Magnaclean failed me, boiler got blocked so what's next?

[ZEN]

Had a veismann combi boiler fit 3 years ago along with a magnaclean 2 pro and kept up the servicing.

At the weekend the boiler failed due to the smaller heat exchanger being blocked with small shards of magnetic material causing an F2 Burner fault.

Despite it not really being a Boiler Issue and technically not covered by the warranty the Veismann engineer was great, replaced the faulty part, flushed boiler and got me up and running.

On checking the magnaclean there was a small thin film of crud on the magnet but not a single bit of magnetite shard despite the core being magnetic.
In fact each time it has been checked its looked pretty clean which leads me to believe its simply not working.

Clearly I need to flush the system first and put inhibitor in but why didn't the magnaclean work?
Already thinking of replacing all radiators to ensure a clean system but is this necessary.

Is there some better filter that will catch these larger bits of magnetite ?
Fernox TF1 is well rated but to me it looks like an almost identical design so sceptical?
Spirotech MB3 looks promising but unsure.


All help appreciated

 

[Dan Robinson]

A filter is not a replacement for proper installation. Tf1 is schit. Mb3 is a good filter but catches the same as, or less than the Magnaclean. The rest are considered also rans.

 

[oilboffin]

I always fit the brass spiro filter not bad bits of kit but always drain every two years to be sure
lot of work but worth it

 

[muggles]

Fernox TF1 is a terrible thing. Magnaclean and Spirotrap MB3 are the two best filters on the market. Are you sure the bits that blocked your boiler are magnetite and not some other non-magnetic debris?

 

[Agile]

I have been to a boiler with a fancy Magnaclean fitted, the one with magnet and gauze, even so the dirt got past the Magnaclean and into the plate HE.

My preference is to fit the cheaper gauze filter but that's only suitable for someone who can open it themselves.

Tony

 

[muggles]

I have been to a boiler with a fancy Magnaclean fitted, the one with magnet and gauze, even so the dirt got past the Magnaclean and into the plate HE.

My preference is to fit the cheaper gauze filter but that's only suitable for someone who can open it themselves.

Tony

The TwinTech filters are awful

 

[Agile]

The design would seem to send the water flow around the outside thus away from the magnet!

 

[oldbuffer]

Presumably the Magnaclean is fitted in the right place, that is in the return as close to the boiler as possible?

 

[gas112]

yep must go on return because it catches every single bit of muck in one pass before it goes into boiler.... Really !!!

 

[ZEN]

I have been to a boiler with a fancy Magnaclean fitted, the one with magnet and gauze, even so the dirt got past the Magnaclean and into the plate HE.

My preference is to fit the cheaper gauze filter but that's only suitable for someone who can open it themselves.

Tony

The flakes are definately magnetic as they stuck to a strong Neodymium magnet I have. The annoying thing is I removed the magnaclean core and they stuck to that too although clearly in situe in a running system they did not, not a single flake

Yes, the magnaclean is installed correctly in the return next to the boiler.

I'm interested in this gauze filter that you mentioned. Is this fitted within the magnaclean itself ? How is it attached and is it just cleaned or replaced when necessary.

I am/was close to buying the twintech magnaclean with the filter but not so now comments are that the filter is useless.

 

[dilalio]

The flakes are definately magnetic as they stuck to a strong Neodymium magnet I have. The annoying thing is I removed the magnaclean core and they stuck to that too although clearly in situe in a running system they did not, not a single flake

Yes, the magnaclean is installed correctly in the return next to the boiler.

I'm interested in this gauze filter that you mentioned. Is this fitted within the magnaclean itself ? How is it attached and is it just cleaned or replaced when necessary.

I am/was close to buying the twintech magnaclean with the filter but not so now comments are that the filter is useless.

How old are your rads?

 

[ZEN]

How old are your rads?

Its hard to tell as they were fitted before I moved into the house. They don't appear to be rusty anywhere on the outside so I'm assuming not too old.
I have considered having them replaced (I only have 5 , in a two bedroom house) and am getting a quote early next week.

 

[dilalio]

My mate power flushed a 3yr old viessmann today and was amazed at the amount of ****e he got out of the system! It didn't have a mag filter and his next challenge is where he can get one in place in the newly installed kitchen - he said the flush deposited loads of flakes - as you described! Makes me wonder!

 

[ZEN]

I think I'm going to remove each radiator and manually flush each with the garden hose method then use some corrosion inhibitor in the system.

I'll be getting the magnaclean removed and the spirotrap mb3 installed. Hopefully this will do a better job of trapping the magnetite flakes that develop in time. It certainly can't do any worse than the Magnaclean, really disapointed this did nothing.

 

[abwooli]