powerflush

Avoriaz

I have searched on https://www.diynot.com but I cannot find this guide.

Can you please tell me where it is.

Thanks

vertical_fool

Here's the link to the guide. Hope it's of some use. Maybe you can post your results back here, to help inspire/inform others for the future.

Vertical

plumb1_2

plumberian wrote:

To Plumb1, here's an example of what I mean.

Last week I did a job for a customer who has a Glowworm conventional condensing boiler that was installed a year before she moved in ( two years ago). An extended warranty had been taken out so when the boiler started cutting out she called them and they came out and replaced the heat exchanger which was partially clogged with large rust particles.

Once they did that she was told by their service engineer that if she did not have the system powerflushed (and preferably a Magnaclean installed) they would not/would be very reluctant to replace another heat exchanger.

The lady runs a very tidy house and didn't want to take the chance of that and so called me in to powerflush it and have the magnaclean installed.

I dont know why you are giving me this example?
As in my reply to your posts( days and days ago, which has now either been deleted or removed)( Arr i see you have rejoined in Jan?) you stated on your site that bolier manufactor incist
that you have a powerflush, which is not the case, glad to see you have withrawn this from your site.

Maybe you would also like to edit your site again as not all boilers installed after April 2006 have to be Condensing, exception is OIL 2007.

As for the above post i think RELUCTANT is the Key word, as i would presume the heat exchanger would still carry a 12mth warrenty? Although i do agree best to powerflush and add magnaclean, prevention better than cure.

plumberian

Hello. No idea why my posts ahve been deleted, perhaps it's because I mentioned the url of my site and the moderator may consider it advertising or maybe it's because they don;t want to pass on any page rank to my site.

Anyway, I didn't rejoin in January, I have not edited my site yet and you;re absolutely right about oil boilers, although as I recall when the site was written there was no official dispensation for oil boilers. Any now of course they are due to be subject to the very same rules in this April isn;t it?

And again you;re right about reluctant being the keyword, although many of my customers would prefer not to get into an argument about fine print when so much money is potentially at stake.

Anyhow, that's why I gave the example.

plumb1_2

plumberian wrote:

Hello. No idea why my posts ahve been deleted, perhaps it's because I mentioned the url of my site and the moderator may consider it advertising or maybe it's because they don;t want to pass on any page rank to my site.

Anyway, I didn't rejoin in January, I have not edited my site yet and you;re absolutely right about oil boilers, although as I recall when the site was written there was no official dispensation for oil boilers. Any now of course they are due to be subject to the very same rules in this April isn;t it?

And again you;re right about reluctant being the keyword, although many of my customers would prefer not to get into an argument about fine print when so much money is potentially at stake.

Anyhow, that's why I gave the example.

Yes Ian, i would have thought the link to your site was advertising( not allowed mse rules), thats why i dont post my web site;)

I understand why you did state on your site about makers wanting a Powerflush. But they try to use this a a excuse for not validating a warrenty, which is unjust imo.
And i think Powerflushing is used as 1st point of call by the likes of BG etc if there is a problem with the heating system, what did we do the last 50yrs before Powerflushing???
Dont get me wrong, there is a place for flushing, with small bore pipe, Ali heat exchangers etc, and incorretly fitted sysytem( not flushed when new or before commissioning)

The problem is Joe public want a Cheap job doing, so if a plumber quotes £150 more for the same boiler install/exchange inc cleaners and inhibitor.
90% of the time the cheapest price wins.

tim158

Hi Guys sorry to highjack the post about powerflushing.

I have recently moved into our first house and thought it would be a good idea to take out the Britisg Gas homecare. British Gas had to do a survay on the central heating system befor cover and this was their advice:-

1. System was sludged up (house is 27 years old and the pipework is microbore). however when have not noticed any rads not heating up correctly.

2. british gas said they would cover use but they would only replace the CH pump once if we did not have the system Powerflushed (£600.00 :eek: ).

I have checked the feed tank in the loft which has no lid:rolleyes: , and the sump is full of rust.

I am a very competent DIY er:D and can tackle most things, so a question do you think 600 notes is expensive for this job? and does the kit for powerflushing come with instructions and adapters for microbore pipe?

Many thanks

Tim

plumb1_2

tim158 wrote:

Hi Guys sorry to highjack the post about powerflushing.

