With the boiler cold and the front and rear doors open, a wire brush sized to the tube is pushed and pulled through each tube, often powered by a drill or a rotary tube cleaner, and the loose soot is vacuumed out of the turnaround chambers and breeching. Crews also say brushing or rodding the tubes. It is the main fireside job at an annual cleaning and brings stack temperature back down.
We'll punch the tubes on number two Saturday, have the vac and the 2 1/2 inch brushes ready.
Also heard as
- brush the tubes
- rod the tubes
- tube punching
Related terms
Sooted up
Coated with soot on the fire side, from rich or poor combustion, so heat transfer and draft suffer.
Stack temperature
The temperature of the flue gas as it leaves the boiler, a direct measure of how much heat is going up the chimney.
Scotch marine boiler
A horizontal packaged firetube boiler with a large internal furnace tube and two to four gas passes.
Fireside
The surfaces of a boiler exposed to flame and combustion gases, as opposed to the waterside surfaces in contact with water.