Steaming car vents

C

Chicago550

New member
What`s everyone`s take on this to remove odors from the hvac system. I have a McCullough steamer and was thinking of steaming then vents individually




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
First Welcome to Autopia :welcome:

I would be very careful using steam in vents ... they are often made of material that may not be be waterproof or resistant to extreme temperatures ..
 
IMO it`s ineffective and may do more harm than good. Steam is great to deodorize and disinfect, however that`s only because of the heat. Hold your hand about 12 inches away from your nozzle. Is it super hot? Nope. So by steaming vents you`re effectively just filling them up with water vapor. Not going to accomplish anything really. Could potentially create a mold problem as well.

If if you really want to disinfect and deodoriz a cars vents, pickup an ozone generator and let that run inside the car for an hour with the fan on max and make sure its recirculating the air
 
Glad to see steaming the vents is *not* being advocated. It has been a few times in the past.

Chicago550- Welcome to Autopia!

I don`t steam the vents because of the potential "where does all the steam, which`ll turn into water, and dislodged stuff go?" issue.

To remove odors from the HVAC I use the aerosol products that`re made for that, usually the one from Wurth. They have stuff in them to kill off the micro-organisms/etc. that`re causing the bad odors.

If the ductwork/vents actually need thoroughly cleaned out that`s a different job; the ducts in some vehicles come apart/go back together easily while some others are best left to Pros.
 
It`s Always a great idea, fwiw, to just turn off the AC and leave the air running, if you a mile close to home...
Not that we do this in practice. Kinda get`s rid of the residual moisture.

I`ve done cleaning in AC vents, drip trays, etc - around the house , and naked to the Blind Eye, but you guys would be grossed out but what grows in wet cold stagnent areas.....
 
Chicago550 said:
I used Wurth and didn`t like the lemon scent I was left with
Click to expand...
Ah, but did it do the job with regard to killing off any nasty odors?

I can understand somebody not liking how the [INSERT brand name] version smells, fortunately there are a few choices to choose from. IIRC there`s a can from ValuGard sitting on my shelf waiting for the need to arise...
 
Was hoping if I just did a little steam and ran the heat on high afterwards it would get rid of some of that wurth lemon scent


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have steamed vents before with no ill effects and not great results either. I have had great results with a spray type product designed to kill smells in car AC systems. Spray let sit 1/2 hr and run air on high. I also suggest changing or examining the filter after heating season just so it`s fresh for the AC season. Either blow it out or replace.
 
JSFM35X said:
I have steamed vents before with no ill effects and not great results either. I have had great results with a spray type product designed to kill smells in car AC systems. Spray let sit 1/2 hr and run air on high. I also suggest changing or examining the filter after heating season just so it`s fresh for the AC season. Either blow it out or replace.
Click to expand...

Replace . Go with charcoal filter if they make if for your make/model.
Blowing it out with forced air changes the structure in any air filter. This is from my understanding when it`s ill advised to do it on the Hepa filters on XYZ
 
Replaced both filters and they are oem charcoal and that helped a lot .... just wanna get rid of that residual wurth smell, the mildew must smell is 100% gone


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Chicago550- Wonder if somebody`s Odor Eliminator product would do the job. Once again, I use the stuff from ValuGard. At least you took care of the mildew so it`s not constantly getting worse.
 
Does the valuguard product leave a residual smell? I even used s02pure without success ... I wonder if I should spray some s02pure in the vents


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Chicago550- I haven`t used the HVAC product from ValuGard yet, but their Odor Eliminator`s scent faded rapidly. I can`t really give you a proper answer as I used it last *way* back, like nearly 10 years ago and honestly can`t remember what it smelled like (other than "better than the problem it solved smelled").

Griot`s sells such stuff too.

Eh, with my memory not serving me I went out to the shop and gave `em a sniff:

-ValuGard S128 Odor Terminator smelled 100% neutral, might as well`ve been water, so maybe it`s gone bad

-Griot`s Odor Exterminator smelled like a cheap (hair) shampoo. Not objectionable *to me* but....YMMV

Sorry for the useless responses, guess the best I can say is that both products have worked fine for me when I got them to contact the source of the odors and neither lingered/offended enough for me to remember it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top