Radiator Sludge Removal

[elfie]

Hi all, complete newbie to the forum and also plumbing here!

I think we have an issue with sludge as our radiators only heat up at the top but the bottom remains cold. (Sludge also builds up quite quickly in our bathroom plug hole but I don't know if thats unrelated or not...) Basically I am hoping to be able to use Sentinel x400 or something similar first, to see if this works without having to pay out for an expensive power flush.

However, I don't know whether its possible to use with our set up. We live in a small one bed flat and we recently discovered that the previous owners have connected the water supply directed to the mains, so that none of our water supply comes from the tanks in the communal loft. We have a Potterton Performa 24 Eco HE boiler and some pretty old looking radiators (apart from in the bathroom where there's a more modern towel rail).

Is it possible to use a solution like this in this arrangement and if so where do I start? I've done some research online and have found out how to add an inhibitor via the towel rail (which I'd do after the Sentinel I guess?) but is it the same method for this product too? Any help much appreciated!

 

[Gasguru]

Stick the heating on with the temperature set to max. Give it a while and then feel the pipes at each end of the radiators.

On the radiators that you think are sludged feel the temperature at each pipe. One should be red hot (the flow)..around 85 degrees. The other (the return) should be 10 to 15 degrees less.

If you obtain that sort of temperature drop across the radiator pipes AND the middle lower section is appreciably cooler THEN you have sludge.

In reality very very few radiators suffer from sludge so don't start chucking chemicals at it yet.