British Gas Homecare

heating-eng

roger196 wrote: »

It depends to what extent the rads are blocked. If totally blocked by black sludge, it is still sometimes possible to flush through the demounted rad with a hose in the garden. Flexible wire cable can be a help. Replacement is only necessary if the rad is rusted through.
Partial blockage can be removed by flushing as I suggested with the rad still in place. My methods are a lot cheaper than powerflushing. Much depends on how you cost the labour involved ie for the diy'er the labour cost is nil.

taking a rad of the wall is a last resort .the mess and time is just not worth it.
if the system has flow going through it then you can just add deposit remover and leave it a week or 2

Kate36

Hi - I have just had a BG powerflush. We had lots of radiators start to corrode at the same time - were told by BG last summer that our system could probably do with a PF after they drained our lounge rad and lots of black water and sludge came out.

Total cost was £780 inc maganclean for 9 rads - they were here from 9am till 5pm. We were very happy with the service especially as the 3 rads which were leaking will now be replaced under the Homecare200 agreement we have.

It's a difficult decision, but we were having real problems getting a local company to vist and quote - in the end we just wanted to get the job done - yes, it was a bit more expensive, but we felt it was a professional job and it is now guaranteed, so we wont have to pay out for another one again.

luckyno13

Hello, thanks for all the useful info.

I've got a BG Homecare 200 and they've advised a powerflush because I've had 3 radiators 'pinhole' over the last few years.

Is the powerflush the best way to go to avoid more of this?

I realise they're more expensive than others but was wondering if it's worth it for the extra guarantees it gives.

heating-eng

luckyno13 wrote: »

Hello, thanks for all the useful info.

I've got a BG Homecare 200 and they've advised a powerflush because I've had 3 radiators 'pinhole' over the last few years.

Is the powerflush the best way to go to avoid more of this?

I realise they're more expensive than others but was wondering if it's worth it for the extra guarantees it gives.

i worked for bg for 20 years and they do a good job but you can get a plumber to do it for around half the price and as long as they do a good job BG would still replace the rads as that is why you pay for homecare

heating-eng

Kate36 wrote: »

Hi - I have just had a BG powerflush. We had lots of radiators start to corrode at the same time - were told by BG last summer that our system could probably do with a PF after they drained our lounge rad and lots of black water and sludge came out.

Total cost was £780 inc maganclean for 9 rads - they were here from 9am till 5pm. We were very happy with the service especially as the 3 rads which were leaking will now be replaced under the Homecare200 agreement we have.

It's a difficult decision, but we were having real problems getting a local company to vist and quote - in the end we just wanted to get the job done - yes, it was a bit more expensive, but we felt it was a professional job and it is now guaranteed, so we wont have to pay out for another one again.

as long as you are happy thats all that matters.
but remember if you would of got a good plumber to do it you could of gone on a weekend break with the money you would have saved .

27col

27col wrote: »

From the posts on this forum and elsewhere, BG do seem to be fixated on power flushing. I have just taken out Homecare200 after having my boiler for 10years insured with a local company. I have to wait nearly a month for the service visit and am waiting for them with a certain amount of trepidation.

Well, BG have just carried out the service and survey.
Low and behold, they say that it needs a Powerflush at a cost of £680.21. Unfortunately, I could not be there when the engineer came. As evidence of the need for a Powerflush, he showed my wife a bucket of black water. As I have often moved or replaced radiators in the past, I know exactly how much iron oxide comes out of my radiators and it isn't much. So I let the bucket of gunge settle for 24 hours. This morning it is completely clear except for a thin layer on the bottom. Probably no more than a table spoonful. The system has never had a flow problem of any kind, which to me would indicate that it certainly does not need flushing. He apparently hinted that if the flush was not done, then some subsequent faults might not be attended to on the Homecare200 Agreement. It seems to me that this is a complete try-on and I have no intention of getting a flush done.
In addition he mentioned that the flue siting was not legal under current regulations. I have measured up and this is indeed true. Can one of you well thought of Gasmen tell me whether the regs are retrospective or do they only apply to new installations.

heating-eng

27col wrote: »

Well, BG have just carried out the service and survey.
Low and behold, they say that it needs a Powerflush at a cost of £680.21. Unfortunately, I could not be there when the engineer came. As evidence of the need for a Powerflush, he showed my wife a bucket of black water. As I have often moved or replaced radiators in the past, I know exactly how much iron oxide comes out of my radiators and it isn't much. So I let the bucket of gunge settle for 24 hours. This morning it is completely clear except for a thin layer on the bottom. Probably no more than a table spoonful. The system has never had a flow problem of any kind, which to me would indicate that it certainly does not need flushing. He apparently hinted that if the flush was not done, then some subsequent faults might not be attended to on the Homecare200 Agreement. It seems to me that this is a complete try-on and I have no intention of getting a flush done.
In addition he mentioned that the flue siting was not legal under current regulations. I have measured up and this is indeed true. Can one of you well thought of Gasmen tell me whether the regs are retrospective or do they only apply to new installations.

From what you have said it sounds like the flue is ntcs ? nothing at all to worry about. just means if you had a new boiler it would be different so dont worry..

now for the sludge : i would say that if there doesnt seem to be anything wrong with the system at all : no cold spots on the rads then a magnaclean , boiler buddy or TF1 would be the best advice.. but they dont get paid as much to advise that ...
My advise would be to contact them and ask for somebody to come out and check the advise you have been given is correct as you have spoken to a gas engineer who worked for bg for 20 years and he said you only need a magnaclean etc

27col

Many thanks for your input H-E.

27col

I have an interesting addition to my Powerflush story. This morning my boiler would not ignite, so I rang BG. It turns out that my Homecare200 has been downgraded to Homecare100 without my knowledge. Presumably they will not cover the rads because I refused to have a Powerflush. The fitter turned up very quickly (1.5hrs) He diagnosed the problem as a piece of dross from the heat exchanger dropping down onto the spark generator and bridging the electrode. So much for the service last week.
I had a chat with him and showed him the bucket of nearly clear water from the service visit last week. He agreed with me that the Powerflush was not needed and contacted BG contracts department to revert me back to my original package. However, as the price seems to have gone up, I decided to stick with what I have. I shall be fitting a magneclan and fitting some rads with TRV's this summer. At that time we will see exactly how much "stuff" there is in the rads. Not much, I think.

27col

H-E, I was going to do it myself. Only problem that I can see, is that the pipe is very close to the wall. Do you know what is the diameter of the Boiler Buddy. I am not sure that there would be room to fit it. This obviously not be a problem with the Magnaclean.