Old victorian radiators - diy advice.

Les_Enfant

I'd like to say i've been lurking and obtaining tips and advice from this site for years. Lots of good karma to everyone that uses this site.

Right then....I've recently started doing up my house and have purchased ten old victorian radiators (1888-ish) to use. The owner claims that they were all working and warm top to bottom. Rather than take any chances i've decided to clean them both inside and out while they are not fitted to the system.

After some research on internet and asking around, i've come up with this process. Please excuse any incorrect lingo....i ain't no plumber!!

Cleaning inside.
1.) Run hose through radiator - look for dark brown/black bits and rust on the outlet, if so proceed to number 2. I'm assuming if no water comes out then they are completely blocked and apply more CS to rad!
2.) Run a caustic soda mix through and leave overnight. Then throughly flush out with hose (water).
3.)

...and the outside..
1.) Using caustic soda mixed with water to work off layers of paint (i can't afford a dip!)
2.) Use sandblaster on rads (was going to hire one of these anyway to remove builders mess from external brickwork)
3.) Apply rich lashings of rust inhibitor/primer.

Also as my boiler is brand new i've read its good practice to fit some kind of strain/filter to the system.

Am i on the right tracks with this......or am i well off the mark?

Thanks for reading, any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Canucklehead

Hi

Do your rads have connections at the bottom (one at each end) or one at the top and one at the bottom?
I have used a jet wash machine and blasted through the tappings
Be careful with the caustic.!
Outside... I would just sand blast them not use caustic. I would also be wary of using it on brickwork. Try a test patch first. It might take the face of the brick off and leave it looking rough.

One of these will help protect your boiler...http://www.fernox.com/index.php?cccpage=home__boilerBuddy_
Magnaclean is another make.
HTH.

Corgi Guy.

Les_Enfant

Thanks for the advice.

The rads have connections on the bottom and I think are the princess model.

fatnbald

If you take the sandblaster to painted rads be careful and make sure you use a good breathing mask (and preferably do it in an area where the dust can be extracted and filtered away) as there is a reasonable chance the paint might contain lead.
You do not want to expose yourself or anyone else to the dust that the paint will turn into.
Sandblasting brickwork is only really to be undertaken by someone with experience as you could seriously damage the brickwork if you get it wrong and get too carried away.