Easy way of working out a system volume ?

BogBeast · Jan 25, 2015

Hi all.

I want to give my central heating system a dose of cleaner. Host of the the cleaners I look at spec and mount of cleaner per system volume.

How do you estimate the capacity of a system? I have a mix of UFH and 7 rads spread out over a bungalow. I have no idea how much water is in it to put in the correct dose of cleaner and then inhibitor?

Or does it really matter? I guess it might be better to put more cleaner in, I am assuming it wont damage anything other than my wallet ?

Thanks

GasmanxxxR1 · Jan 25, 2015

Rule of thumb i think in ten rad system = 100 litres. New rads are lower water content, not sure about ufh though

gasmanrob · Jan 25, 2015

11 litres per kW would be a very basic calculation

gasmanrob · Jan 25, 2015

Mr combi has an ap where you input the radiator sizes and it'll give you a volume

Deleted member 25704 · Jan 25, 2015

Be careful when cleaning older systems. Some systems have copper pipework which is thin wall and susceptible to pin-hole leaks. Thin-wall can be easily identified because it is marked with a red stripe running down the outside walls of the pipe. Thus the type of cleaner is important, along with calculating the volume and after-treatment of the make-up water. If you fail to flush out the cleaner properly, this may lead to a high-ph in the system leading to the liquid becoming an aggressive electrolyte, causing on-going electrolytic corrosion leading to sludge and the build up of magnetite - radiators can also become prone to pin-holes.