[christo]

Good question.

The flue tile is isolated by a brick arch with a transistion piece made similar to one that Dmun Dave suggested.

It's a good distance from direct flame.

Attached is a pic of what it looks like. the upper tile is the one cracking consistently.

One thing that is odd but still plausible is that the crack showed up in the same oritentaiton relative to the oven. If it is a bad run of flue tiles, I had a 25 percent chance of getting it right so it's still within reason.

My signature pic has the interior lights turned on - the fire is that little thing in the back....

thanks