I have recently moved into our first house and thought it would be a good idea to take out the Britisg Gas homecare. British Gas had to do a survay on the central heating system befor cover and this was their advice:-

1. System was sludged up (house is 27 years old and the pipework is microbore). however when have not noticed any rads not heating up correctly.

2. british gas said they would cover use but they would only replace the CH pump once if we did not have the system Powerflushed (£600.00 :eek: ).

I have checked the feed tank in the loft which has no lid:rolleyes: , and the sump is full of rust.

I am a very competent DIY er:D and can tackle most things, so a question do you think 600 notes is expensive for this job? and does the kit for powerflushing come with instructions and adapters for microbore pipe?

Many thanks

Tim

Typical of BG, ripping people off, yes how do they know its sludged, they dont, but the person who did the survey gets a commision.

If you want BG homecare, and want it flushing then get someone else to do it, average £300.
You should have a lid on your tank, go to a plumbers merchant and ask for a By-Law30 kit.

ps A lot of Household Insurance companys offer Homecare, shop around for prices.

tim158

plumb1 wrote:

Typical of BG, ripping people off, yes how do they know its sludged, they dont, but the person who did the survey gets a commision.

If you want BG homecare, and want it flushing then get someone else to do it, average £300.
You should have a lid on your tank, go to a plumbers merchant and ask for a By-Law30 kit.

ps A lot of Household Insurance companys offer Homecare, shop around for prices.

Hi thanks for the speedy response, they put a device on a pipe near the water tank and measure the internal thickness???????? so my wife told me,

I thought i was being riped of so i will cancel tommorrow

Cheers
Tim

Avoriaz

If you are a very competent DIYer you can probably tackle most thing on a c/h system.

My advice is to try and clean out as much of the rust and grot from the feed tank as possible. Try to prevent too much going down the supply pipe by blocking the hole with a rag or something suitable. Stuff the rag a few inches down the hole but leave enough behind that you do not lose it and don’t use too small a rag that could end up being drawn completely into the pipe.

Buy and add a c/h cleaner additive. Read the instructions but basically you introduce the additive, leave it circulating for a few days or whatever and then drain the system and refill, adding a corrosion inhibitor. You could probably buy the cleaner and the inhibitor for maybe £15 total. Buy and fit the lid as suggested above and maybe insulate the feed tank and pipes in the loft if this has not been done already. £20 well spent.

If you have no obvious problems such as cold spots, that may well be all you need to spend and do.

If your pump ever fails, a new one will cost you under £50 and you can probably fit it yourself, especially if there are lock valves either side of the existing pump.

Forget about BG Homecare or similar. DIY or spend money on a plumber if and when needed. It will almost certainly be cheaper that way unless you are very unlucky.

Enjoy your new home.

PS, maybe one of the professional plumbers on here will correct or add to the above, especially if I have said anything stupid.:D

tim158

Avoriaz wrote:

If you are a very competent DIYer you can probably tackle most thing on a c/h system.

My advice is to try and clean out as much of the rust and grot from the feed tank as possible. Try to prevent too much going down the supply pipe by blocking the hole with a rag or something suitable. Stuff the rag a few inches down the hole but leave enough behind that you do not lose it and don’t use too small a rag that could end up being drawn completely into the pipe.

Buy and add a c/h cleaner additive. Read the instructions but basically you introduce the additive, leave it circulating for a few days or whatever and then drain the system and refill, adding a corrosion inhibitor. You could probably buy the cleaner and the inhibitor for maybe £15 total. Buy and fit the lid as suggested above and maybe insulate the feed tank and pipes in the loft if this has not been done already. £20 well spent.

If you have no obvious problems such as cold spots, that may well be all you need to spend and do.

If your pump ever fails, a new one will cost you under £50 and you can probably fit it yourself, especially if there are lock valves either side of the existing pump.
Forget about BG Homecare or similar. DIY or spend money on a plumber if and when needed. It will almost certainly be cheaper that way unless you are very unlucky.

Enjoy your new home.

PS, maybe one of the professional plumbers on here will correct or add to the above, especially if I have said anything stupid.:D

Many thanks for the advice I have rang up British Gas and canceled the powerflush, and am going to tackle the feeder tank this weekend by cleaning it out and adding adtitive.

Just a quick question (like thoses 5 miniute jobs ) once i isolate the feed to the tank do i just run a hose pipe from one of the drain points on the rad downstairs to the outside. and do i completely drain the system down or just enough to empty the feeder tank?

and once all is done is it just a matter of bleeding the rad?

Many thanks

Tim