atomic 4 Engine Rebuilding and Parts

Most marine engine shops have the wrap needed.

[jrd22]

When we installed our Wallas furnace it came with a thick, woven tube that slides over the exhaust pipe. It looks like the same material used to insulate dry stack engine exhaust pipes. I've seen an ad for exhaust insulation material in one of the commercial fishing magazines, but I don't have a copy right now.

[captbillc]

for a job i did on a sailboat exhaust pipe, i used fiber glass that came in a 4" wide strip that i wrapped around the pipe in a spiral & covered it with woven fiberglass cloth. it held up well.

[erps]

Our local hardware store sells some stuff for wood stoves that looks like 1/2 dia rope. I've seen it on door gaskets. We wrapped a couple inches of our stove pipe where it goes through the deck.

[Westlake2]

Ardic heaters will produce higher than 750 degree F exhaust, meaning you need to use high grade thermal insulation, not the kind of insulation "sock" we supply with Wallas products (Wallas exhaust generally tops off at about 350 degrees F).

Depending on your location, any good diesel engine dry exhaust insulation supply company can get you what you need. We recommend Ballard Insulation in the Seattle area: Ballard Insulation, Inc. provides quality insulation products and services for marine and commercial applications.

Before you go to any great lengths improving your Ardic installation, please be aware that there are no more parts available to fix an Ardic furnace. We were the importer into North America and we are nearly out of even used parts for these furnaces.

Good luck and make contact back if you need any information or resources.

Doug