Power flushing costs

mondello

I tried my heating at the weekend and my two radiators downstairs are cold at the bottom and warm at the top. The three upstairs are fine. After some research I think it could be sludge and the system needs power flushing. Does anyone know what kind of price would be fair this job please as I haven't got a clue? My boiler is about 11 years old.

squeekswhenwalking

Most charge a fortune, if you good at DIY put some fernox F3 in system for a few days then watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYURwv4Ci2A

elljay

I'd be interested in this too, I have a radiator that is very cool at the bottom and warm towards the top. It's a big one and I couldn't remove it myself. My landlord says it can't be done and that I have to live with it (his answer to most things!!!) but I know it's not an uncommon problem and can be fixed.

Can anyone give a rough idea of cost please - how big a fortune do you mean? I do not intend to do this as a diy job myself - I wouldn't even know where to put this Fernox stuff. Thanks

heating-eng

squeekswhenwalking wrote: »

Most charge a fortune, if you good at DIY put some fernox F3 in system for a few days then watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYURwv4Ci2A

This is not the same as a powerflush. You need to be careful flushing like this. Putting mains pressure onto old radiators is not a good idea.

elljay

But where do you pour the fermox? How do you get access to the system?

As mine is just one radiator I thought you could just remove it, take it outside, squirt the garden hose through to remove the gunk and reconnect. Is the gunk that hard to remove then?

heating-eng

karl-123 wrote: »

powerflushing is just another (con) ********
i am an ex plumbing teacher with 25 years site experience
every year i drain my heating system and pour a bottle of fernox f1 into it £ 15 screwfix

(if) you want to powerflush hire a powerflushing machine £ 80 chemicals £ 30

Maybe you should go and get some retraining then. I do at least one powerflush job a week , I also worked in training for a while and have been working on central heating for 21 years. ( not plumbing just heating)
Draining your system every year is not the way to maintain a system as this allows new air into the system,

squeekswhenwalking

Karl is right, a lot of powerflushes are a waste of time and cost a fortune. If it's just one radiator, an engineer could take it outside, rinse through and replace in an hour. and charge about £50. Power flushes are trendy but ineffective if not carried out properly. The key is to have a cleanser (F3) put in several days prior to flush (which most don't do)

heating-eng

squeekswhenwalking wrote: »

Karl is right, a lot of powerflushes are a waste of time and cost a fortune. If it's just one radiator, an engineer could take it outside, rinse through and replace in an hour. and charge about £50. Power flushes are trendy but ineffective if not carried out properly. The key is to have a cleanser (F3) put in several days prior to flush (which most don't do)

Karl is not right. If a powerflush is needed then it is not a con, but a good way to save the customer from having to buy a complete new system.
If a powerflush is not needed because they have been given the wrong advice then this is a con.
You seem to be confusing con men that advise powerflushing with systems that do need flushing.

heating-eng

karl-123 wrote: »

yes i refill my system every year and install fernox
and yes i am introducing fresh " oxygenated water "
however fernox stops copper water attacking steel and the fresh water is heated and air bled out of the system as normal
copper flavoured water attacks steel even in sealed systems conta- rary to belief
like i have state earlier i once met the chemist who works for fernox on an institute of plumbimg do
at a posh hotel i went for the free beer/and sandwiches and to chat to my " worshipfull company of plumbers pals "
and eneded up being amazed by the chemists demonstration....especially when he placed a scaled brass rod in boiling fernox and then took it out clean " i cannot teach you , i can only show you the way " that is a quote from bruce lee .........be good siya soon karl..

Sealed systems will still corrode but now where near as bad as an open system.
If you flush a new system correctly and add F1 every couple of years then the system will not sludge up.
The problem is most people do not do this.

keystone

elljay wrote: »

Is the gunk that hard to remove then?

For goodness sake 8 posts later and you still haven't had an answer to this question. If its a really solid buildup you'll need mechanical means to shift it. That means giving it a good wallop or two with a rubber mallet once you have taken it outside. You should then be able to wash it out. Beware though that ANY cleansing method including powerflushing can wash gunk out of previously unnoticed pinholes or worse leading to leaks. If the rubber mallet trick doesn't work then suspect its easier just to ditch the rad and fit a new one.

Cheers

heating-eng

keystone wrote: »

For goodness sake 8 posts later and you still haven't had an answer to this question. If its a really solid buildup you'll need mechanical means to shift it. That means giving it a good wallop or two with a rubber mallet once you have taken it outside. You should then be able to wash it out. Beware though that ANY cleansing method including powerflushing can wash gunk out of previously unnoticed pinholes or worse leading to leaks. If the rubber mallet trick doesn't work then suspect its easier just to ditch the rad and fit a new one.

Cheers

I have done hundreds and hundreds of powerflushing jobs and I have only ever had one rad leak while powerflushing.
Fitting a new rad is not the answer if a system is badly sludged up, the only answer is to fully clean the system and then fit new rads as required.

Bit like changing a boiler on a sludged up system without flushing it is not the answer either.