Help please - heating and hot water noise / sludge (pic inc)
- Thread starter pop80_uk
- Start date
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I will get up in the loft tomorrow and get some pictures posted
Thanks
Thanks
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Hi JohnD
These are the pictures from the loft before I cleaned out the tank this weekend
It dripping from the water tap in the cold water tap, I thinking a simple kit will allow me to fix this, new washer?
These are the pictures from the loft before I cleaned out the tank this weekend
It dripping from the water tap in the cold water tap, I thinking a simple kit will allow me to fix this, new washer?
Probably not relevent, but when you take your next lot of pictures is it possible to remove the cylinder label, photograph it, and show it in detail.
Tim
Tim
that white crust looks very unsavoury, do the clean out and wipe with bleach, then clean out the system. Yours is open-vented so most likely has sludge in it, so a good clean will do nothing but good.
1) find your drain cocks
2) tie up the ball float in the feed and expansion tank, bale it out, sponge it clean, wipe all. internal surfaces with bleach, including the float and lid. wipe dry
3) drain off at least a couple of buckets from your drain cock, more if it is bringing dirt out.
4) add a litre of sentinel x400 sludge loosener and then untie the ball float so the chemical is drawn down with clean water as the system refills. run it as normal for 4 weeks before draining and rinsing.
You will know the X400 is working if you bleed the radiators and find the water has gone jet black, this is loosened sludge washing around in the water.
Buy a bottle of Fernox Universal Biocide, you may have to order it from a plumbers merchant. You will add this to the F&E only after you have finished all your cleaning, draining, filling and inhibiting work, as it is fairly expensive. It will prevent future fungus or bacteria in the F&E.
If you can afford £100 and do basic DIY plumbing, add a system filter such as http://www.screwfix.com/p/sentinel-system-filter/53852?_requestid=1841567 or http://www.screwfix.com/p/fernox-tf1-total-filter-22mm/84311?_requestid=1841817 or the new Spirovent to a return pipe near the boiler, it will capture residual particles and prevent them forming a new blockage.
As for the dripping ballcock, a new one is so cheap it will be easier to swap it. You can usually leave the old stem in the side of the tank and just change the working mechanism by undoing the big nut. You can bring the old one downstairs and use a repair kit, then put it in a plastic bag by the tank ready to swap again next time. Adjust it so the water depth in the F&E is only a couple of inches above the exit pipe.
A brass one should last longer. You need a "part 2" with the plastic bridge on top. Pegler is good. http://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-prestex-float-valve-part-2/27627
1) find your drain cocks
2) tie up the ball float in the feed and expansion tank, bale it out, sponge it clean, wipe all. internal surfaces with bleach, including the float and lid. wipe dry
3) drain off at least a couple of buckets from your drain cock, more if it is bringing dirt out.
4) add a litre of sentinel x400 sludge loosener and then untie the ball float so the chemical is drawn down with clean water as the system refills. run it as normal for 4 weeks before draining and rinsing.
You will know the X400 is working if you bleed the radiators and find the water has gone jet black, this is loosened sludge washing around in the water.
Buy a bottle of Fernox Universal Biocide, you may have to order it from a plumbers merchant. You will add this to the F&E only after you have finished all your cleaning, draining, filling and inhibiting work, as it is fairly expensive. It will prevent future fungus or bacteria in the F&E.
If you can afford £100 and do basic DIY plumbing, add a system filter such as http://www.screwfix.com/p/sentinel-system-filter/53852?_requestid=1841567 or http://www.screwfix.com/p/fernox-tf1-total-filter-22mm/84311?_requestid=1841817 or the new Spirovent to a return pipe near the boiler, it will capture residual particles and prevent them forming a new blockage.
As for the dripping ballcock, a new one is so cheap it will be easier to swap it. You can usually leave the old stem in the side of the tank and just change the working mechanism by undoing the big nut. You can bring the old one downstairs and use a repair kit, then put it in a plastic bag by the tank ready to swap again next time. Adjust it so the water depth in the F&E is only a couple of inches above the exit pipe.
A brass one should last longer. You need a "part 2" with the plastic bridge on top. Pegler is good. http://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-prestex-float-valve-part-2/27627
Ok,
I will do everything you have suggested,
Stupid question, which drain cocks should I use?
Where will they be usually?
Thanks
I will do everything you have suggested,
Stupid question, which drain cocks should I use?
Where will they be usually?
Thanks
like on http://www.screwfix.com/search.do;j...stomPrice=&priceFrom=&priceTo=&priceFilterOn=
There ought to be one (or more) at the lowest points in the pipework, with luck near a door so you can attach a hose and run it outside. If there are none you can get by by undoing a radiator valve, but in that case I would fit drain cocks at the first opportunity. Due to heat and age the rubber washers tend to perish, and there are various sizes, so IMO it is worth buying two, with one as a spare and in some cases you can swap the innards and rewasher the perished one at your leisure.
The type "A" is slightly more expensive but leaks less when you turn the spindle.
You can also get lockshield radiator valves which incorporate a drain cock, which may be a direct swap to fit, though some people say they are not very good. I have some on the downstairs rads but I am not a pro. like this http://www.screwfix.com/p/angled-radiator-valve-drain-off-15mm-x/70408
There ought to be one (or more) at the lowest points in the pipework, with luck near a door so you can attach a hose and run it outside. If there are none you can get by by undoing a radiator valve, but in that case I would fit drain cocks at the first opportunity. Due to heat and age the rubber washers tend to perish, and there are various sizes, so IMO it is worth buying two, with one as a spare and in some cases you can swap the innards and rewasher the perished one at your leisure.
The type "A" is slightly more expensive but leaks less when you turn the spindle.
You can also get lockshield radiator valves which incorporate a drain cock, which may be a direct swap to fit, though some people say they are not very good. I have some on the downstairs rads but I am not a pro. like this http://www.screwfix.com/p/angled-radiator-valve-drain-off-15mm-x/70408
M
mysteryman
From one of your photos it looks as if the flow pipe into the cylinder is going uphill from the tee with the air vent. If so, it is almost impossible to vent the coil effectively, there will be air in it and it may have debris up there by now.
definitely a wiring problem if you have to have "HW" on to get the CH working.
my current system is like that purely because it's a a back boiler with no reasonable controls, currently just a mechanical timer.
HW controls the boiler firing and CH controls the pump circulation.
you need to get a look at the Y plan wiring and trace it back so that when the pump is on for the CH, it also activates the boiler.
my current system is like that purely because it's a a back boiler with no reasonable controls, currently just a mechanical timer.
HW controls the boiler firing and CH controls the pump circulation.
you need to get a look at the Y plan wiring and trace it back so that when the pump is on for the CH, it also activates the boiler.
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