Just about to put in 3 new rads on the CH system, wondering whilst it's drained down if it is worth putting in one of those magnetic sludge filters - eg a Magnaclean?
System is old (circa 1970's I imagine), never really had any obvious problems with sludge, not been properly cleaned or flushed, but did give a good run through with some X400 last year.
They certainly collect sludge, I put one in following an overhaul but would not like to say whether they are actually cost effective.
Probably not a lot of point unless/until you are replacing the boiler. What did the drained water look like after a year, and did it have inhibitor (such as X100) left in it for that period?
In message , Andrew Gabriel writes
Well, actually, not drained down yet, planning to do the work in a couple of days time.
But thinking about it, it'll be worth me firing it up to get water circulating, and then I can see what it is like when I drain down.
It's had inhibitor in so won't have got any worse, and I don't remember the water in general being esp. dark when originally drained down last year
In article , Chris French writes
I currently have a 'man in' doing a boiler replacement on a house I look after.
In that situation the boiler mfrs will only guarantee the boiler if a filter is fitted on the return side. The installer who I like and appears a font of knowledge in his trade has told me that he cannot guess which system will be full of crap and which will be clean when he goes to work on one and I believe him. The system he is working on for us uses 10mm microbore and has had so many leaks that any inhibitor has been diluted beyond trace but has showed little or no scale or sludge and zero blockages. In contrast my own system which uses 15mm separate plastic feeds to each room and was well dosed with inhibitor has been dogged with scale and blockages.
My own choice was to fit a simple strainer but they can clog up so if you have 80 odd quid spare I would consider using a magnetic filter with a decent capacity.
John Rumm here has suggested the Fernox TF1 whilst my guy convinced us to use a 2nd generation Magnaclean Pro unit which apparently does not suffer form the original problems of seal leakage after a year and complicated cleaning procedures.
Does it really cost £80 to drop a magnet in a can?
NT
Why is sludge attracted by magnets though? Brian
'cos it's iron sludge from the inside of the steel radiators
No that is the price people are (obviously) willing to pay. I bet the cost is less than a quarter of that.
Specifically Fe3O4, also known as magnetite for the obvious reason.
Well it is a pressure container with decent brass isolating valves each side, and a bleed nipple. It's quite a strong magnet, and stainless steel clad to prevent corrosion. Mine is quite well designed and made.
So 3 valves, a hdd magnet and a copper can.
NT
A very small percentage are willing to pay. BOM is unlikely to exceed 1/6th retail cost, and with all costs & profit factored in its going to be about half retail at the factory gate.
The point is that for so little hardware we ought to be able to assemble th em for much less.
NT
To be fair I think they do have those "Rare Earth" extremely strong magnets in them, which don't come cheap.
/6th retail cost, and with all costs & profit factored in its going to be a bout half retail at the factory gate.
e them for much less.
free in every dead hdd
NT
The Fernox TF1 is a better product IME (there is also a Sentinal one that looks quite good). Has cyclonic collection as well as magnetic, and can be drained in situ without dismantling.
Older boilers are less fussy about system contamination. New HE ones however really don't like dirty primary water.
So depending on what you have and what you plan to do, you can probably assess the need.
Not really the right form factor...
Add to that the cost of a pair of full bore decent quality butterfly valves, and drain valve, the enclosure with appropriate cyclonic shape etc.
It obviously could be DIYed, but its not a trivial process. There is enough hassle changing a boiler without making your own filter IMHO.
I think it's a Magnaclean one which is a Screwfix Deal of the Day some time next week (w/c 13 Oct) - it was on the DotD predictor earlier, but Screwfix appeared to have removed next week's deals from the source code at the moment.
Owain
Well this is the foundation for success in business. If they are costing retail price to make, then they are doing it wrong!
Go on then, let's see yours ;-)
Well, it's draining down right now, water seems to be clear.
Boiler is an old floor standing Ideal Mexico with a cast iron heat exchanger. so I think I'll leave it for now, and worry about it when ever the boiler is replaced.
Thanks folks,
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