Insulated mystery

real_aurgathor

Some (10+) years ago I put some insulation around my water lines, using the usual foam and some Frost King clear tape around it to make sure that the foam stays snug (the glue could fail over time) and it is protected. Today I noticed that the insulation is in a piss poor shape in some places. Upon closer inspection, it can be seen that about half of the plastic wrapping and some of the foam is AWOL!! 😠

Any idea on what could be responsible for this? There are cats, mice, raccoons, rats and squirrels in this area, but I didn’t think that they would feast on foam and especially on plastic tape. 😧

I don’t think full metal jacket would be a viable option here. but what would be the next best option to protect the insulation since the Frost King tape apparently wasn’t good enough.

Pictures with a different amount of rotation:

Somewhat-Reticent

“Hey, Alvin, will this be good for our nest?” “Works for birds, don’t it?”

Splitpair

real_aurgathor Upon closer inspection, it can be seen that about half of the plastic wrapping and some of the foam is AWOL!! 😠

Any idea on what could be responsible for this? There are cats, mice, raccoons, rats and squirrels in this area, but I didn’t think that they would feast on foam and especially on plastic tape. 😧

Looks to me like UV damage has deteriorated the plastic to the point it became brittle and fell off.

I don’t think full metal jacket would be a viable option here. but what would be the next best option to protect the insulation since the Frost King tape apparently wasn’t good enough.

Two choices aluminum duct tape or some form of mastic wrapping, both will hold up to UV and basically stay in place forever though the mastic will collect dust and dirt so it will not be visually appealing if that matters. .

Somewhat-Reticent

Tire tread, corroding copper pipe, cinder block, leaves & needles … ah, nature.

Thane_Bitter

Agreeing with splitpair, sunlight does a wonderful job converting useful plastic into useless plastic dust. Even though it’s in the shade most of the time enough gets down there to slowly destroy the polymer.

You could wrap over the foam with aluminium tape (unfortunately your government has made the cost of aluminum rise by 190% in the US and it will continue to rise exponentially) but you will never have to deal with it again until the pipe fails. There are cheaper plastic fabric options too but you seem them more used on heating pipes and plants.

Something else, you do want to keep the air from getting in to the space between the pipe and insulation. If there is airflow it will cool and condense water onto the pipe which wets the foam and will ruin the tape, take care around the bends and end points to ensure everything is sealed. Check that old insulation, it could be waterlogged or worn out (becoming open cell foam which will retain water and moisture).

OzarkEdge

I’ve used rubber foam piping insulation sections encased in two layers of heavy, 4″? wide Aluminum ductwork tape. I applied the tape length-wise (not spiral wrapped) to each section of insulation at my workbench so they were all ready to install and seal over in location… one layer at the bench; one layer during installation (a few small pieces of the tape to hold it in place for the final layer). This was on an outdoor AC refrigerant line… looks good even though it has wrinkles…. they add a touch of texture.

The only damage it has suffered was from a probing woodpecker (beak holes only). It was very easy to repair like new with some more tape as patches… you can’t see them.

The only hope for closed-cell PE foam piping insulation to last is to seal it up from everything… plastic tape is not sufficient and will fail on its own soon enough.

I did recently use closed-cell foam backer rod when replacing my garage door bottom seals… I installed the new vinyl seals (beaded-type in tracks) and pulled 1.25″ diameter backer foam rod through the inside of the seal, end-to-end, to cushion the door and seal… works and seals well. Time will tell how long the PE lasts but it’s looking like 10 or more years… easy to replace.