Hi all,
Have just had the bladder, vessel, release valve, hose and some radiator lockshields changed by British Gas, because they were totally blocked by sludge. The water came out fairly blackish with bits "Don't use the X400 on this system, it will turn the sludge to concrete."
Is he talking a lot of 'gas' and trying to sell me their £400 PowerFlush instead, or does he have a point?
Basically how can I do this on the cheap, without creating concrete.
Thanks! :)
I'm sure the powerflush is good and it will work. =A3400 sounds quite=20 cheap to me as they quoted me about =A3800. Anyway I'm doing it myself=20 using Fernox. I drained the entire system yesterday several times until=20 the water came out clear. I also had to clean the header tank as it was=20 full of brown stuff. I put the cleaner in and (rather disconcertingly) a=20 few radiators downstairs didn't heat up and I ended up turning all the=20 other radiators off just to get the pump pumping round the radiators=20 that were blocked - this worked. However this morning a couple of=20 radiators wouldn't go again so I turned off the upstairs and the=20 downstairs seems to be okay at the moment. Does anyone know if I'm=20 causing permanent damage doing this? I was going to leave it in for a=20 week (it says you can on the bottle) and then drain it on sunday but I=20 may drain it all on friday if I can get a day off work.
Then I'll stick the inhibitor in and hopefully say goodbye to these=20 problems.
--=20 John Kelly
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Dunno about that bit.
Your system has (or had) a corrosion problem which is corroding the insides of the radiators. Since it is a sealed system, the usual causes don't apply. It may be an old problem if the system once had a feed & expansion tank with an older boiler. If so, it should have been flushed before fitting a new boiler. You need to find and rectify that fault first.
I probably shouldn't ask, but did you have a new boiler fitted in recent years by a Big Gas company?
If you can do a spot of heating pipework & connecting, then hire a power flushing pump and buy the chemicals from the hire company & DIY. Probably under =A3100.
You can then do it for longer and more thoroughly than a contractor. IMHO, even this is unlikely to shift all the black magnetite sludge. You may have other problems in the future but it is most important that you ensure your radiators are not still being converted into sludge.
News to me but I'd suggest emailing fernox and asking them:
sponix
Anyone know what the implications of leaving the cleaner in too long would be?
sponix
It does say on the packaging that it can be used for a week so I'm not that worried. It's just strange that some of the radiators haven't worked well since starting using it.
I know this is a broad statement, but British Gas = Lying Gits. I've had old people in tears because BG had convinced them they needed a new boiler when there was nothing wrong with it whatsoever (just not SEDBUK 'A'). I personally despise them all. Each BG engineer is also a salesperson with a sales target to meet, therefore make many unnecessary recommendations.
Angus
No, I just moved in, and the boiler is 10 years old.
I agree, the previous homeowners should have had the system flushed, but hey. BG engineer said it could be old flux etc. from when they had the new radiator valves fitted, that had been left in the system to corrode.
The radiators are quite modern, about 10 years old, and don't have many cold bits at the bottom, just 1 bit that isn't as scorching as the rest, so I'm hoping the rads themselves are okay.
Thanks.
Been having problems with my heating system, downstairs rads not heating up etc so thought of power flushing it. Does anyone know if you can hire the units anywhere? Had a quick look on the tool hire sites but can't see them anywhere.
For starters, one of the largest (the largest?) is HSS - they do one:
We had a BG "salesman", who was fantastic. He didn't try any hard sell, everything he said made sense from what I'd already gleaned from this group. He didn't tell us all the rad were corroded or that we needed a power flush, etc. We were very impressed. Then he told us. He'd resigned and was leaving his job the following week, LOL.
MBQ
You might have some air in the system that is interfering with the flow.
Hi all, anyone got a link to a *simple* guide for using the X400, with diagrams if poss? The instructions on the tube are a little confusing for a first-timer :)
Thanks.
Top tip, drain, refill and inhibit the CH system in the summer when it's warm, not in the middle of January.
HTH
Paul.
What do the flushers actually do? Can you cheat by using mains pressure water instead? Presumably the pump needs to be taken out of circuit?
I had a similar problem and was advised by British Gas engineer (Service contract) I needed a powerflush. Had it done by a private plumber for about £150 less than BG's quote, the plumber told me, whilst flushing, that the system wasn't that dirty and after flush the problem of cold radiators remained. Eventually got British Gas back (different engineer) who immediately diagnosed a faulty bypass valve and pump which instantly cured the problem Needless to say, try as I might, British Gas refused to compensate me for the unnecessary cost of the power flush, despite their engineer saying it was required.
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