Powerflush 10mm microbore

[pete1866]

I have been advised to powerflush my 10mm central heating microbore pipes
I had a little problem with radiators occasionally not getting warm downstairs , or cold at the bottom and warm at the top etc ,
A couple of times the downstairs were all cold until I switched the upstairs ones off and ran the heating.
I bled some and the water is very dirty, thought that system needed a bit of a cleanout and some inhinitor in .
Another problem I have is no drain valves on any of the radiators downstairs (I have one on my boiler ) and the radiators are all piped individually straight up .
So do you advise me to try the powerflushing ?
or fit a drain plug to each radiator to drain the system , then add x400 and then drain and add inhibitor .
Any advice would be very welcome regards Pete

 

[Agile]

I think all you need to do is to read some of the existing posts on this site.

Its discussed at least once a month!

Tony

 

[pete1866]

I think all you need to do is to read some of the existing posts on this site.

Its discussed at least once a month!

Tony

Yes I have read a lot if them
My question is also about how to drain my system down and if I should pay £200 odd to have drain valves fitted to all downstairs radiators or if there is an easier way

 

[Agile]

If doing it yourself you could just drain them by opening a joint.

But why do you want to drain them?

Tony

 

[Agile]

Are you sure you understand what power flushing is?

Are you trained in it?

Do you have the equipment?

Tony

 

[pete1866]

If doing it yourself you could just drain them by opening a joint.

But why do you want to drain them?

Tony

Hi Tony thanks for the reply , I thought draining the system adding cleaner etc was the option to try to get rid of the sludge before other options ?

With them all been plumbed vertically I was told if I opened the joint there would be water in the other downstairs radiators because they are plumbed vertically is this wrong .

As for powerflushing ,no I am not trained I would be letting a plumber do all the work , same with any of the work.
the problem is I have had 2 different plumbers round ,
One telling to drain the system and I need valves on all radiators downstairs quoting me £340 to do this add x400 , come back and redrain and add inhibitor

1 just wanting to powerflush without do any checks , £350
and to drain the system at any time I didn`t need drain valves fitting to all downstairs radiators and the other plumber was wrong

 

[Agile]

Right so you are not going to do power flushing yourself!

Its labour intensive but downstairs rads can be drained by opening the nuts!

Tony

 

[pete1866]

So I didn`t actually get any advice , so please close !

 

[gigz]

Drain the system down via the boiler, take each rad off downstairs and flush with hosepipe, while they are off add a drain off tail (or use a valve with incorperated drain) put eveything back and add x800 (very strong) or x400, run heating for the stated times (on the bottle) then drain again, fill with fresh water, run heating for a couple of hours and drain, add x100 and refill, i would also rig something up and flush each leg of pipe out.

 

[pete1866]

Drain the system down via the boiler, take each rad off downstairs and flush with hosepipe, while they are off add a drain off tail (or use a valve with incorperated drain) put eveything back and add x800 (very strong) or x400, run heating for the stated times (on the bottle) then drain again, fill with fresh water, run heating for a couple of hours and drain, add x100 and refill, i would also rig something up and flush each leg of pipe out.

Many thanks gigz , that makes sense
speaking to a third plumber he said powerflush would be last resort , thanks again

 

[gigz]

No probs, I've found power flush is poor on small bore pipes. My way is more labour intensive but had much better results this way.

 

[pete1866]

No probs, I've found power flush is poor on small bore pipes. My way is more labour intensive but had much better results this way.

That's what I had read , and when one plumber wanted to go straight for that without even looking at it , it seemed like an easy way to make a few hundred pounds
To do what you mentioned I was getting quoted £340 , did that seem expensive to you , 4 radiators , to fit drain valves to , flushing etc ?

 

[gigz]

Never like to get involved in prices without seeing everything thats invoved, too easy to criticise. If you dont feel confident doing it yourself get a few more quotes like for like, preferably from reccomended tradesmen. Can be a really messy job though and time consuming to get right results. Good luck.

 

[pete1866]

That's fair enough. The plumber doing the job is a friend of a friend so he'll look after me . He is starting at the pump at the boiler then we will see, anyway thanks for your help