POWERFLUSHING central heating system

terrierlady

number of radiators 8 any idea of cost involved? boiler only 3years old but system wasnt flushed when new boiler fitted according to bosch guy.

IJJoseph

It doesn't necessarily need a powerflush. If the radiators are heating up normally then you can get away with adding system restore (Fernox) and leaving it for a week with the heating running normally. After that drain down the system completely add inhibitor or Scalex and it should run fine. I'd only use powerflush if there is a problem with the radiators (ie hot at the top but cold at the bottom.

wezalmemunygon

terrierlady wrote:

number of radiators 8 any idea of cost involved? boiler only 3years old but system wasnt flushed when new boiler fitted according to bosch guy.

I was quoted about 450-500ish a few years ago by British Gas (I declined the offer). An independant plumber would obviously do it for less. Though if you know some plumbing basics you could hire the equipment (and buy the chemicals) from your local tool hire place and do it yourself for a fraction of the cost.

However, unless you know you have a bad sludging problem, then you should be fine to take IJJoseph's advice.

terrierlady

problem is its already caused the heat exchanger to leak and that has now been renewed and radiators are hot at top cold at bottom on some radiators,water is like mud.......

IJJoseph

Oh dear. I guess no corrosion inhibitor was added and the system hasn't been serviced since it was installed. You really need to have the system drained down once a year and then refilled adding corrosion inhibitor. Especially with boilers that have an aluminium heat exchanger like the Worcester Bosch. I'd also get the boiler serviced once every two years at least.

Sounds like you'll have to bite the bullet and get it done unless you are prepared to drain down the system. Take each radiator off and flush it clean. Fill the system up, add Fernox Restorer or a similar sludge remover, run the heating for a week and then drain the whole system down again. Refill it and add corrosion inhibitor. Even then you may find that you don't clear the whole system.

The cost of a powerflush can be anywhere from 180 to 600 depending on who you call and where you are in the country. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours but if the system is as bad as your saying then it could take longer. Also if your system is microbore :mad: then there's no gaurantee it'll clear. You may end up replacing the pipework :eek:

budgetflyer

Sentinal 400 or similar sludge remover should cleanse it. You may need to do it twice if the system is in a bad way. Leave it in for a fortnight at a time and thouroughly flush out each time.
You can buy this at your local plumbers merchants or online at somewhere like https://www.screwfix.com
If you were to employ a plumber or heating eng. to do it it could take 8 hours or so total time spread over several visits.
British gas (I don't normally rec. them for anything :-)) may be more cost effective long term at £500 or so as Im pretty sure they guarantee for life against re sludging. (I think-dont quote me)

terrierlady

thanks all, Boiler is serviced yearly by Bosch/worcester guy at a cost of £160 but only boiler covered so guess it will be B/gas quote of 560 inc vat.yes it is small bore piping.

gingerdad

terrierlady wrote:

number of radiators 8 any idea of cost involved? boiler only 3years old but system wasnt flushed when new boiler fitted according to bosch guy.

We had a quote to do this of 450.00 from british gas, i went to a local plumbers merchants bought all the chemicals and one of the plumbers there should me a way of making a tool to put it in, just a bit of bent pipe and a couple of connectors, it cost me 20 quid for the all the bits and took a couple of hours to flush and then but the inhibiter (?) in. The BG man came to do this years service and said all was well so happy chappy... it was very easy, you only need to ask my wife how crap i am at diy

zzaapp

We are hoping somebody can give us some good advice regarding our heating system, we have central heating in place the last 35 years, we have replaced our boiler to a Worcester Bosch in 2001 (its a Greenstar HE plus combi), we run 14 rads from it, some of the rads don't heat up as they should, we have had the system drained and some of the rads have had the gunge removed, this is because we have had the house reskimmed so the rads have been removed & are now back on again, but still some of the rads are not up to par, can anybody tell us what we should do to bring our system so that it is more efficient. regards zzaapp

plumb1_2

zzaapp wrote: »

We are hoping somebody can give us some good advice regarding our heating system, we have central heating in place the last 35 years, we have replaced our boiler to a Worcester Bosch in 2001 (its a Greenstar HE plus combi), we run 14 rads from it, some of the rads don't heat up as they should, we have had the system drained and some of the rads have had the gunge removed, this is because we have had the house reskimmed so the rads have been removed & are now back on again, but still some of the rads are not up to par, can anybody tell us what we should do to bring our system so that it is more efficient. regards zzaapp

If you system is clean, then suspect the system will just need balancing.

gasbag1602

IJJoseph wrote: »

Oh dear. I guess no corrosion inhibitor was added and the system hasn't been serviced since it was installed. You really need to have the system drained down once a year and then refilled adding corrosion inhibitor. Especially with boilers that have an aluminium heat exchanger like the Worcester Bosch. I'd also get the boiler serviced once every two years at least.

Sounds like you'll have to bite the bullet and get it done unless you are prepared to drain down the system. Take each radiator off and flush it clean. Fill the system up, add Fernox Restorer or a similar sludge remover, run the heating for a week and then drain the whole system down again. Refill it and add corrosion inhibitor. Even then you may find that you don't clear the whole system.

The cost of a powerflush can be anywhere from 180 to 600 depending on who you call and where you are in the country. It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours but if the system is as bad as your saying then it could take longer. Also if your system is microbore :mad: then there's no gaurantee it'll clear. You may end up replacing the pipework :eek:

You are talking through your rear mate! Central heating water should be cleaned appropriately(powerflush/clense) what ever it needs then chemicals added and topped up every 3 years! Draining a system every 12months is daft! It only adds fresh water containg oxygen and other impurities that will just rot youyr system from inside out! Its nice that you have taken time to give advice but try getting it right or you could cause someone a lot of trouble!