CH Problem after flushing

[robertbullen]

This is lenghty, bear witt me.

I put some sentinal flusher in my CH system 4 weeks ago. Today I drained the system. I turned off the supply to the expansion tank and in turn drained from each downstairs radiator, opening the bleeder on all radiators eventually.

I then close all drainers and bleeders and turned on the supply. Water flowed into the expansion tank and I in turn bled each radiator, starting downstairs. On the 3rd radiator, the air stopped coming out half way through filling. I couldn't fill any more. Desperate, I filled a hose onto each radiator drainer in turn and filled from the tap. It worked but instead of seeing water flow back into the expansion tank from the supply to the system, it flowed from the expansion pipe. Also, I'm having to force water through the drainers of several of the downstairs radiators frequently as they "go cold".

It's obvious there's still a lot of sludge in their. How do I drain the remaining sludge further?

Thanks for reading.

I'm not a plumber and right now, can't afford one. Please advise.

 

[chrishutt]

How do I drain the remaining sludge further?

Try the section on flushing in the sticky reference topic near the top of the topic list.

It sounds like you've got a blockage in the feed and expansion pipe. This is very common as you will find if you do a search on some key words.

 

[PaulAH]

Check out Chrishutt's excellent advice in the "for reference" section above.
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37170

Chris - congrats for getting this going. I'm a slacker.

Edit: In more ways than one. You beat me to the answer

 

[chrishutt]

Thanks Paul. By the way I'd appreciate any constructive criticism on what I've done so far. I'm afraid the items get rather long since there seem to be so many details that I feel need to be included. It would be good to know what a non-plumber thinks, especially a journalist.

 

[PaulAH]

Chris - Yours are superb. All I'd suggest is

1. More illustrations

2. A jargon-buster (HW, CH, AAVs, fully pumped system etc). On second thoughts, it's generally best to spell these out as you go along, eg "hot water (HW)".

Ah, noticed you did this anyway with DCV.

3. switche(s) = switch(es)

These are so damn good I reckon you've got the makings of a book here.

Just dashing upstairs to turn the TRVs in the kids' bedooms up to 1 while they're away at college

 

[chrishutt]

Paul, I agree with all those points (well, not sure about superb ) and I will try to improve the posts in due course. I was sort of relying on kevplumb's definitions section to jargon bust, but I can't really assume that everyone will know about that.

As for pics, I would like to link to some more when I find suitable ones. I still haven't worked out how to post actual pics rather than just links, so it may take some time. Any suggestions for pics gratefully received.

 

[PaulAH]

Chris - you can't embed a pic directly in the text. First you have to upload it to a server somewhere and point to its URL using BBcode tag, then it shows on the page.

OMG, that was groaning with jargon but I guess you know what I'm talking about.

There are various freebie sites which accept uploads - Photobucket for example. www.photobucket.com

Perhaps we should start a new thread!

 

[chrishutt]

Perhaps we should start a new thread!

Yeh, we seem to have highjacked this one! At this stage it's probably easier for the OP to start a new thread.

3. switche(s) = switch(es)

Can't find where I did this. Any clues?

 

[ChrisR]

If you want to show a pic as the text is read lilke wot I did, you have to find one or put one on a "public" server.
Then just paste the properties, like:
//www.diynot.com/ads/b/endlesspools468x60.gif

then when it's highlit, click on the IMG button and you get this:

Sorry if you meant something else & this is egg sucking...

 

[PaulAH]

MV topic, penultimate par.

"If you notice any moisture leaking from the valve body shaft, it probably will have got into the head and rusted it, and possibly the switche(s) as well. You need a whole new valve, and that means draining the system."

PS Worth taking a leaf out of our own book and reading the system FAQs! This will lead you to the answer re images
//www.diynot.com/forums/faq.php#20

 

[chrishutt]

That was ChrisR's contribution, not mine!

(so when you said superb, you meant that one... )

 

[ChrisR]

Er, that bit doesn't mention pic's Paul - whatcheronabaht?

 

[chrishutt]

ChrisR, we were nit picking. You wrote "switche(s)" instead of "switch(es)".

By the way, your hint on including pics is exactly what I needed to know. Thanks.

 

[PaulAH]

That was ChrisR's contribution, not mine!

You have similar styles. They're all superb.

 

[robertbullen]

Thank you very much for the advice. However, as far as I know I don't have a sealed system.

Also, I can't see though how to clear the header tank feeder and expansion pipes.

Also, tonight (30 or so hours after the "flush") I heard a bubbling noise coming from the cylinder. Not a boiling bubble but almost like water falling, if you know what I mean. I've currently got one radiator cold, the rest, luckily, are red hot.