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Why does nobody talk about how brittle those ceramic blanketing boards get after one season
Pulled a section out of a fireplace insert last Tuesday in Salem and the whole thing just snapped in my hands like stale bread, had to rig a temporary fix with sheet metal while I wait for a replacement. Has anyone else found a brand that actually holds up better in high heat conditions?
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parker_webb2d ago
Man oh man, that perfectly sums up the whole "make it cheaper, not better" philosophy that's taken over everything these days! It's like manufacturers figured out we're all just gonna replace stuff every few years anyway so why bother making things that last. Same thing happened with those electric heating elements in my water heater, had to swap it twice in three years when the old one ran for a decade without a hiccup. I've had decent luck with skamol boards for my forge setup, they seem to hold their structure longer than the mystery brands on Amazon. But honestly it feels like finding quality anything in this category is just a game of trial and error anymore.
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joseph_bailey2d ago
Man oh man... that snapping sound is the worst. I've had ceramic boards give out on me in the middle of a job and you just stand there holding two pieces like "well, guess this is my life now." It's almost funny how fast they go from working fine to totally useless... almost. The cheap stuff from big box stores seems designed to fall apart the second you look at it wrong. At least with sheet metal you can bend it into shape without it turning into dust in your hands. Maybe I'm just getting old and grumpy but nothing seems built to handle real heat anymore without throwing a fit.
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coleman.hannah2d ago
And I read somewhere that the ceramic board issue is why some old-timers still swear by firebrick for anything that sees real heat. It is a shame when you can't trust a product to survive a simple job without turning to rubble. But you're right @joseph_bailey, at least sheet metal lets you beat it back into shape instead of falling apart completely.
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