Central Heating Power Flush... can I diy it??

Chuzzle

Following on from my radiator problem I got BG to come out as I have thier homecare package. The gasman has told me I need a power flush to flush all the carp out of the system. When I bled the radiators the water coming out was brown not black if thats any help. He quoted me an eye popping £600 for doing it and it'd take around 8 hours to do. I have an Ideal Classic SE15FF boiler, is it possible to do a power flush myself and if so how? I would get normally get a professional to do this but as I've just moved house and money is at a premium I just htough it'd be cheaper to do myself, or is it one of those jobs that can't be diy'd?

EliteHeat

Drain the system so the water level falls below the level of the pump. Put a litre of X800 in the header tank and refill / bleed system. Run heating as much as possible for a week or two.

Drain, refill, drain etc etc until the hose runs clear. For best results, remove downstairs rads, take into garden, turn upside down and flush through with a garden hose, whack the back of the rads with a rubber mallet whilst doing this.

Put some inhibitor in the header tank & refill and bleed for the final time.

Total cost about £35 and job done.

powerflushplumber

This will not work if you have a real problem. X800 loosens the sludge up, turning 200mg of loose sludge into 1kg of sludge of loose sludge in your system.
- This process does not clean the boiler or pipework which is the main concerns.
- Draining till water runs clear only cleans the path between the header tank and drain of point, maybe 25% of system pipework.
- As soon as you turn the pump back on after "this flush" the newly loosened sludge in the system, will be pumped into the radiators and boiler.
- back to square 1

Power flush from the start, it's not that expensive.

Sobraon

DIY and hire a Flusher from Brandon or HSS? (e.g. http://www.brandontoolhire.co.uk/directory/prodview.asp?idproduct=380) £64-40/day (VAT?) + chemicals. The linked procedure leaflet seems relatively straightforward

Don't fancy the DIY approach? - at least this gives you an idea of what a reasonable trades person should be charging.

keystone

Does anyone else NOT see the point of ressurecting a thread that was last posted to 18 months ago?

Cheers

BaldPlumber

powerflushplumber wrote: »

This will not work if you have a real problem. X800 loosens the sludge up, turning 200mg of loose sludge into 1kg of sludge of loose sludge in your system.
- This process does not clean the boiler or pipework which is the main concerns.
- Draining till water runs clear only cleans the path between the header tank and drain of point, maybe 25% of system pipework.
- As soon as you turn the pump back on after "this flush" the newly loosened sludge in the system, will be pumped into the radiators and boiler.
- back to square 1

Power flush from the start, it's not that expensive.

Congratulations on starting your new business, unfortunately based on the most boring job in the entire world. You can now watch your friends and families eyes slowly glaze over as you talk about your work.

P.S. I won't bother pointing out the inaccuracies of your post.

Smick100

powerflushplumber wrote: »

This will not work if you have a real problem. X800 loosens the sludge up, turning 200mg of loose sludge into 1kg of sludge of loose sludge in your system.
- This process does not clean the boiler or pipework which is the main concerns.
- Draining till water runs clear only cleans the path between the header tank and drain of point, maybe 25% of system pipework.
- As soon as you turn the pump back on after "this flush" the newly loosened sludge in the system, will be pumped into the radiators and boiler.
- back to square 1

Power flush from the start, it's not that expensive.

A kilo is 5,000 times the mass of 200mg.

While I am not a plumber, surely that cannot be correct.

Perhaps it can make a solution but that is not the sludge increasing in size, just water. And if it is so soluble then it will be easy to get from the system using water.

heating-eng

You can get a powerflush from a plumber for around £250 ,