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I just moved in to a new home (built in 1986) out in the country a bit. Three days in, I find the first issue. A line of ducting from a "splitter" (I'm not sure what it is called...it's a ducting box with flex duct coming out of it) to my little girls bedroom was split and broken. We were pumping warm air in to the attic. Yay...

I uploaded some pictures here: http://imageshack.us/g/171/dsc0111hs.jpg/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now, my question. Based on the pictures (and the fact that the house is 25 years old), am I safe just replacing the one duct that is broken? Or do you see any major issues in the pictures that would warrant an entire duct replacement? I know it's hard to tell...I can see no leaks in any other part of the duct work. In hopes to stem the flow of warm air temporarily, I just duct taped the broken hose in hopes that it will heat up the other rooms off of that splitter box.

The rest of the house minus the rooms off of that split with the broken duct are just fine and toasty.

(and I know I could go to an HVAC forum and get a million responses, but I'd rather try here first. Folks here are a little more trustworthy)

If you had any questions about the unit itself, I could help you out, but I don't know anything about ducting, house systems, etc. Just the mechanics and processes. Good luck though!

You can just replace the duct itself. However, in time you will need to replace all of your flex duct as the gray outer lining will (if it hasn't already) start to break down and flake off. ATCO and some other manufactures had a recall several years ago and would give you new duct but you had to pay someone to install it. Not sure if they are still doing that but it wouldnt hurt to get the manufactures name and contact them to see.

You can also buy a duct sealer in a 1 gallon bucket that you can use to seal the seams of the "splitter" if needed.

Just seal up what you have, and check for other leaks while you are up there. If you have one of those laser pyrometers that will help you find local hot spots that indicate a leak. even better is an IR nightvision scope of some kind.
Another thing to check is the seal between he top of a closet-mounted unit and the ceiling above. In my experience that is always the sloppiest part of an installation.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'll be replacing the the duct this evening and will keep an eye on the rest of it. Over time, I'll be replacing the rest because (as mentioned) the grey outer lining is flaking.

You should consider replacing any that is flaking. That is an air barrier and if not in tact, will (1) allow the air to get through the insulation and to the inner jacket. This can cause condensation as well as cooling down the air faster and (2) it holds the insulation in place and when it gets bad enough the insulation will start comming off as well