Recommended Duct Cleaning Equipment?

[cookie man]

Hi,

What duct cleaning equipment would you recommend? We are in the process of investigating the Roto-Brush, Abatement Tech and Air-Care.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[heckler]

Just curious. . . Why are you cleaning your ducts?

[acg]

Without a doubt the very best method in the USA does a lot
better than the brush method. Call (210)732-9772 talk to Lee Haun you will profit from this Info.

[drk]

Abatement bye far!!!!!!!

[heckler]

Someone asked a similar question in the residential discussion board. Duct cleaning is a waste of money -- unless your ducts are damp and you have mold actively growing in them. In THAT case, though, your objective should be to elminate the source of moisture, rather than cleaning dust from the ducts.

EPA has also stated (see their website) that the jury is still out on any possible benefit of cleaning your ducts. (Although they have concluded that there is no harm in doing it.)

Of course, there was one dissenting opinion - from the guy who cleans them for a living.

But who am I to object? If you want to spend money to vacuum out your ducts, knock yourself out!!

[acg]

Duct cleaning is good.If there is a mold problem thers no cleaning to fix it ,repair air leaks,cut out the infected area and rebuild and or replace ducting.Most brush types of cleaning doesnt do so well and companies that use this method need to repeat it every 3 years or less.The method im talking about after the cleaning and the cusomer starts to use a good filter system they wont need it again for a possible 20 years.

[drk]

acg We brush duct's and we don't recomend tell about 15 yrs.
Brushing is the only way to get them spotless!!!

[heckler]

So as you state, if you start with a clean system, there shouldn't be any reason to clean it for at least 20 years.

But that's if you start with a clean system. . . My wife and I walked through an open house. I pulled the floor register from the bathroom floor. The inside was packed full of garbage and sheetrock dust. Whoever had done cleanup had swept all of the leftover dirt and crud into the floor grilles!

In that situation, it would actually be useful to have someone suck the debris out of the system. But normal dust accumulation is normal.

[acg]

Sorry drk I just heard the brush method didnt do so well
thats all.

[targetman]

Originally posted by cookie man
Hi,

What duct cleaning equipment would you recommend? We are in the process of investigating the Roto-Brush, Abatement Tech and Air-Care.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Cookieman, I'm thinking about selling my duct cleaning equipment. It beats the hell out of Roto-Junk. Located in Pittsburgh area.

[cyclone ventilation]

The roto-brush is limited to clean secondary ducts due to its hose size, expect to have it repaired often. At a certain amount of dust build up in the main ducts, the suction is not sufficient. Heavy to transport. Not suitable for dryer vents.

Abatement has efficient dust collectors for residential use. Zone Balloons limited to rectangular ducts and not very durable.

Air Care we have not tested their equipment.

[oldrelayer]

We are buying a house that is only two years old but previous owners were smokers. It is as far as we can tell limited to two areas of the house. I think we can get the main part of the house clean but I am concerned about the duct work. Logically I think of the problem if one exists in the cold air return, if some one knows, let me know. I suspect that the further you get away from the room in the duct the smaller the problem. Questions. Is this something that I should be concerned about? Can I just use the same cleaners recommended for the walls and ceiling? I am thinking the return is probably never much more than 10 feet from the furnace so, I am thinking I just need some kind of tool to help do the job, but I have no idea what that may be. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
Barry

[cem-bsee]

try soap & water -- if metal -- if flex, replace with metal

[ek]

If you are trying to get rid of the smoke smell best solution is replacement.

[drk]

I have never had a problem removing smoke. Why would u replace. CLEAN it up.

[ek]

Just found duct cleaners to cause more problems in my part of the country. I have seen them tear holes in flex and lets not even go near the topic of cleaning ductboard.

[drk]

If the flex is near the fire replace it. If it was not it can be cleaned. Duct board can be cleaned and coated with out any callbacks.

[ek]

And what chemical is EPA approved for use in duct systems?

[drk]

Their are a lot at least thirty!!!!

[bounce03x]

i use Nikro equipment... very reliable..very strong and very manuverable

[thefed]

Im looking into a portable NIKRO dual motor electric vac.

Has anyone used one of these? Is there ANY portable vacs that do a good job? what would the minimum cfm for a portable be? I have a 5200 cfm trailer mount, but the hose can often be 100+ feet long. Obviously a portable can be as close as 5 feet away from the system.


Any idea?

[bounce03x]

the NIKRO dual blower electric SL4000 is very nice and portable and you could do high rises/condos, use it all year around at anytime time of day and night, but the bad part is that you have to replace the cabin filters quite often and its not as powerful as the gas powered even though they claim 5000 CFM,

now the NIKRO #HP20GAS gas powered is much better then a truck mounted unit due to the convenience that you could roll that thing to the nearest door or window and run a 10 or 20 foot hose and call it a day and have great suction unlike the truck mounted where you have lets say 100 feet of hose rolling through grass, snow, mud etc. and worrying about getting there house dirty and also you have no suction at all.