best way to check heating ducts for clogs

[Brenda (OH)]

I bought a 1998 bank repo mobile home, that had lots of stuff in the heating ducts (looks like the 6 year old enjoyed putting aluminum and small plastic sacks in them)

I have pulled out as much stuff as I can reach, but wonder how to check the ducts to see that I got 99% of stuff. the air flow is pretty wimpy in the rooms furtherest from the furnace, which is not unexpected, but this seems like worse than usual

if there would be a clog, how would I get it out? is there a tool to rent I don't know about lol? I have pulled out a garbage bag of stuff from the worse register, but there were still aluminum cans rolling around for a bit that took a while to get near an opening where i could reach them.

I have tried putting a light and a mirror in the ducts, but there are metal collars in the ducts which are making it hard to get access.

I may be having to remove, trim ,a reinstall the collars since they have mostly pulled away from the subfloor, and get pushed around when I try to put new vents into the the holes. I am considering stapling them with my air compressor, if i can get the edge of the gun into the right spot. any other install hints for that task?

obviously, i am trying to avoid the extreme of opening the underbelly and disassembling the ducts, this is a newer home and the underbelly is in good shape unlike the other homes I remodelled. and i hate the feel of insulation raining down on me if I can avoid it... lol

Brenda (OH)

[Yanita]

Hi,

About the only thing I could think of other than what you mentioned is to add extensions to a shop vac...anything small enough for it to suck up it will...anything to big should allow you to bring it back up as it will be sucked to the nozzle.

You may want to post this in the Other Questions sub forum in the HVAC forums.

Yanita

[Greg]

Short of taking everything apart, a shop vac & extentions is the only way that I know of. You will need to work from one register to the next. Greg

[oldfart]

Brenda I don't know how much this might help but locally there is a company that specializes in cleaning heating/A-C ductwork. Is there one listed in your area? Like yourself I'd prefer to do it on my own but I had some problems coupling enough piping together to even make use of the shop-vac. And..it the pipes come apart inside the ductwork it's a real P.I.T.A.!! And I suspect the head of the shop-vac might slide under the alum. cans and not bring them out. Now the 2nd. part of the post was the "collars". I'm not sure I grasp that but the openings where my old register grates went were puddy gammahooched and I couldn't even staple/nail the ductwork in place. So I cut 2x12in. pieces of plywood and held it under/inside the openings and used 1 1/2in. drywall screws down thru the edge of the opening to secure the ductwork to the underside of the floor. I hope that makes sense. It drew the ductwork up tight to the underside of the floor and gave me a better material to screw the new registers down with. YMHS...Audie..the Oldfart..

[tritontr]

Take the floor grill off each duct and reach down with a digital camera to take a picture down each trunkline if possible. We have a device called a SeaSnake made by Rigid Tool company it has a camera attached to a flexible cable that we use to check walls for electrical and plumbing before we make a cut. A SeaSnake is most commonly used by plumbing company's to locate blockages in pipes so it would probably cost a lot to call a plumber that has one unless you know someone in the plumbing trade.

[Brenda (OH)]

Happened to stop next to a plumbing truck today at an intersection, dialled the phone number....

I could get the ducts checked for about $185, and they would be able to pinpoint any clogs, just like they do with clogged pipes.

so I will try a few things first, then maybe go the camera route.


Brenda (OH)