Central Heating Radiator Flush
Discussion
Anyone had a Radiator Power flush and a filter thingy attached to your system to prevent buildup of sludge? British Gas charge £720 and 10year guarantee, Independents charge £280 for 7 Rads with 1 year guarantee. British gas say the independent's methods are no good and its not the same, ad they dont do the job properly, expect that from them but any truth in it?
I do one with every new boiler I install. You need to make sure the operator knows what they are doing, otherwise all you are doing is moving muck around the heating system.
It makes a huge difference to the performance and the crud that comes out of some systems is amazing!
£700 is a lot of money for a powerflush!
It makes a huge difference to the performance and the crud that comes out of some systems is amazing!
£700 is a lot of money for a powerflush!
Rickyy said:
I do one with every new boiler I install. You need to make sure the operator knows what they are doing, otherwise all you are doing is moving muck around the heating system.
It makes a huge difference to the performance and the crud that comes out of some systems is amazing!
How do you make sure they know what they are doing?It makes a huge difference to the performance and the crud that comes out of some systems is amazing!
marcjml said:
But you get unlimited reflushes if it needs doing again.
Try getting you local indie to that in 10 years time FOC
Yes, very true, BG man said that too. But my logic is, I don't believe it has ever been done in 20 years, so the chances of needing another flush in 10 years is unlikely, no?Try getting you local indie to that in 10 years time FOC
A few things to consider with power flushing...
On new installations they ask on the log book was the system cleaned, an easy get out clause for manufacturers on warranty claims is to test the water in the system and find it all dirty....boom...no warranty
The same goes for most after market policies
Power flushing will prolong the life of boiler, rads, pipework, it will also show up weak places so be careful of that.
Our prices vary from 350 to 500, depending on number of rads.
A brief outline of what it involves is...System should be flushed, each rad should be flushed individually and reverse flushed then further full flushes at the end, then inhibitor added.
Remember, just because someone called "British Gas" do it doesn't always mean its been done correctly, some people seem to assume they are the market leader, they are no different to a properly qualified Gas Safe engineer, they just have a large company name behind them.
On new installations they ask on the log book was the system cleaned, an easy get out clause for manufacturers on warranty claims is to test the water in the system and find it all dirty....boom...no warranty
The same goes for most after market policies
Power flushing will prolong the life of boiler, rads, pipework, it will also show up weak places so be careful of that.
Our prices vary from 350 to 500, depending on number of rads.
A brief outline of what it involves is...System should be flushed, each rad should be flushed individually and reverse flushed then further full flushes at the end, then inhibitor added.
Remember, just because someone called "British Gas" do it doesn't always mean its been done correctly, some people seem to assume they are the market leader, they are no different to a properly qualified Gas Safe engineer, they just have a large company name behind them.
Edited by Martyn D on Friday 5th October 22:02
Jetl3on said:
How do you make sure they know what they are doing?
This is the issue! Personally, I'd see if you can find some on-line instructions for a powerflush machine and familarise yourself with the process.In basic terms, you purge the entire system of dirt by adding fresh water to the machines resevoir and dumping the dirty system water, then circulate chemical cleaner around the system. Then isolate all but one rad and flush them individually one by one. Reversing the flow to try to dislodge any crud, tapping the rad with a mallet wrapped in a cloth is supposed to help.
Once you have done each rad and the boiler individually. Do the same again, but this time dumping out the dirty water and adding fresh water into the machines resevoir. Open the entire system and keep dumping until the water runs clear. Circulate inhibitor through the system and disconnect the machine.
That is a very basic explanation, but the way it should be done according to Kamco's instruction book for their machine, always get good results using that method.
I had a totally blocked central heating system in my old house. For years the system was banging and was very slow to heat up and the radiators were slow to come on. Then it just stopped pumping even after the pump was replaced.
Shopped about and BG were not the cheapest but were able to come round the earliest to do the work.
It was a sub contractor who came round for BG and the lad was fantastic with finding the blockage and replacing the blocked pipe work. then he spent the day flushing out the system.
I asked about the magnetic filter and the lad doing the work thought that it was not required.
The results were amazing! The heat the system is now putting out is unbelievable compared to what I was use to.
Wish I had it done years a go + With BG it's a one price fix no matter where the blockage is and how much pipe they replace.
I would not hesitate in getting them to come out to my new house if I had the same problem.
Shopped about and BG were not the cheapest but were able to come round the earliest to do the work.
It was a sub contractor who came round for BG and the lad was fantastic with finding the blockage and replacing the blocked pipe work. then he spent the day flushing out the system.
I asked about the magnetic filter and the lad doing the work thought that it was not required.
The results were amazing! The heat the system is now putting out is unbelievable compared to what I was use to.
Wish I had it done years a go + With BG it's a one price fix no matter where the blockage is and how much pipe they replace.
I would not hesitate in getting them to come out to my new house if I had the same problem.
Rickyy said:
That is a very basic explanation, but the way it should be done according to Kamco's instruction book for their machine, always get good results using that method.
I just had a look at that - it's an awful lot of tramping around someone's house opening and closing valves, must be right ballache to do on your own!Where do you typically connect it up?
Deva Link said:
I just had a look at that - it's an awful lot of tramping around someone's house opening and closing valves, must be right ballache to do on your own!
Where do you typically connect it up?
It is! Lots of walking up and down stairs, removing shoes etc.Where do you typically connect it up?
On a conventional set up, usually remove the pump and connect to the valves if the pump is in a suitable connection. When I fit a combi I fit tees in to the flow and return and connect there. Otherwise, just remove a rad and connect to the rad valves, works ok with 15mm, not well at all with 10mm though.
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