Schoolboy error - need help please!!

[notreallyaplumber]

Morning all

While attempting to clean out my girlfriend's heavily sludged central heating system I have inadvertantly managed to get a large lump of silt from the F&E tank into the CH system which has now blocked it.

I'm pretty sure that when I started to refill, the force of the water stirred up all the gunk in the bottom of the tank and then sucked it into the pipe.

At the moment, she's very calm and understanding, but I need to sort it pretty quickly!

Would it be a good idea (or not) to try and loosen it with a thin wire, say an electrician's draw tape, and try to flush it through the system, or do I need to call for backup?

Any help would be gratefully received.

 

[45yearsagasman]

If you think the cold feed is blocked then the correct way is to cut out and then clear the affected pipework.The bodgers way is to do as you suggest.You will still have to cut into the cold feed unless you have a compression joint in it already.Heavily sludged systems need further investigation as to the cause of the sludge build up.Is the system fully pumped with a motorised valve or other configuration?

 

[notreallyaplumber]

Pretty sure that's the case, yes. Next question is how do I know which section to cut out? Is it safe to assume that the blockage won't have got very far down the pipe?

It has a motorised valve and is pumped. Thanks for your quick reply btw.

 

[MikeyGas]

Copper is not magnetic, magnetic corrosion is (sludge). Get a strong magnet and run it over the cold feed until you feel it magnetise, usual place is where the 15mm cold feed tee's into the central heating.

 

[notreallyaplumber]

Brilliant, thanks very much! However, if the blockage is just accumulated dust and stuff (the tank has apparently never been covered), how do I find it then?

 

[picasso]

try back filling it with the mains water , you might be lucky and shift the blockage without cutting pipes.