Advice with Cold Radiator

bazza1603

Hi,

BG have been out today and have said I need a powerflush at the special price today only of £572.40. Water was brown.

I have spoken to a local engineer whom I trust and he recommends BG to do the flush as the problem with return and you have the guarantee of a reflush if it happens again. He can do it cheaper, but the problem will return.

The radiator is warm all over hence I dont believe there is sludge in that rad. If its the return feed blocked I doubt the powerflush will work.

Will BG guarantee the radiator will work after the flush?

Or should I look at repiping the system to standard size copper next summer? Anyone got an approx cost for a 3 bed house?

Thanks

Barry

ghandi

Have you tried fully opening both valves (possibly TRV on one side) on the rad to allow maximum flow through it?

Rads are normally balanced to allow about an 11 Degrees Centigrade drop across the rad from supply to return; this is normally done by restricting the flow of water through it by opening/closing the return valve.

When BG powerflush they should open up all supply/return valves to maximum flow and then balance your rads after!:rolleyes:

bazza1603

ghandi wrote: »

Have you tried fully opening both valves (possibly TRV on one side) on the rad to allow maximum flow through it?

Yes....

The more I unscrew and screw the outlet pip the warmer it seem to get yesterday. Will try again later on

None of my radiator show any cold spots, so I am sure thats not the problem.

ghandi

If the flow across the rad is very small you will end up with hot by the supply valve and warm/tepid across the rest of the rad.

A rad is designed to dissipate the heat from the heating medium and pass it to the air around it as quickly as possibly.

Which is why you adjust the flow to only get an 11 degree C drop across it. Sounds like you have a larger heat drop than that:rolleyes:

Only a guess as the rad could easily be partially blocked. If you have a TRV that could also be playing up/blocked.

I had a rad, until today, that had been fitted for 13 years and was on TRV No:2. I swapped it for a new smaller double rad and new valves. Flushed, filled, bled, etc, etc. I am not a heating engineer;)

inmypocketnottheirs

BG are brave powerflushing a microbore system. That's bound to show up some leaks!

Where abouts in the system is the rad, 1st off, 2nd off etc, out of how many?

bazza1603

It was flushed when we boughts the house, and you could tell the difference. 2 Years later and this is the 1st issue.

We have 10 radiators and its the closers upstairs radiator to the boiler, which is actually down stairs.

We dont have Themostats on the radiators.

Canucklehead

Good evening: has the pump been checked? You haven't said what make and model of boiler you have

Canucklehead

bazza1603

Hi,

New pump and diverter value 2 years ago at time of the 1st flush. All other radiators boiling hot so not that

Boiler is an idea classic LX230.

Thanks

Barry

macman

Surely if a system needs powerflushing only 2 years after the last time, that's indicative of an underlying problem?

Canucklehead

Hi...your boiler is the last decent boiler made by Ideal. Brown water indicates rust in your system. Was inhibitor added to the system after the last flush? If you have made a habit of bleeding the rads on a frequent basis you've been adding fresh water to the system without inhibitor. Pumps and divertor valves have been known to fail in less time.

Repiping the system in 15/22 mm copper could be a very expensive/disruptive exercise and only advised as an option of last resort after all other avenues (including poor system design) have been thoroughly investigated by an experienced heating engineer.

Good info on aeration etc. from Fernox.

HTH

Canucklehead