readiescards Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 Just read that MVHR ducting should be cleaned every few years. Anyone actually planning to do this and if so how? Long tickle sticks? Robot duct scrubbers? Fat rats? Very small child chimney sweeps? Anyone adding inspection chambers in the ducting to allow easier mid-pipe length access? Anyone fancy setting up a MVHR duct cleaning company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 The standard way to do it is to blow or pull a pig down each duct, either directly with compressed air, or indirectly by blowing a very light pull cord through and then pull the pig through. A web search will show all manner of foam and furry pigs for cleaning out ducts, and companies that will come and do it for you; search on pig or pigging and duct cleaning. I did think about leaving a thin cord inside every duct, so that it'd be easy to just tie a pig on, with a trailing cord to pull it back, and pull it through every few years. When I realised how easy it was to blow a bit of light cord down a duct with compressed air I decided not to bother, and only do it when I needed too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alphonsox Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 I came very close to using ferrets when mice got into our ducting system. They're probably a bit small to give a full clean - otters would probably be a better match to our duct size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 This is the only photo I can find quickly (from an ebay ad for duct pigs), but it gives an idea of how the things work: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted July 5, 2016 Share Posted July 5, 2016 Chimney sweep brush? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readiescards Posted July 6, 2016 Author Share Posted July 6, 2016 Just wondering what radius of bend these pigs can go through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 You can get short ones that go around tight bends, foam ones, "fluffy duster" one, the one above is a hard scrubber pig to get stuff off that's really well stuck on. Some of the lighter foam pigs can just be blown through ducts with compressed air, rather than blowing a pull cord through. TBH, I don't think I'd go to the expense of buying one, as a foam ball of around the right size for the duct, with a bit of plastic pipe stuck through the middle and a couple of large washers either side would be easy enough to knock up. With a bit of cord threaded through the middle, and knotted either side, you could run it back of forth through the duct, a bit like cleaning a gun with a pull-through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToughButterCup Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 1 hour ago, JSHarris said: [...] you could run it back of forth through the duct, a bit like cleaning a gun with a pull-through. Oh Gordon Bennett..... thought I'd left all that behind..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 9 minutes ago, recoveringacademic said: Oh Gordon Bennett..... thought I'd left all that behind..... Thinking about it, I can't see why a bit of cloth like a duster, with a cord tied around the middle, just like you'd do with an old school pull-through cleaning and oiling cloth, shouldn't work just as well on the small bore ducting systems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daiking Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 (edited) I think something microfibre based would be better than a duster and in this instance something like a microfibre noodle cleaning mitt would be a cost effective solution. Whether you use a stick, a piece of string or even put something in it to make it a pig. for those who don't clean cars and have no idea what I'm on about Edited July 6, 2016 by daiking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 You're right, a microfibre thing would be far better, as it would tend to retain the dust. I suspect a standard microfibre duster, tied with a thin cord around the centre, would be just about the right size to pull through a semi-rigid duct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readiescards Posted July 6, 2016 Author Share Posted July 6, 2016 Looking forward to seeing it in the Buildhub shop... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 1 hour ago, readiescards said: Looking forward to seeing it in the Buildhub shop... Branded of course ..!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warby Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 In the ebuild days I asked the question: How do you clean/Sanitise the inside of the ducting over time? Jeremy kindly offered: If you get dust build up, then the standard way is to remove the terminal connections either end and push a flexible brush through )with a vacuum cleaner a one end) or to blow a fluffy "ball" through under pressure (again with a vacuum on the receive end). You can impregnate the brush or fluffy ball to kill any bugs. This is the link. http://www.ebuild.co.uk/topic/16439-mvhr-duct-size-alteration/page__pid__126550#entry126550 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warby Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 A further ref back to ebuild: Jeremy: http://www.ebuild.co.uk/topic/17948-rodents-in-the-ducting/page__pid__147840#entry147840 Either buy (not sure where from) or make your self a pig and blow it through each duct with compressed air. I'd be inclined to use a dry pig first, then may run through with a pig that's soaked in disinfectant. You want a pretty light weight pig, with a bit of light strong cord tied to it so you can retrieve it. What you're after is something like a big, light, fluffy pipe cleaner, maybe a woollen bobble would be a good thing to use. There's a description of pipeline pigging here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigging but it refers mainly to oil pipelines, or here: http://www.cleaningw...clean/pig.html. You use exactly the same principle to clean out ducts, but you just use a very much lighter pig. If you can't blow the pig down the duct with the compressor you may have available (doesn't take a load of pressure but you do need a fair bit of volume flow) then try blowing a very light thread (maybe a length of wool) down the duct on it's own, perhaps with a vacuum cleaner set to blow, then tie this to a stronger bit of cord, fix a pig to it and pull it through, like cleaning a gun barrel. I reckon that making some woollen bobbles a bit bigger than the internal diameter of the duct would make good pigs for this job. In case you've forgotten your Blue Peter skills, here's how to make bobbles: http://www.ageuk.org...ow_to_Guide.pdf I've done this loads of times to get mouse and rat muck out of cable ducts, even just using bunches of rags or J cloths tied to a cord and it'll do the job a treat. The hardest part is getting the pig down the duct the first time, or getting a bit of cord through, once that's done it's as easy as cleaning a gun barrel. and he also said; The key to getting pigging to work is to get an initial line through each duct. If you use a length a length of light wool, with a small (maybe 30 or 40mm diameter) light fluffy ball tied on the end, then you have a really good chance of blowing this through with an ordinary vacuum cleaner on blow. Might be an idea to get light lines in every duct to start with, then tie on stronger cords to pull the pigs through. As above, I'd pull dry pigs through first, to remove the solid, dry, stuff (rather than risk smearing stuff along the duct walls). Once that's done, some pigs soaked in disinfectant should do a good job of killing bugs. The main concern is really leptospirosis, and fortunately, although carried in rodent urine, it doesn't survive dry conditions and is easily killed with dilute disinfectants. I'd be inclined to do the disinfection with IPA (Isopropyl Alcohol) as it won't damage or attack the ducting, is a broad spectrum sanitising agent, is cheap and dries out very quickly. Just be careful that the IPA doesn't wash the dye out of the woolly ball pigs (it shouldn't, as it doesn't usually affect either synthetic or natural fabric dyes). It saves re-inventeing the wheel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 I must be losing it, as I'd forgotten all about that post, although I do remember cleaning loads of cable ducts out many years ago - we had a range site with ducts all over the place that used to get pretty full of unpleasant things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readiescards Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 Been speaking with BPC and they say no cleaning is needed as their pipes have an anti-bacterial internal coating Phew :-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now