by blogediter | Oct 24, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
Q: Jason, I have a Large 36×15 Chimney Balloon and over the period of 1 week it tends to get soft and let outside air blow by it. It doesn’t get totally limp or fall from the chimney. Is this normal? RP
A: RP, No it is not normal. The Chimney Balloon is designed to be airtight and should only need a little extra air every 12 months. It probably has a small pin-hole at the seams and as it loses a little air pressure the pinhole closes and keeps it from going totally limp. The Poly tri-laminate that makes up the balloon portion of the Chimney Balloon is a very tough material that resists stretching and abrasions very well but occasionally a sharp bit of metal or hardware in the flue can puncture all 3 layers of a Chimney Balloon and cause this to happen.
The fix is very easy. Find the hole, cut an oval patch out of some thick gauge packaging tape, and tape over the hole. The toughest part is finding the hole. What our testing and return personnel does to find and patch a pinhole is:
- They inflate the Chimney Balloon with a cordless air pump until it is drum tight full. Then they pass the Chimney Balloon under a showerhead to make sure all the soot residue has been removed, and they dry the Chimney Balloon off with a rag.
- Then they hold the Chimney Balloon about 3 inches from their eyelashes and pass the entire surface of the Chimney Balloon past their eyelash. The cheek and the eye are so sensitive to air currents that it will be easy to sense when the pinhole passes by the eye or cheek and blows air at it. they then inspect that area closely with a flashlight to find the exact spot that the hole is at.
- They cut an oval patch out of very thick gauge 3M packaging tape and they place the patch over the hole so there are no bubbles or wrinkles under the patch.
- Then they let the Chimney Balloon set for 48 hours fully inflated to make sure it doesn’t lose any air.
If you want to do this on your own you are welcome to do it yourself. Or you can mail it to our return testing lab with a note explaining the situation. They will be happy to do it for you and return it to you free-of-charge. Here is the link to the contact info for our return lab: http://www.chimneyballoon.us/contactus.html
by blogediter | Oct 24, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
Q: Jason, Why is the Chimney Balloon made of such thin feeling material? Why don’t you beef it up some? – RB
A: RB, I know that you mentioned that you are concerned about the gauge of plastic that the balloon is made from. I’m glad you mention that because there is a good reason for the design and we don’t often get a chance to explain it.
You probably know from the website that the Chimney Balloon is made from a proprietary poly tri-laminate. We had this plastic made especially for Chimney Balloons. We could make the Chimney Balloons out of a thick gauge single layer extruded plastic for a whole lot cheaper but there are many good reasons we don’t.
1) In order for a balloon to conform to the surface of any chimney (metal, brick, mortar, etc) lumpy or smooth. It has to be a supple material that conforms in any shape or lump.
2) Garbage bags are made of multilayers to make them stronger and more puncture resistant, same can be said of Chimney Balloons. The outer layer is designed to absorb the abrasions and scrapes of installs. It is also designed to be a bit softer than the other layers so it can grab hold of the surface inside the chimney. That is why the Chimney Balloon looks scraped up after you have installed it. That is the outer layer doing its job. The middle layer is the structure of the Chimney Balloon and gives it most of its rigidity and strength. The inner layer is a vapor barrier that ensures the Chimney Balloon is airtight.
It took 5 years of research and tweaking to come up with the tri-laminate that we use today on Chimney Balloons. 4% of our total product sales are returned due to the customer buying the wrong size, but less than 1% come back due to a puncture or cut. Most of those can be fixed easily by our test lab and they continue to work for years after.
Jason Raddenbach
by blogediter | Oct 19, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
PVC Tube
Q: Jason, The opening immediately above my fireplace damper is large, but it tapers down to a 12″ oval flue. The round flue is 40″ from the top of the damper. Problem is that your extender is only 16″ long. Can you put two of the extenders together, or make a custom long extender? -TJ
A: TJ, Working in your fireplace can be a messy business. So don’t forget those safety glasses.
That said, there are “unofficial” ways to get a 16″ extender to reach further. Keep in mind what I am about to share is not manufacturer approved modifications for your Chimney Balloon or extender.
