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Old 10-07-2022, 10:10 AM
Bill14564 Bill14564 is offline
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We have used both but not at the same time.

- The idea behind vinegar is to raise the acidity and kill any slime growing in the lines. The argument against vinegar is that it is harmful to aluminum and as it evaporates in the line the vapor could come back into your air handler. It seems like that would be a very tiny risk at best, but that's the argument. Pouring water after the vinegar would dilute the acidity and the effectiveness.

- A gallon of hot water works both to kill anything with the heat and to flush it out with the volume. This seems to make sense, is pretty simple, and costs less than vinegar (save a few pennies)

- A hose attachment to force water through the line would certainly provide the volume and the pressure could be enough to clear a buildup. I would be concerned about creating a leak in a place I cannot reach to fix but PVC is strong enough so that really shouldn't happen. Munn's used this technique on my system during their maintenance visit.

- A shop vac pulling from the outside to clear a blocked line seems like the safest approach to clearing a clogged line. However, it would be best to use one of the three above to prevent the line from becoming clogged in the first place.
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