Owens-Corning fiberglass insulated gray flex-duct failures:

This article describes cases of Owens Corning Valueflex™ and Certaflex™ gray flex duct disintegration as an example of defective heating or cooling ductwork materials such as Goodman gray flex-duct, and some (not all) Owens Corning Flex-duct products.

We include references to product failures by manufacturers of similar flexible duct work products.

Owens Corning Certaflex™ Valueflex™ brand gray flex duct failures

Air conditioning duct system defects include a remarkably wide range of errors, from failure to supply cool air or failure to even circulate air in the building, to health hazards such as use of asbestos material in or on duct work, to very dangerous conditions such as drawing heating equipment combustion gases into the building cooling (or heating) air.

Photo excerpted from one provided by reade Ve. [Click to enlarge any image]

This article describes Owens Corning Valueflex™ brand gray flex duct failures that appear as loss of the gray plastic duct covering due to brittleness that appears to be caused by exposure to heat (such as in a hot attic), with references to product failures by several manufacturers of flexible duct work, including ATCO™ Ruber Products, Alloy Systems™, Goodman™ flex duct, Owens Corning™ flex duct, Owens Corning Certaflex-G25, Owl™ flex duct.

We believe that none of these defective flex duct products was being sold in or after 2010 but both may be found in older homes.

Note: not all Owens Corning flex duct products share this defect and disintegration problem.

The loss of the protective plastic covering on flex duct poses several concerns including loss of the duct insulation, increased air conditioning system operating costs, and possibly air leaks out (if supply ducts are damaged) or un-wanted attic debris leaks in (if return ducts are damaged), and in-duct condensation in the HVAC system leading to mold and indoor air quality concerns.

This generation of Owens Corning™ gray plastic-covered, fiberglass insulated duct material is a defective duct product.

We are not aware of any current Owens Corning Valueflex™ nor Owens Corning Certaflex™ nor any other OC flexduct product recall.

As with the Goodman flex-duct problem described at GOODMAN GRAY FLEXDUCT, in hot attic spaces or where exposed to UV light, the plastic of this Owens Corning flexible air conditioning duct material disintegrates leaving its fiberglass insulation exposed to also disintegrate, leak, or possibly blow into the building living space.

When a flex-duct product has lost its exterior plastic covering the effects are these:

1. The cost of heating or cooling the building is increased due to lost insulation: because the ducts are no longer insulated from the ambient temperature in the attic or crawl space where they are located. For example, an air conditioning duct passing through a hot attic and missing its insulation will be heated by the ambient attic air, delivering warmer air to the living space than is desired.
2. The cost of heating or cooling the building is increased due to leaks: because damaged ducts are more likely to leak, cooled or warmed air intended for the occupied space may be lost in the attic or crawl space where the damaged HVAC ducts are located.
   
   In addition we might see these two indirect problems developing:
3. Increased circulation of fiberglass particles from the duct insulation or from building insulation which may be picked up and blown into the building air supply
4. Mold growth in the HVAC ducts due to loss of insulation and increased in-duct condensation in some circumstances. See the flexduct lawsuit cited just below, taking note that the suit refers to Owl brand Owl Flexduct not an OC product. However the same issues can occur with any ductwork that leaves fiberglass exposed on the duct interior.
   
   

• FLEXDUCT LAWSUIT [PDF] Richard T.D. Bethea et als, v. Song Hee Hong, et al, filed may 29, 2009, Jackson Tennessee Court of Appeals, dispute involving the contract for sale of a house. A musty odor was associated with mold contaminated flex duct in the building.
  
  The ductwork could not be cleaned because of its fragility - an Owl-flex duct product.
  
  Sellers (correctly) asserted that the ductwork could not be cleaned. The court finding includes the statement that "OWL FLEX ductwork was uncleanable". The buyers ability to terminate the sales contract was upheld.

Replacement of the heating or air conditioning flexible sections of duct work is required - a significant expense which will be greater if flex-duct needs to be replaced where it passes through inaccessible areas such as finished walls or ceilings. - Thanks to Mark Cramer for this photo. of Owens Corning gray flex duct disintegrating in a Florida attic.

Notice that not all Owens Corning flex-duct products will fail in this manner and unless you specifically find evidence of this deterioration, replacement of the flex-duct in a building may not be warranted. Where this duct is found in a building it should be replaced.

Below at Technical Reviewers & References we include Flexible Air Duct Installation Manuals, standards, guidelines, and contact information for several flexible air duct manufacturers as well as access to Flexible Duct Performance & Installation Standards provided by the Air Diffusion Council.

List of plastic-covered flexible HVAC duct products that appear to deteriorate in hot spaces like attics

Readers concerned with deteriorating plastic and fiberglass-covered flex duct in buildings should see the duct failure reports listed below.

Flexduct Design & Installation Guidelines

• "Design & Installation of Residential Flexible Ductwork Systems", Georgia Department of Community Affairs, 60 Executive Park, NE, Atlanta GA 30329 - (404) 679-4940 - (800) 359-4663 [Also see the installation manuals below at JPL] - original source dca.state.ga.us/development/constructioncodes/publications/1ONE.pdf
  
  "1. This information is intended to assist contractors, installers and code officials in the proper design and installation of flexible ductwork systems. The information presented in this document comes primarily from sources in the International Mechanical Code including referenced standards and Georgia Amendments.
  
