Duck or Duct: The Dilemma

[Brad Johnson]

The History Guy deep-dives into the history of Duck(t) tape.

https://youtu.be/9FaDI1i8ijs?si=5-ut6D6qY48xXSmF

Brad

[Ben]

[WLJ]

Duct tape is lousy duct tape.

[230RN]

Oh, this poor English language, where February is almost universally pronounced  Febyewary and Wednesday is universally pronounced Wensday and duct is pronounced duck.

And then there's pneumonia.

<snif>

[WLJ]

And then there's pneumonia.

<snif>

I kept getting ribbed for pronouncing the P as a kid

Them: The P is silent
Me: Then WTF is it doing there?

Teachers hated me sometimes.

[HankB]

. . . Teachers hated me sometimes.

I can relate. Some of my teachers were nuns.

[230RN]

I kept getting ribbed for pronouncing the P as a kid

Them: The P is silent
Me: Then WTF is it doing there?

Teachers hated me sometimes.

I still do.  But then, I'm in my fifth or sixth childhood... I lost count.  I love to pronounce all the letters in words like Baseline Road in Boulder I used to call "bah-se-lee-nee row-ad."

[JTHunter]

I can relate. Some of my teachers were nuns.

Imagine the "fun" I had as a teenager taking those catechism classes and asking lots of questions. 
They just kept telling me to "take it on faith".  Problem was that I was like "doubting Thomas".   

[grampster]

^^^^We were always told "It's a mystery" by the Sisters of Mercy Who Had No Mercy Whatsoever.

[charby]

Iowa we say duct with a t for duct tape and furnace ducts.

Ducks are things we shoot at.

[230RN]

WLJ:

Them: The P is silent
Me: Then WTF is it doing there?'

Obviously, the answer is "The same thing the 'C' in 'WTF' is doing."

Or maybe you intended that.

[230RN]

Double post.  Bad me.

[K Frame]

I made the mistake of thinking that rolls of tape branded Duct Tape would be good for sealing the exposed duct joints in my basement.

Within a year the adhesive dried out and it fell off the joints.

Got a roll of the metal tape and tried again. Nearly 30 years later it's still there.

[WLJ]

I made the mistake of thinking that rolls of tape branded Duct Tape would be good for sealing the exposed duct joints in my basement.

Within a year the adhesive dried out and it fell off the joints.

Got a roll of the metal tape and tried again. Nearly 30 years later it's still there.

Why I said duct tape is lousy duct tape. It can't take the heat.
For ducts aluminum tape is what you want.

[Hawkmoon]

Duct tape is lousy duct tape.

No, "duct" tape (the shiny foil stuff) is excellent duct tape. "Duck" tape is lousy duct tape.

[K Frame]

The roll I bought was labeled duct tape. False advertising?

Before I bought my house I had no concept of ducts. This place was the first I ever lived in that had forced air heating and cooling.

House I grew up in had steam heat, the house my parents moved to had hot water. Neither place had central air. Neither of my apartments had central air. First place had electric heat, the apartment in DC had steam heat.

[zxcvbob]

Is "Duck" just a cute brand name for duct tape, or is it a reference to duck cloth? (a type of heavy canvas) 

Cloth tape should be fine for ductwork, but it's not because they use the wrong adhesive.  I would go to an HVAC supply store and buy whatever they recommend for ducts.  Cloth or aluminum should work equally well.  If you go to Home Depot or Lowes to get your tape, buy the aluminum tape.

[Boomhauer]

As someone with a long history of having to rig stuff duct tape or duck tape sucks ass, just like electrical tape which is also absolute *expletive deleted*it.

[JTHunter]

I made the mistake of thinking that rolls of tape branded Duct Tape would be good for sealing the exposed duct joints in my basement.

Within a year the adhesive dried out and it fell off the joints.

Got a roll of the metal tape and tried again. Nearly 30 years later it's still there.

Imagine crawling through a crawl space less than 30" from dirt to underside of the floor (less under the joists).
That's what I did about 16 years ago to wrap my joints with the foil tape.  Later, I went back and wrapped the ducts with the foil & fiberglass wrap to help insulate them.