Duct cleaning problems

Posted by Walter R. on December 1, 2007, 2:13 pm

We had some smoke/soot damage in our house in the recent SoCa wildfires.

Our insurers (State Farm) had the interior of the house cleaned and washed
by professional cleaners.

After they cleaned the house, they had a commercial duct cleaning outfit
(Airtek) clean the heating ducts.

A few hours after they had cleaned the ducts, we noticed an unsightly layer
of black, gritty soot coming out of our heating vents. It was noticeable on
paper that had been lying on the floor under the vents.

Airtek has been back four times and kept cleaning the ducts, and still there
is soot coming our of the vents. Now there is less gritty soot coming out,
but more small patches of thin plastic overlaid with soot.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

--
Walter
www.rationality.net
-

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

Posted by on December 1, 2007, 3:57 pm

wrote:

>We had some smoke/soot damage in our house in the recent SoCa wildfires.
>Our insurers (State Farm) had the interior of the house cleaned and washed
>by professional cleaners.
>After they cleaned the house, they had a commercial duct cleaning outfit
>(Airtek) clean the heating ducts.
>A few hours after they had cleaned the ducts, we noticed an unsightly layer
>of black, gritty soot coming out of our heating vents. It was noticeable on
>paper that had been lying on the floor under the vents.
>Airtek has been back four times and kept cleaning the ducts, and still there
>is soot coming our of the vents. Now there is less gritty soot coming out,
>but more small patches of thin plastic overlaid with soot.
>Any ideas what the problem might be?

Black gritty soot, most likely.

>--
>Walter
>www.rationality.net
>-

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Posted by Bubba on December 1, 2007, 6:01 pm

wrote:

Probably might be something from the recent SoCa wildfires?? Most
likely mixing with the leaking refrigerant from your cooling coil and
making a black gritty mess. Try a UV light and replace your
thermostat.
Bubba

Posted by =?ISO-8859-15?Q?Tekkie=AE?= on December 1, 2007, 9:31 pm

Walter R. posted for all of us...

> We had some smoke/soot damage in our house in the recent SoCa wildfires.
>
> Our insurers (State Farm) had the interior of the house cleaned and washed
> by professional cleaners.
>
> After they cleaned the house, they had a commercial duct cleaning outfit
> (Airtek) clean the heating ducts.
>
> A few hours after they had cleaned the ducts, we noticed an unsightly layer
> of black, gritty soot coming out of our heating vents. It was noticeable on
> paper that had been lying on the floor under the vents.
>
> Airtek has been back four times and kept cleaning the ducts, and still there
> is soot coming our of the vents. Now there is less gritty soot coming out,
> but more small patches of thin plastic overlaid with soot.
>
> Any ideas what the problem might be?
>
>
> --
> Walter
> www.rationality.net
> -
>
>
>
>

Did you clean the soot from the thermostat?

Did they take your furnace out out and hose it down with muriatic acid?

They may have to clean your coil with a 80 grit in a belt sander!
--
Tekkie Don't bother to thank me, I do this as a public service.

Posted by Normen on August 3, 2009, 6:28 pm

Normen had written this in response to
http://www.thestuccocompany.com/hvac/Re-Duct-cleaning-problems-28641-.htm
:
Hi! You just need very good duct cleaning include furnace. Not just blow
air inside vents, but use brushes. When you clean air ducts, you can only
get out dust around 80%-90%. Not possible get all 100% Trust me, that's
true.
=?ISO-8859-15?Q?Tekkie=AE?= wrote:

> Walter R. posted for all of us...

>> We had some smoke/soot damage in our house in the recent SoCa
>> wildfires.
>>
>> Our insurers (State Farm) had the interior of the house cleaned
>> and washed
>> by professional cleaners.
>>
>> After they cleaned the house, they had a commercial duct cleaning
>> outfit
>> (Airtek) clean the heating ducts.
>>
>> A few hours after they had cleaned the ducts, we noticed an
>> unsightly layer
>> of black, gritty soot coming out of our heating vents. It was
>> noticeable on
>> paper that had been lying on the floor under the vents.
>>
>> Airtek has been back four times and kept cleaning the ducts, and
>> still there
>> is soot coming our of the vents. Now there is less gritty soot
>> coming out,
>> but more small patches of thin plastic overlaid with soot.
>>
>> Any ideas what the problem might be?
>>
>>
>> --
>> Walter
>> www.rationality.net
>> -
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Did you clean the soot from the thermostat?

> Did they take your furnace out out and hose it down with muriatic acid?

> They may have to clean your coil with a 80 grit in a belt sander!

-------------------------------------
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