Flushing the Radiators Verses Bleeding them

[Claudia Thompson]

I know next to nothing about boilers, radiators or heating systems. I am trying to adjust mine so that it will stop putting out the smells that it does.

I was told that my Radiators are 'self contained' and that they do not need flushing. But they put out different smells, like a chemical smell and etc. The only ones that don't do this are the bathroom and the kitchen radiators.

What I was wondering is this... if I bleed the radiators and then repressurisze them a couple of times, would this help any towards gettin the toxic type of water out of them and adding fresh new water that would bring the smells down? I ask this because I have actually tried this with one round of it, at least and it seems to have reduced the smells that I get in the living room when I wake up and during the day. Or would it be futile because there is too much water in the radiators and would take me the next hundred years or so of doing this, to make any difference?

I did notice also that I smelled the same smell a little bit both in the hallway and in the kitchen by the boiler as I do in the living room, after bleeding the radiator a few times, but then it went away, except for in the living room but now the smell is fainter, diminished somewhat.

 

[Mottie]

What with this plus your other post regarding fumes coming into your bedroom, have you considered getting a heating engineer round to check/service/adjust/explain your heating system to you?

 

[Claudia Thompson]

What with this plus your other post regarding fumes coming into your bedroom, have you considered getting a heating engineer round to check/service/adjust/explain your heating system to you?

Someone came by the other day and basically they just kind of laughed it all off and made out like it was impossible for the smells to be there, then they brought the pressure way higher and made everything worse. They said they had never heard anything before like what I was claiming was happening with all the smells.

Basically, the hall and bedroom radiators smell like chemicals so I ended up just turning those two off entirely at the temperature knobs. The living room radiator makes the whole room end up smelling kind of like a dirty rabbit pen when I get up in the morning, and the hall radiator in the closet smells like chamicals too. The only ones that seem normal are the kitchen and bathroom radiators. They basically wont fix it, because they said they have to smell it first before putting out any money, but then they turn around and tell me its self-contained so it doesn't need any maintenance. It was set on the pressure at right between the red and the green, just barely on the green when I moved in here. I have to wonder if that's normal and if they didn't do this because they knew if the pressure were at the normal speed or above it that whoever moved in would be able to smell all of these smells. But then again like I said, I am basically clusless when it comes to all of this. But I have breathing difficulties especially with the living room radiator and when they turned up the pressure it just about did me in and so now I am having to resort to trying to diminish the odors myself. And actually it has kind of work pretty good so far.

To me, it seems that if the pressure is too low then the boiler puts out fumes that are too close to the house and go into the windows, and if the pressure is too high then the radiators put out odors or fumes of some kind. Though they claim that its impossible.

Whats strange, is a lady neighbor here told me if you have breathing difficulties then the boiler needs to be set to 1.5, not too high or too low. I am thinking that maybe I am starting to understand why.

They were not even going to let me have a radiator key but finally the one guy showed me how to do it.

Also, I noticed that whereas the hall radiator in the closet was putting out chemical smells, but I would keep a towel up next to the door underneath and that kept the smells at bat, ... when the guy came out and turned up the pressure to over 11.5 then I coud smell the chemical smell coming from the hall closet radiator whenI would walk past it and into the bathroom, even though the towel was at the bottom of the door. Then after bleeding the radiators it went back to 'normal', or at least the normal amount of smells that I was used to having before he did that.

 

[Madrab]

There are only really a few things that may cause what you are describing, new radiators can give off a smell as they heat and cool down for a while until they have seasoned. The other would be if there are leaks in the system and you can smell the ch water, but if there aren't any then the only other thing it could be are any carpets or materials that are close that are giving off the smell when the radiator/room warms up.

Outwith that then there really isn't anything on or in the radiators that would produce those specific smells. The pressure of the CH system water doesn't have anything to do with the gases that are produced by the boiler flue.

I can also safely say that there is no setting of the boiler water pressure that will have any influence on or anything to do with anyone's breathing difficulties, you can tell your neighbour to check her information.