Some people daisy chain two extenders together, and this is perfectly acceptable.
Other customers have been known to disassemble their extender and reassemble it with a longer PVC tube section (see image at left) since the extender tube section is the same ID as a standard 5/8″ ID PVC pipe often used in electrical conduit. Sometimes these tricks work and sometimes they don’t. The image here was sent to us from a customer, and it was about 4.5 feet long. It was difficult to get in the fireplace opening. If you do decide to modify your own extender don’t make it more than 32″ long. But again this is a non-approved modification. – Jason
by blogediter | Oct 17, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
Welcome to the Chimney Balloon Blog. This blog is specifically designed to be a searchable database to answer any question you could possibly have about Chimney Balloons and fireplaces. Most of the blog is composed of questions and answers that Chimney Balloon customers have emailed us about the product. We research our answers thouroughly and would like to share those answers with you.
Occasionally your host, Jason Raddenbach, will also speak on topics such as home energy conservation or his experiences with other home energy conservation products, both good and bad.
We try to keep to these fine boundries in our blog, but if you would like to chime in with anything, feel free. We may move our conversation to the “personal” catagory though if we get too far off topic.
by blogediter | Oct 15, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
Large Chimney
Q: Jason – I bought a Chimney Balloon at the end of March 2006. It was working fine until recently when it fell out of the chimney. I have reinflated it and replaced it in the chimney on 3 occassions but it keeps falling out. I believe that it has a slow air leak of some sort. What should I do? I do not belive that I still have the receipt. – MA
A: MA – It is very possible that this Chimney Balloon has developed a slow leak. Sometimes a sharp point on the damper hardware or a pointy outcropping in the masonry of the flue can agitate its way through the Chimney Balloon membrane layers over an extended period of time. This is especially true if you have extrodinary negative pressure in your home or a whole house fan. This actually creates a suction on the Chimney Balloon that can chafe it little by little until it causes a puncture. The good news is this is rather easy to remedy. Remove your Chimney Balloon and inflate it fully as you hold it in your hand. Look for any obviouse puncture spots and hold that spot near your cheek to see if you can sense airflow from that spot. If you do find a puncture use a piece of Packaging tape cut into an oval or circular shape (if you leave it in a square shape the corners can come loose) take that tape patch and put it directly over the puncture spot. This type of patch also works if you don’t have a puncture but if you wish to reinforce a certain area of the Chimney Balloon that may come in contact with sharp or abrasive hardware. Test your Chimney Balloon by keeping it inflated and out of your fireplace for 24 hours. If it doesnt loose any air then you have been sucessful. If you choose to… you can also send the Chimney Balloon to the returns department for a replace or repair. Send the Chimney Balloon to this address: Chimney Balloon USA Attn: Returns Dept 2123 N Pontiac Drive Janesville, WI 53545 Send only the Chimney Balloon itself (not the inflation tube or the instruction card) and a note saying you request a repair or replacement and describe the trouble you have been having with your current Chimney Balloon and the corrective actions you have already taken. Also include your address and contact info or your original reciept. The returns department will get back to you promptly. – Jason
by blogediter | Oct 12, 2018 | Chimney Plugs
Chimney Balloon
Q: Jason – Somehow I knew I was making a mistake when I took the inflation tube off of the installed Chimney Balloon. I figured I would remember it was in there, no problem but I neglected to tell my wife about it and she fired up the gas log. So we know the safety release function works on the Chimney Balloon. What do I do now? This melted Chimney Balloon doesn’t look fixable. – TM
A: TM – Well the good news is the safety release function on the Chimney Balloon worked like a charm. The bad news is, your Chimney Balloon is irreparable. But we do have a $5 coupon on the website at http://www.chimneyballoon.us/chimneyballooncoupon.html. Send that coupon in with a check and the downloaded order form from the website and order fulfilment will honor the coupon. It is called the “I melted it coupon”. I’m sure you are aware of the safety function of the Chimney Balloon and why we created it to break away if a fire is lit under it, but in case you want to know more on the topic please see the blog entry on the Chimney Balloon and carbon monoxide and gas logs.
