sludging

[buckley plumb]

hi been to a glowworm cx today and had to remove the flexi to the pressure vessel as it was totaly blocked endeded up getting new flexi. i am now conserned about the boiler sludging the plate and diverter . was thinking of a cleaner in the system for a wk then flushing what would you recommend .was thinking sentinel x400 .some of the rads down stairs dont have drain offs and the rooms have cream carpets so dont want to remove rad valves unless necessary is x400 no acidid

 

[diamondgas]

Alarm bells ringing for me to be honest buckley plumb !! I hope you aren't offering the customer the earth. Personally I'd recommend that they find someone with a powerflush machine to use on the system You may be able to hire one yourself if you haven't already got one? X400 is designed to suspend the solids in the water so that when the system is flushed out it carries the material with it! From what you're describing the system might benefit from a more technical cleanse such as that given by a powerflush and filter cleanse ... IMHO

 

[desrob]

hi been to a glowworm cx today and had to remove the flexi to the pressure vessel as it was totaly blocked endeded up getting new flexi. i am now conserned about the boiler sludging the plate and diverter . was thinking of a cleaner in the system for a wk then flushing what would you recommend .was thinking sentinel x400 .some of the rads down stairs dont have drain offs and the rooms have cream carpets so dont want to remove rad valves unless necessary is x400 no acidid

what pipe work is the systems,power flushing micro bore is not as productive,if at all,than bigger pipework.

 

[buckley plumb]

its all 22mm and 15mm pipework. just looks like that when the boiler was fitted 7 years ago they never flushed so there is quite a bit if sludge in the boiler it blocked the expansion vessel flexi solid had to put new on . just thought it may dispurse whats in there .powerflushing would clean the htg side but would not do the plate heat exchanger .would have to take that off and soak in cleaner .

 

[diamondgas]

its all 22mm and 15mm pipework. just looks like that when the boiler was fitted 7 years ago they never flushed so there is quite a bit if sludge in the boiler it blocked the expansion vessel flexi solid had to put new on . just thought it may dispurse whats in there .powerflushing would clean the htg side but would not do the plate heat exchanger .would have to take that off and soak in cleaner .

Way back when combi's were begining to take off one came on the market by Chaffateux that would constantly give us grief at BG. Along with Sentinel they devised a technique for cleaning the boiler alone! You locked off the system, Filled up the boiler side and put a stronger than normal chemical into the boiler. Turned a hot tap on and monitored temp of hot water till you got your 35 degC.... We'd then flush out the chemical and refit the system pipes. It was a bit of a faff but meant that the whole of the boiler primary circuit was cleaned

I wonder if there's anything available nowerdays that could be used in a similar way on today's boilers?

 

[petercj]

X800 puts magnetite into suspension as X400 does, but also removes scale. It becomes active quicker and can be power flushed out after 24 hours or so, and within 3 days for best results.

 

[diamondgas]

X800 puts magnetite into suspension as X400 does, but also removes scale. It becomes active quicker and can be power flushed out after 24 hours or so, and within 3 days for best results.

The chemical we used actually removed the lining of magnatite and was under no circumstances meant to enter the heating system!!! It loved to eat anything ferous ..lol

 

[petercj]

The chemical we used actually removed the lining of magnatite and was under no circumstances meant to enter the heating system!!! It loved to eat anything ferous ..lol

But then you still had to clean out the radiators? Or am I missing something?

 

[diamondgas]

But then you still had to clean out the radiators? Or am I missing something?

No you're not missing anything ... It was before the invention of powerflushing as we now know it! Right on the cusp of actually wondering why these finely tuned appliances where constantly breaking down etc. At the time black water was the norm Far as i can remember? When a part failed you just replaced it, when a radiator had cold spots you took it of and swilled out the muck! The transition to actually looking at what was going on inside the heating systems hadn't arrived but wasn't far away

 

[petercj]

No you're not missing anything ... It was before the invention of powerflushing as we now know it! Right on the cusp of actually wondering why these finely tuned appliances where constantly breaking down etc. At the time black water was the norm Far as i can remember? When a part failed you just replaced it, when a radiator had cold spots you took it of and swilled out the muck! The transition to actually looking at what was going on inside the heating systems hadn't arrived but wasn't far away

Someone from BG told me that they remove blocked heat exchangers and heat and decarbonise them in a tank, which was referred to as: the "deep fat fryer". Have you used such a tank? I didn't get any more details. Afterwards I wondered if it does actually use oil, bearing in mind that oil can be taken to much higher temperatures than water.