Central heating clogging up
Discussion
My boiler (1988 Ideal Elan) has increasingly been struggling/wheezing/cutting out every minute, and occasionally the pipes make a loud clonk. I thought it was scale in the heat exchanger. A few times I've had plumbers in to declag it with Fernox etc, and it's improved for a short while then got worse again.
Yesterday a kindly plumber popped in at short notice and in order to get the hooch into the boiler as directly as possible, drained the system down a bit, then cut into the overflow pipe in the roof and poured the stuff straight down. We were surprised to see that the overflow pipe was half clogged with black gunk and bits that he called Magnetite. If the overflow pipe is that bad it doesn't say much for the rest of the system...!
He recommended a magnetic filter be fitted above the boiler in the return pipe, and then he goes round 'vibrating' each radiator to shake loose the clag and get it to stick to the filter. This way he gets as much out as they can and estimated about £500. He felt that a pressure wash would put too much strain on the system.
The house is 28 years old, standard gravity fed system, and I can't think of any other way to solve the problem. Replacing the boiler would give me a new heat exchanger but wouldn't affect the rest of the system.
If anyone can suggest other ideas I'd be pleased to hear them
Yesterday a kindly plumber popped in at short notice and in order to get the hooch into the boiler as directly as possible, drained the system down a bit, then cut into the overflow pipe in the roof and poured the stuff straight down. We were surprised to see that the overflow pipe was half clogged with black gunk and bits that he called Magnetite. If the overflow pipe is that bad it doesn't say much for the rest of the system...!
He recommended a magnetic filter be fitted above the boiler in the return pipe, and then he goes round 'vibrating' each radiator to shake loose the clag and get it to stick to the filter. This way he gets as much out as they can and estimated about £500. He felt that a pressure wash would put too much strain on the system.
The house is 28 years old, standard gravity fed system, and I can't think of any other way to solve the problem. Replacing the boiler would give me a new heat exchanger but wouldn't affect the rest of the system.
If anyone can suggest other ideas I'd be pleased to hear them
guindilias said:
Gravity fed? Throw a pump on there and you'll get a lot less sludge - and faster heating up times. Then stick in a litre of X800 once you have your filter in, then dump the lot and add a litre of X100 when you refill.
Well, there's a Grundfos pump in the airing cupboard; what I meant is that the hot and cold water is gravity fed.The radiators work well and heat up quickly, which I guess they wouldn't do if clogged up. I think removing them would be a massive and expensive job.
The hard part is knowing exactly where the problem is. I cleaned out the header tank before Christmas (another plumber who was too busy to attend suggested I drain it down a little and put some non-scidic cleaner in there, which I did to little effect) - and there was 1-2" of disgusting slimy clag and bits in there - so the system has been 'blowing its nose' for some time!
Thanks for the ideas; I'm certainly not going to hire a power flusher and do it myself!
Replacing the boiler isn't going to get the crud out of the system.
So we have:
Plan A - magnetic filter and bash the rads
Plan B - powerflush
Powerflush seems to have a slightly dodgy reputation as it can be used as a panacea to make money. More relevant, the fellow who came round said it could create leaks in an old low presure system - which makes sense to me - hence he proposed the filter approach. If he was after a quick buck he'd have gone for the powerflush, no?
Replacing the boiler isn't going to get the crud out of the system.
So we have:
Plan A - magnetic filter and bash the rads
Plan B - powerflush
Powerflush seems to have a slightly dodgy reputation as it can be used as a panacea to make money. More relevant, the fellow who came round said it could create leaks in an old low presure system - which makes sense to me - hence he proposed the filter approach. If he was after a quick buck he'd have gone for the powerflush, no?
Rickyy said:
Simpo Two said:
^^^ This seemed rather drastic but I'll ask them what they think. The rads seem to get hot as quickly as they ever did though, so could they be badly clagged up?
They are the main source of the corrosion though. If you're handy with spanners and confident with basic plumbing, it's simple, just labour intensive.Ideally needs two people to help remove bigger rads, they still hold a fair bit of water when drained, that water will be black and it will go all over your carpets if you attempt it alone. I learnt this important lesson as an apprentice!
OK well the chap has been very efficient and sent me a quote detailing exactly what he plans to. He's included removal of rads instead of just vibrating them. I'll be helper.
Drain down central heating system
Supply and fit magnaclean filter above boiler
Clean F+E Tank
Remove and flush all radiators
Connect magnacleanse flushing kit and add flushing chemicals to system
Circulate chemicals throughout system until satisfied
Drain system of chemicals
Refill system, add inhibitor, vent and test.
Total £400.00
(No mention of any VAT)
That seems pretty good to me but I'm getting a second opinion as well. What does the jury think?
Drain down central heating system
Supply and fit magnaclean filter above boiler
Clean F+E Tank
Remove and flush all radiators
Connect magnacleanse flushing kit and add flushing chemicals to system
Circulate chemicals throughout system until satisfied
Drain system of chemicals
Refill system, add inhibitor, vent and test.
Total £400.00
(No mention of any VAT)
That seems pretty good to me but I'm getting a second opinion as well. What does the jury think?
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff