Adding cleaner to radiators

S

seanied

Registered User
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I purchased an cleaner for my central heating system as the water is hard and causing kettling in the boiler. I also purchased a hand pump to inject into the rad. Long story short pump is useless only got about 200ml into the rad. Does anyone know of any other pump i could get to inject it. or what else could i use.

Cheers in advance
 
Firstly, if you boiler is already kettling intoducing a cleanser or inhibitor at this stage is going to make it a great deal worse!

You may have your entire system power flushed, this will consist of:

a) system drained, flushed and refilled
b) cleanser added
c) system run for 7 days at least on 3-4 hours a day minimum
d) sytem power flushed (takes about 7-12 hours depending on system)
e) possible heat exchanger replacement (sometimes not required after flushing)
f) system refilled with inhibitor and silencer added
g) a good boiler service for good luck thrown in

then plenty of years of good use ahead
 
Why adding cleanser to a bad system will make it worse is:

if the system is already sludged up or scaled, where is all that crap going to once you have used to cleanser/descaler to dislodge it, into the sytem water is where, some may get dissolved, but only some, si it's going to potentially block pressure gauges, water flow venturis, pumps and any other of the 'weaker' parts of your system and boiler.

The system needs cleaning, but then all the 'dirt' 'scale' 'sludge' need removing fromt he system
 
What do you experts think of the magnetic filters which are availble. Such as the Boiler Buddy and Magnaclean?


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they are excellent products, but most customers dont want the expense.

I have installed the boiler buddy before and found it to be a great product (origins in F1 engines!)
 
How much would they cleanout that you described cost DGOBS?

I was recently quoted €600 for just a cleaning agent to be added like in was going to do and the a inhibitor added after a drain. This quote was received from the suppliers service man.
 
I have also just noticed that the pressurs is only 0.5 bar, maybe more problems ahead?
 
kettling, is due to reduced water content in the boiler caused by sludge or limescale

600-700 euro for a complete power flush is reasonable as long as they do a full through job (have seen it done badly, not pretty)

have seen people charge 1500 but think that is excessive!
 
DGOBS said:
kettling, is due to reduced water content in the boiler caused by sludge or limescale

600-700 euro for a complete power flush is reasonable as long as they do a full through job (have seen it done badly, not pretty)

!
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€700 Really? I have been undercharging by €250 . Best review ASAP .

€700 imo is far too expensive, its a one man job for one day and you could hardly call it work.
 
Hi Davy!

I charge for
a) the chemicals (ammounts to about €100) ie. ds40,hibitor,silencer and sometimes a second cleanser
b) I am usually onsite for 3 hours a week before the flush
c) onsite for 8-12 hours day of the flush
e) the appliance gets a full service also

so I think €600 is a resonable charge that I do stand by
 
Hi DGOBS

I use fernox chemicals (inc inhibitor and pre cleanser) and they seem to cost less than €100, I am on site about 40 mins a couple of weeks before flush. I add cleanser to system, is there something else I should do?

I test the water during flush and it usually takes a working day to complete. I have a Fernox powerflow MK II.

I don't include a service. Although I probably should as it would be something to do during cycles.

I have noticed more and more people requesting this service. It is something that is truely worth while doing.
I always take temperture readings before a flush and compare after the flush with the system is balanced, the results are amazing
 
Hi Davy
I normally use the ds40 but only where there is no aluminium as it eats it alive! This stuff also needs to be neutralized as it's very corrosive

The thing I do on first visit that u didn't mention is a cold flush before adding the cleanser as I find the system water usually has so much particles in suspension already that it needs a quick flush first and gave got much better results that way. But each to their own
My sureflush system does a max of 13 rads so usually flush from 2 pionts (1up one down)
Get what u mean about time between cycles. But am ultra paranoid about leaks from flushing as got caught with it one before!
If find this service is requred so much now because such poor installations have been done in the last few years with no inhibitors added
 
Hi DGOBS,

thanks for the feed back. Maybe I should do a cold flush to start with.

Do you isolate cylinder when you are power flushing? I do, and wonder is it completely necessary.

Hear you on the leak front, the older the system the more aware I am.
 
hi Davy
I usually treat the cylinder coil as a rad and flush it accordingly. And on open vented remove the attic tank, seal the system and give the tank a good cleanout in the yard
Leaks freak me out! Know or a guy who in his wisdom pfed a gunbarrell installation! Ended up replumbing the house. And run a mile from microbore too many blockage issue powerflushing them ( don't come across as many of the anymore thank god)
 
Yeah, I always remove and clean E & F tank and clean outside. It really gives you an idea on how clean/unclean a system is. We usually then link the expansion and feed pipes. I find that John Guest speed fit fittings are ideal for this type of procedure

I always advice clients of possible pitfalls and I never go too mad on the chemicals. Never had to powerflush a microbore system, I will heed your advice if I ever come across one.
 
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