Leak sealer or Fernox first?

[AndyBill]

Hi, with regards to my plans (see previous post below) i have a small leak on one of the rad valves and intend to inject some leak sealer into the heating system. Would it be best to put the leak sealer in before or after the Fernox?

cheers
andy




Hi,
as i am renovating my house and have all the carpets and furniture out the way i thought id have a play with the heating system.
its a combi boiler (about 7/8 years old) with 6 or 8mm micro bore pipework to rads, i was thinking of removing all the rads and emptying/flushing them through with a house pipe to remove any sludge that may be in them.

i thought draining the system might block up the micro bore if there is any sludge so therefore i ll take the rads off.

then i was going to put them back, re-fill and fire some fernox super concentrate in for good measure.

Do you think this would help the efficiency/performance of my heating system ?

i might put a water softener in too.

cheers
andy b

 

[dextrous]

Think I'd repair the leak properly as it's accessible, then add the fernox

 

[BingoBongo]

if you are taking the rads off and draining,why not fix the leak

did you have a big plate of MENTAL for lunch?

 

[Whitespirit66]

Where is it leaking on the valve? Is it where the pipe goes into the valve, or where the valve connects to the rad?Or is it the actual valve itself leaking? A digital pic always helps.

Suppose you have to admire Bingo's direct approach!

 

[AndyBill]

yes its a small leak from the pipe that goes onto the TRV

 

[AndyBill]

if you are taking the rads off and draining,why not fix the leak

did you have a big plate of MENTAL for lunch?

because im taking the rads off and draining them!

 

[Steady]

Repair the leak properly. Anything else is a bodge. If you are emptying all the rads anyway there won't be much water left to drain off.
Besides which, if you drain the system, you won't have to empty all the rads one by one-this would take four times as long!

 

[dextrous]

If it were me renovating a house, I think I'd be replacing the microbore with 15mm from 22mm flow and return pipes. Chances are that this can be done over a rolling program for a year or so without causing too many difficulties.

 

[AndyBill]

Repair the leak properly. Anything else is a bodge. If you are emptying all the rads anyway there won't be much water left to drain off.
Besides which, if you drain the system, you won't have to empty all the rads one by one-this would take four times as long!

Ah but then if there is sludge in the rads it may block the microbore pipe if i tried to drain the entire system (wouldnt it? )

 

[Steady]

Ah but then if there is sludge in the rads it may block the microbore pipe if i tried to drain the entire system (wouldnt it? )

Fail to see your logic here.
That same sludge you refer to has been flowing round your microbore pipework for the past x number of years every time you put the heat on and you weren't worried about it then.

It doesn't matter how you drain the water off.Just do it the quickest way THEN take off your rads and flush them out.

 

[AndyBill]

Ah but then if there is sludge in the rads it may block the microbore pipe if i tried to drain the entire system (wouldnt it? )

Fail to see your logic here.
That same sludge you refer to has been flowing round your microbore pipework for the past x number of years every time you put the heat on and you weren't worried about it then.

It doesn't matter how you drain the water off.Just do it the quickest way THEN take off your rads and flush them out.

i thought the sludge just stayed in the rads
and if it got into the pipework it would block it,

ps is sludge thick like mud or just black water?

 

[dextrous]

It's the darkness in the water that congeals to become the mud. Unfortunately, although it mostly comes from the iron within the steel within the rad, it will travel around the system and slowly build up anywhere. Trouble with microbore is that, by definition, it doesn't require such a great volume of sludge to completely block the pipe

 

[AndyBill]

thanks to all for advice etc ..

i will start the job tomorrow.

thanks