Fernox in indirect system?

[Blue_Manc]

I have an oil fired central heating and hot water system.

The tank is a Manco Combination Tank (Medium Duty) Indirect tank.

I want to clean the system and had planned to use Fernox Heavy Duty restorer, but clearly this is a no-no.

What products are out there and how do I use them?

Once cleaned, what products are there to put in the system longer term?

Thanks

 

[seco services]

why is it a no no ?

 

[Blue_Manc]

Due to the "Not for use in single feed systems" and the warnings on the Fernox website: "Not for use in single feed indirect cylinders, e.g. ‘Primatic’ or similar."

Errr I may not have mentioned it was single feed, are all such cylinders not single feed?

 

[seco services]

no

http://www.plumbingpages.com/featurepages/HWopenvented.cfm

how many tanks have you in loft one or two ?

 

[Blue_Manc]

Sorry!

Just the one up there.

 

[seco services]

and that suppies your water to your cylinder

 

[Blue_Manc]

I believe so, yes, hard to see as the previous owner has boarded up the loft space, but not other tank for the water to come from?

 

[seco services]

just you say you have a combination cylinder thats one of these with its own tank

http://www.plumbingpages.com/featurepages/HWcombination.cfm

 

[Blue_Manc]

There is a tank in the loft.

But the tank for hot water and CH is a combination tank - I have the label in front of me right now. I assumed one fed the other, but as I say never been able to check as the floor is boarded up so cant see the pipes - so maybe not, maybe this is for cold taps only?

Sorry to be a wazzock!

 

[seco services]

can you put any pics on here ?

 

[Blue_Manc]

Can try - but would be the weekend before I can - away for work at the moment.

The background is that the system was full of black sludge which not only led to cold spots on rads, but also led to a bloody noisy pump.

Rads now fine after draining the system a few times, pump to be cleaned at weekend, but upstairs the rad directly above the boiler (Which heats even when on hot water only) is still full of black crap when you bleed it. Was hoping to use Fernox to clean out the whole system and then put an inhibitor (?) in there for longer term.

Does that sound sensible?

 

[seco services]

yes

 

[Blue_Manc]

Cheers fella - I will post pics at the weekend - and all i need to do is work out where to put the Fernox stuff (Or indeed what stuff!) before the Mrs kills me.

Appreciate your help.

 

[JohnD]

if you can afford an extra £100, and do simple plumbing, fit a Magnaclean as well. you will be astonished and delighted at how much black sludge it extracts from the circulating water.

The chemical I use Sentinel X400, it is very good at loosening sludge so it is carried round in the circulating water so you can drain and flush it out. It is non-acidic and you can leave it in for 4 weeks if you want. You must use an inhibitor such as X100 on final refill. Some of the Fernox cleaners are aggressive acids and ate my jacket.

the Magnaclean will carry on working for years and will prevent future accumulation of black sludge.

I am just a householder but have done the work I describe.

p.s. take a photo of your cylinder to decide if it really is a Primatic - if so you will need extra advice

 

[Blue_Manc]

Okay:

Firstly apologies for the awful quality of pictures, but the camera battery is flat, so taken on my phone.....


The tank looks like this:

At the top as you can see is an inlet into the top chamber which houses a ballcock. There is an overflow also.

At the bottom:

Given the quality of the pic, you will have to take my word (Or stare really carefully) that there are two pipes.

Also at the back is another pipe of almost double the diameter going into about the middle of the tank.