Power Flushing ??????????

[no66]

My friends house has radiators that are warm upstairs and cold down, by shutting the upstairs rads down the down stairs can be warmed.

Last week I applied Sentinel X400 (sludge remover) and got the system going then a few days l8tr drained the system down cleaned out the F/E and put in a coulpe of TRV valves.

Had a few problems with air in the system ,bleed rads and the manual vent valves and balanced.... however system warmed up ok.

But now the system has started to struggle again with the rads not warming down stairs, some of the rads are over 35 years old and the rest a minimum of 25 years. The pump is a British Gas grundfoss multihead G.(fully pumped system open vent).

Should I take the rads off and flush them ? do not want to powerflush as we are trying to keep the cost down

 

[nickso]

no harm in trying it.

that pump can only be a few years old at most.

 

[gas4you]

Don't get sucked into a powerflush straight away.

What was the system water like when you drained down?

Could be the pump is knackered and needs replacing. They can get weak with old age. (think I must be a pump )

 

[denso13]

Try and see.

 

[Rob]

I thought x400 was a chemical you left in for a few weeks.

You could always try something more aggressive but with such old rads best to stick with X400 and plenty of HEAT!

 

[no66]

no harm in trying it.

that pump can only be a few years old at most.

Ok thanks !

 

[no66]

Don't get sucked into a powerflush straight away.

What was the system water like when you drained down?

Could be the pump is knackered and needs replacing. They can get weak with old age. (think I must be a pump )

Water was Black !

Pump is a about a year old the system is on a British Gas 3 star plan ...........I know ........ I know (to be honest it is my mothers house and British Gas wanted £560 for a power flush !!!!!!!!!

 

[JohnD]

have you balanced the radiators?

 

[nickso]

you might get away with flushing the rads out and a magnaclean to capture all the crud that will be produced after.

remember if you do go to BG for a flush its guaranteed for life. no one else will offer that to you.

 

[gas4you]

Average price for a power flush is £350 + VAT. I believe BG guarantee theirs for life.

I've got one to do tomorrow unfortunately

 

[no66]

Average price for a power flush is £350 + VAT. I believe BG guarantee theirs for life.

I've got one to do tomorrow unfortunately

Ok Cheers Dave.

 

[chrishutt]

Do a poor man's power flush, using the power of mains water. It will work wonders on a heavily sludged system. See plumbing tips or the wiki for details.

 

[no66]

I thought x400 was a chemical you left in for a few weeks.

You could always try something more aggressive but with such old rads best to stick with X400 and plenty of HEAT!

Product info says up to 4 weeks .......but CH not working 100% so trying to get house warm asap !

 

[no66]

Do a poor man's power flush, using the power of mains water. It will work wonders on a heavily sludged system. See plumbing tips or the wiki for details.

OK thanks !!

 

[JohnD]

I used X400 on my mothers old system during the summer, and fitted a Magnaclean. It trapped all the circulating black, and carries on trapping it indefinitely.

X400 can be left in the system permanently to loosen sediment (though if you haven't got a Magnaclean you will not be taking the sediment out unless you drain it). My mother's Magnaclean is still trapping about a teaspoonful a week so presumably it is still getting a the system a little cleaner as time goes by. In the first few weeks it was trapping a lot more, but the amount has been declining. The water is clear and not black now.

You need an inhibitor when you refill after your last drain, otherwise it will corrode some more.