Powerflush

[john_p]

What exactly is a powerflush, and why is it so expensive?

[mybrainhurts]

Something to do with unfeasibly large turds...

[roboxm3]

A poerflush(er) is a pump attached to a tank, that pumps a cleaning agent around the central heating system to clear out all the crap.

It shouldn't cost you more than about £300 but it costs as much as it does because it takes time and can't really be left unattended.

[GreigM]

its what it sounds like - pressurised water pushed through your central heating pipes to clean them out.

To be done well the system should be treated some time in advance (weeks) with chemicals to "loosen" the sludge, then the powerflush is done, which if done properly involves removing all the radiators - its can't be done effectively without removing and flushing the radiators separately - then finally the system should be treated with inhibitor chemicals.

Can be quite labour intensive, but I find plumbers take the piss with the price for what is effectively a days work - but if they guarantee their work it can be worth a fair bit extra as in my experience a flush only lasts for so long before the sludge is back.

I have an old house and only really got rid of sludge problems when I replaced all the radiators...

[john_p]

Guy at work just got quoted £1k

[Silver993tt]

I did mine by using a high pressure water pump. I installed a valve just below the header tank and a connecter just below that to take a hose pipe. I closed off the valve just below the header tank and applied high pressure water via the pump (that was connected to the mains supply). It flushed out quite alot of junk. It's also easy to add cleaning additives via the header tank between high pressure flushes this way. It took about an hour do

It helps by closing off all the radiotors via their valves and then opening up one at a time, flushing, closing it and then moving onto the next radiator - no need to remove them at all.

Edited by Silver993tt on Tuesday 27th January 12:43

[Ferg]

It can certainly be done effectively without removing radiators, but you definately need a good cleaning agent, a reverse flow, some sort of agitator and probably a big rubber mallet. It's certainly a good days work to do a system of any size.

[GreenV8S]

I'm sure a powerflush would be massively quicker and more effective, but I de-silted mine quite effectively just by fitting a magnetic filter and then running with a flushing agent for a couple of months. To start with I ran the radiators one at a time to get things started but then I left it running and just emptied the filter every now and then.

[OJ]

My parents house has an ancient heating system, but my mate (who is a plumber) is terrified to touch it for fear of miscellaneous 200 year old pipes bursting. Is this an alternative, or is all of the sludge and crap the only thing holding the pipes together?

[Fer]

john_p said:

What exactly is a powerflush, and why is it so expensive?

Have you been talking to BG? They quoted my MiL £700!

[Ferg]

GreenV8S said:

I de-silted mine quite effectively just by fitting a magnetic filter and then running with a flushing agent for a couple of months.

Magnetic filters are the best money you can spend on an old system.