A plumber (actually not a plumber but somebody who thinks he is a plumber) told me that, upon restarting the gas heating after a long summer pause, my old Vaillant (late 1990s) should be blasted at chimney sweep mode for about 10-20 mins to "flush the crap" [his words] out the pipes.
True? False?
Simon
Didn’t even know the mode existed until I did an online search. ;-)
Sounds like it put the boiler into maximum output mode for a period. As to whether this is ever necessary or not I have no idea. Try it and see. ;-)
Tim
I have a much later Vaillant model (installed 2019). Although there is a chimney sweep mode accessible from the front panel, there doesn't seem to be any documentation of it whatsoever either in the owner's or the installer's manual. Mind you, it is a truly appalling manual.
I suspect it so a gas engineer can check the exhaust emissions with his gas analyser.
Exactly. As it's behind a cap, my "chimney sweep" puts the combi into full output mode by turning up the hot water, faucet right next to the combi.
Just take a shower for 10-20 minutes, and then you will have flushed the crap from the chimney *and* yourself!
The Treznal "chimney sweep" does an annual mandated check of the chimney, sometimes with actual sweep, and combi flue gas analysis: flue pressure (difference to ambient, aka draft), CO, CO2, Temp, O2, flue and ambient. An efficiency is calculated from these numbers.
While it may seem very Treznal, I find it value for money, as for about 30€ in fees it tells me when a more expensive service and adjust is needed. Also, gently plying the sweep with coffee might get one a local plumber recommendation, or a least A Look when one suggested one that he though a cowboy.
Thomas Prufer
For something mandatory, that doesn't seem to be inflated just because they could, presumably the sweep has the power to plonk a red sticker on the installation?
It's for analysing the flue gasses during annual servicing/checking How to set the mode
The wording from your plumber seems pure BS. Where is the crap in the pipes going to be flushed to and how are you going to remove it?
Well if its anything like my log burner, it will be a dead crow, and it will combust :-)
Thanks. But is it dangerous? If the pipes are cold/frozen and you blast
90 degrees into them, would they break? Sorry it may be a stupid question but I'm a council tenant and I don't want to f*ck up with the council.
If they’re cold, no problem. If they’re frozen, they’re probably already broken.
Tim
During the bad winter of 2010/11 I was sent to wire up a new solid fuel boiler as the old one blew up.
The owners were away in Spain for the festive period and the next door neighbour was tasked with lighting the boiler on their return a fortnight later so that they would come home to a nice warm house.......
Are you saying that you can never use your boiler if the temperature is cold outside?
Think about it. Your "plumber" is telling you to use the chimney sweep mode only if you have left the boiler off over the Summer. The "chimney sweep mode" is for all intensive purposes just the same switching your central heating on ___AND___ it happens every time you turn on your central heating throughout the winter months.
In general, the "chimney sweeping mode" on a gas boiler is nothing to do with putting a brush up a chimney. It is service mode allowing the gas technician to put the boiler into a test mode so that you can monitor the flue output with his test equipment.
If running boilers burner at full damages the flue/boiler in freezing weather then there would be 26 million broken boilers in the UK each year!
If your central heating water pipes are frozen you have a much bigger problem.
Yes. I have known my sweep for a long time: He told me that he did in fact red-sticker a bathroom heater as unsafe, and notify, put seal on it, etc. The tenant ripped the (symbolic) seal off, used the heater anyway, and died in the bathtub of carbon monoxide poisoning.
This sweep is a also a good source of advice as to which combi, heater etc is good and which isn't, and when a tradesman is ripping you off: no financial stake in the outcome, see...
Thomas Prufer
Customers who fail to follow their tradesman's advice always die soon afterwards, according to tradesmen. It's an iron law of business.
Many years ago, in the middle of winter, my 88-year-old mother in law called me to say she had got a tradesman in to service her gas fire. He said it wasn't up to building regulations, put stickers all over it and told her not to use it, so there she was sitting in her freezing lounge. I went down there, ripped the stickers off, put the fire on, and removed the guy's business cards from the house so she never called him again.
Yeah, the guy who came to service my boiler said it was supposed to have a CO alarm by it.
Never heard of that. Want in the regs when I built the house so fuckit
I've got five combustion appliances in my house. Oil boiler is the safest and most isolated
The company I once worked for employed a contractor to do the PAT testing. They had a list of the company's assets (electronic test equipment, soldering irons etc. etc.). Each item with a company assets number attached to it was tested. Any equipment without a number, including customers very expensive equipment and work in progress (the manufactured items being tested and prototypes still being designed), had a very large bright red very sticky sticker stuck over the front panel/controls stating DANGER - DO NOT USE.
The two people doing the PAT had zero interest in their job and I wouldn't be that surprised if any of the inspections or testing were in any way meaningful.
This is the mandated chimney sweep. He condemns the unit -- it's up to the landlord or tenant to find their own tradesman and repair it or replace it. This removes the incentive for the sweep to spuriously condemn units.
I thought that was clear...
Thomas Prufer
What putting the boiler into full output test mode? No it is not dangerous. However there is no need to do it unless you are servicing or commissioning the boiler (i.e. first use after installation)
If the pipes are frozen then you will have no water circulation - the boiler would lockout with a fault code.
Presumably it is their responsibility to ensure that it is seviced? If so let them get on with it. There should be nothing special you as a user need to do.
I think that is one of those "not even wrong" statements - the recommendation is based on a misunderstanding. So ignore it.
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