 

[Nige F]

Maybe someone has painted your radiators with "radiator enamel " @ some time ? Heat not pressure would cause paint to smell. New ( 2018 ) radiators come from the factory with a hard white finish - old (c.1970) ones have to be painted, and once started you have to keep doing it every few years. New ones will not need painting.

 

[Claudia Thompson]

Maybe someone has painted your radiators with "radiator enamel " @ some time ? Heat not pressure would cause paint to smell. New ( 2018 ) radiators come from the factory with a hard white finish - old (c.1970) ones have to be painted, and once started you have to keep doing it every few years. New ones will not need painting.

I suppose that could be the case but to me it doesn't seem like it, especially with the living room radiator, it puts off a completely different smell, the only way I can describe it is that it smells kind of like a dirty rabbit pen that hasn't had the bedding changed in awhile.

 

[John D v2.0]

Give the rads a good clean

 

[Claudia Thompson]

Give the rads a good clean

I don't know how to do that John. I would if I could.

 

[Claudia Thompson]

I forgot to add that I noticed when I bled the living room radiator, it put out a really pungent smell, as opposed to the other ones. And the Bathroom radiator didn't really have any smell at all, reallt, and I never have any trouble with smells coming from that one or the kitchen one. I noticed the kitchen one is a newer type of Radiator, otr at least it looks like it to me, more modern.

Another thingI fogot to add is that when I first moved in here about 6months ago, I noticed that the living room and hallway radiators were making a clunking noise when I would turn up the heat in the morning. Then one mkoring I woke up and went into the living room and there was alot of brown stuff on the floor over where the thing you bleed it at is. I tried to clean it up and did, but the stuff that was on the radiator pipe where it had fallen left stains on it. This makes me wonder if it was leaking because it seems like it wouldn't do that unless water was in it? (just guessing). Also lots of dust was inbetween the radiator things in the back so I got a long lint brush and cleaned out the backs of the living room and bathroom radiators, just in case that might have something to do with it. This was maybe a month or so ago.

 

[John D v2.0]

I don't know how to do that John. I would if I could.

Sponge and soapy water. You might need a stick to do behind them without taking them off the wall.

 

[John D v2.0]

forgot to add that I noticed when I bled the living room radiator, it put out a really pungent smell

Sulphur rotten egg smell? Seems like your system has no inhibitor, and maybe the header tankful isn't covered or has a lot growing in it. Although it seems you may have a sealed system. A qualified engineer would know how to flush and treat the system to prevent the buildup.

 

[Claudia Thompson]

Sulphur rotten egg smell? Seems like your system has no inhibitor, and maybe the header tankful isn't covered or has a lot growing in it. Although it seems you may have a sealed system. A qualified engineer would know how to flush and treat the system to prevent the buildup.

The problem is though that I've got a Landlord and he says they have to be able to smell it first before they put out any money to do anything with it. And the problem with that is that it is really difficult for me to manage to get them here right at the time it is putting out the smells, So they act like they cannot believe me unless I literally show them the smells. Especially the living room radiator, it tends to do this during the night and first thing in the morning. Like 5:00 or 6:00.

 

[lemon_1]

I reckon your systems full of sh1t (pardon my french). If untreated water is flowing around your heating system then over time sludge forms. This sludge is black thick stuff. The best remedy for this is a power flush then add the necessary chemicals to stop it happening again.

A lot of people have sludge in their systems though. I've never heard of the smell escaping as it's meant to be a sealed system. As mentioned before there might be a leak... Which you'd know about because the pressure would drop.

When you bleed the radiators, if the water is black then you have a filthy system that needs power flushing

 

[Claudia Thompson]

I reckon your systems full of sh1t (pardon my french). If untreated water is flowing around your heating system then over time sludge forms. This sludge is black thick stuff. The best remedy for this is a power flush then add the necessary chemicals to stop it happening again.

A lot of people have sludge in their systems though. I've never heard of the smell escaping as it's meant to be a sealed system. As mentioned before there might be a leak... Which you'd know about because the pressure would drop.

When you bleed the radiators, if the water is black then you have a filthy system that needs power flushing

Thankfully, no black stuff is coming out when I bleed the radiator, just pungent smelling stuff, really strong. But after the first time I did it, it got a little less smell.