  2. It is recommended as a guide that HVAC system documentation, including owner’s manuals, manufacturer’s installation instructions and a sketch of the duct system design that details duct size and approximate duct lengths be provided to the building owner or posted on the air handling unit or furnace. (See sample Duct System Design Sketch). Documentation should also include Manual J calculations."
• "Flexible Duct Performance & Installation Standards", Air Diffusion Council, 1901 N. Roselle Road, Suite 800, Schaumburg, Illinois 60195, Tel: (847) 706-6750, Fax: (847) 706-6751 - Email: info@flexibleduct.org - www.flexibleduct.org/ -
  
  "The ADC has produced the 4th Edition of the Flexible Duct Performance & Installation Standards (a 28-page manual) for use and reference by designers, architects, engineers, contractors, installers and users for evaluating, selecting, specifying and properly installing flexible duct in heating and air conditioning systems.
  
  Features covered in depth include: descriptions of typical styles, characteristics and requirements, testing, listing, reporting, certifying, packaging and product marking.
  
  Guidelines for proper installation are treated and illustrated in depth, featuring connections, splices and proper support methods for flexible duct. A single and uniform method of making end connections and splices is graphically presented for both non-metallic and metallic with plain ends."
  
  The printed manual is available in English only. Downloadable PDF is available in English and Spanish. 
• Flexduct lawsuit, Richard T.D. Bethea et als, v. Song Hee Hong, et al, filed may 29, 2009, Jackson Tennessee Court of Appeals, dispute involving the contract for sale of a house. A musty odor was associated with mold contaminated flex duct in the building.
• Owens Corning Duct Solutions - www.owenscorning.com/ductsolutions/ - provides current HVAC ductwork and duct insulating product descriptions and a dealer locator. Owens Corning Insulating Systems, LLC, One Owens Corning Parkway, Toledo, OH 43659 1-800-GET-PINK™
• "Flexible Duct Media Fiberglas™ Insulation, Product Data Sheet", Owens Corning - see owenscorning.com/quietzone/pdfs/QZFlexible_DataSheet.pdf
  
  "Owens Corning Flexible Duct Media Insulation is a lightweight, flexible, resilient thermal and acoustical insulation made of inorganic glass fibers bonded with a thermosetting resin."
• "Flexible Duct Performance and Installation Standards", (3rd ed.) – Air Diffusion Council, 1901 N. Roselle Road, Suite 800, Schaumburg, Illinois 60195, Tel: (847) 706-6750 - Fax: (847) 706-6751 email: Email: info@flexibleduct.org
• HVAC Duct Construction Standards—Metal and Flexible (1995 ed.) – Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association, Inc. (SMACNA)
• J.P. Lamborn Co., 559-650-2120 / fax 559-650-2112, email: cuserv@jplflex.com - original source for the air duct installation manuals below - http://www.jplflex.com/featured/instructions.asp - note that these
  FlexDuct installation guides provided by JP Lamborn Co. originate with the Air Diffusion Council - referenced above.
  
  Flexible air duct Installation Instructions for Air Ducts & Connectors without fittings
  
  Flexduct Installation Instructions for Flexible Air Ducts & Connectors with fittings
  
  Flex duct Installation Instructions for Flex Ducts & Connections using mastic
  
  "Originally founded in 1961, JP Lamborn Co. has grown to become one of the largest producers of insulated flexible duct in the country. With 4 state of the art manufacturing plants strategically positioned across the USA in order to serve a growing national distributor base.
  
  The company prides itself in delivering quality, service, innovations and competitive pricing to customers it serves."

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Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2018-11-23 - by (mod) -

Ve

We are not aware of any current Owens Corning Valueflex™ nor Owens Corning Certaflex™ nor any other OC flexduct product recall.

On 2018-11-23 by Ve

Just purchased a home year ago and have been told my current Owens Corning Gray Fiberglas Valuflex has been recalled. Please advise. Thank you.
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen’s Comments Box code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

On 2018-10-04 - by (mod) -

Sorry, Bob, as we said to you back in 2017., there's no recall; duct replacement will be at your expense. We've found no record of an Owens Corning gray flexduct product recall.

On 2018-10-04 by Bob

I have the old duct work in my house. Is their still a recall on the product. My house was built in 1987

On 2018-02-07 - by (mod) -

Brenda

Duct replacement will be at your expense.

On 2018-02-06 by Brenda valadez

I have the old ducts can I get them to replace it

On 2017-06-14 - by (mod) -

No Anon, there is no OC Gray Flexduct recall that I have been able to find

On 2017-06-14 by Anonymous

I have the old duct work in my house. Is their still a recall on the product. My house was built in 1989

On 2015-06-05 by phani

what is the life period of ductable AC, 7.5 tons...does the efficiency cut off over a period of time ...

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Continue reading at GRAY FLEXDUCT FAILURES or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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