Duct Cleaning Equipment and Procedures

For drug and blood assignments, use full PPE. For fire and mold and Cat 3, use at a minimum half-face respirators. Recommend knee pads.

18-Minute Training Video. Watch this twice before going to your first assingment!

Equipment:

  • Husky® 200 psi air compressor with 100 total feet of pressure line

  • Ramair Cyclonic vacuum cleaner with long vacuum hose

  • Big plexiglass Vacuum Plate (for air handler)

  • Tension pole with pads (Zip Pole®) when duct is in ceiling

  • Hollow Blasting rods (3 each) for balls

  • Blast rods (5 total - 1 fits blast ball, one fits compressor line, three middle extenders)

  • Brush Rods (5 total)

  • Drill motor

  • Large Suitcase

    • Nozzle attachment

    • Blue flexible Flex Jet hose for use with blue ball (side sweeper ball)

    • Black standard hose for use with whips or blue ball (2 each singles, 1 multi)

    • Cabinet Plexiglas Vacuum Plate

    • Ball assortment (red, blue, white) (2 each)

    • Single whip (black ball) and multi-whip (black sleeve)

    • Valve, on-off (2 each)

    • Channel locks (or pliers, to remove stubborn balls)

    • Plexiglas vent cover vacuum system

  • Small Suitcase

    • Sanijet® and standard black hose for use with red ball.

    • Duct cleaning brushes (soft bristle)

    • Black Nylon – 2 different diameters (used in flexible ducts)

    • Gray Silica Rigid – 2 different diameters (only used in sheet metal)

Chemistry:

  • Vital Oxide, or Bio 40-TB, and funnel

General Set-Up:

  • Place compressor in garage or outside to minimize noise while working inside. Attach 50’ or 100’ total of pressure line. Compressor should not need to be moved during the job.

  • Locate vacuum in immediate work area. This will be moved often during the job.

  • Place both suitcases and rods near worksite. Use as applicable.

Summary Process for Ducts:

  1. VACUUM: Guide vacuum into duct as far as possible. (Air Handler Fan On)

  2. AGITATE: Three options based on duct geometry and preference: (Air Handler Fan On)

    • Brush Rods with Brushes

    • Black Hose with Whip

    • Blast Rods with Whip

  3. BLAST: Three options based on duct geometry and preference: (Air Handler Fan On)

    • Blue Blasting Hose (Flex Jet on Supplies) with Blue Blast Ball (Sidesweeper)

    • Black Blasting Hose (Standard more rigid hose for Returns) with White or Blue Blast Ball

    • Blasting Rods (Most useful on long runs of ducts) with White or Blue Blast Ball

      • Use Zip Pole to support duct cover for ceiling ducts

  4. Sanitize: Deliver chemistry with SaniJet trigger 32-oz. bottle via one of these three methods: (Air Handler Fan Off)

    • Blast Rods with Red Ball

    • Black Blasting Hose with Red Ball

Summary Process for Registers:

  1. Remove floor registers by lifting, and wall and ceiling registers by unscrewing

  2. Use Air Gun for this, outside. If heavily soiled, degrease or apply cleaner, and rinse

Summary Process for Air Handler:

  1. Turn off power at the breaker panel

  2. Identify filter type. Replace if doing meth, fentanyl, mold, fire, cigarette smoke. If permanent, clean as best as possible.

    • Remove main cover, clean as required

  3. If accessible clean blower fan and coil

    • Do not directly use air gun on coil fins, they may bend. Treat carefully, use light nylon or steel brush along the grain of the coil fins and vacuum off debris

    • Light soiling of coils can be cleaned with an aerosol can of coil cleaner. Apply heavily. No need to rinse.

  4. Vacuum using the white blast ball on a blast rod, use the large cover, attach to vacuum hose, and blast away carefully allow debris to be vacuumed out.

Clean-Up:

  • Store Equipment: Clean and store all equipment and supplies used during the procedure. Rinse out Sanijet and any hoses or rods used with chemistry.

  • By following this procedure, flex ducts can be effectively cleaned, improving indoor air quality and system efficiency.