Knocking Boiler and Pipes

[Gazza855]

For the last 3 weeks I have had my heating on and all has been fine. The boiler in my kitchen has a low and high flame setting and it has been on low. Now that we are coming into winter I put it on high. Within 2 minutes the boiler and pipes were banging like crazy. As soon as I changed it back to the low setting, the noises went away.

1. Can I leave my boiler on the low setting throughout winter?
2. Is the knocking 'sludge' as mentioned by a brit gas engineer when it was banging a little bit last year?
3. If it is sludge, is it easy (cheap?) to sort?

Many thanks

Gazza

 

[kevplumb]

thorn apollo by any chance

 

[doitall]

Don't take too much notice of what the BG sharks tell you, they only know two words, Sludge and powerflush £800.00 thanks mug.

Oh and duster for the annual safety check.

I see I must do some more pimping Kev.

 

[kevplumb]

aye

 

[twgas]

they only know two words, Sludge and powerflush £800.00 thanks mug.

Hmmm 2 words..........at least we can count

 

[bengasman]

they only know two words, Sludge and powerflush £800.00 thanks mug.

Hmmm 2 words..........at least we can count

 

[bengasman]

The noise comes from overheating, could be sludge, could be a worn out pump, quite possibly a combination, might even need some pipework replacing.
Price will vary from £0.00 if a simple cold rinse solves and you can do it yourself, to hundreds of pounds for flush, new pump and new valves.
It all depends on how long the system has been neglected.

 

[Gazza855]

I'm not at home so can't confirm the boiler make. I know it is >5-10 years old, but it is in very good condition. I have had no problems with it until this knocking and Britgas check it annually.

So i will get a quote for a powerflush to remove the sludge. Any suggestions of what the qhote might roughly be? House is standard built late 70's 4 bed det.

Cheers

Gazza

 

[kevplumb]

Britgas check it annually.

 

[Steve69the69Gas]

 

[doitall]

Britgas check it annually.

Check the boilers still there you mean.

 

[Gazza855]

OK - I get the fact that BG are not at all popular (and that is prob an understatement!).

But if anyone could advise me on :

possible likely cost of a sludge flush (I've seen £400 on independent web sites), and,

if I 'can' (or not advised?) leave the boiler flame switch on the low setting through winter - that would be appreciated.

TY

Gazza

 

[kevplumb]

if I 'can' (or not advised?) leave the boiler flame switch on the low setting through winter - that would be appreciated.

yes you can

it might be a good idea to stick some cleanser in the system before it gets any worse though

 

[bengasman]

Powerflush "rates" are like any price, they vary.Can be anything from a couple of hundred to over a thousand. Depends on who does the job, how many rads, and how bad the system is blocked.
Price is not everything, plenty of "experts" that don't really know how to go about.
Ballpark figure around £30 per rad, plus £100 on top of that.