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Hi, yes... it turned out to be exactly what other people here suggested -- the joins of plasterboard. Use of the central heating causes the panels to bow and bend and the cracks appeared. We continued living there for 3 or so more years without the house falling down and when we sold it, the...

Ah! Is that why draining was so slow? I'd forgotten all about the diverter valve manual switch. I need to drain it again in the next day or so to flush the Fernox F3, so will use this. No idea at all about the AAV - again, beyond my ability/knowledge.

Not sure I'm confident enough to remove the pump, tbh. Again, it is virtually new, so I have little reason to doubt that it's turning -- and it sounds and feels like it is. Yes, I can open all valves (in TRVs) when filling/draining -- though draining has been slowish downstairs, and I...

I just checked, specifically a Grundfos UPS 15-60 (like this: http://bit.ly/tugkVg). As I said, it's essentially brand new and sounds like it's spinning.

It's an external Grundfos and it's only three months old. Sure sounds and feels like it's spinning but not sure how to tell otherwise. The boiler is the dreaded Potterton Suprima 50. The header tank has water and seems to work as expected - I've drained the system twice today and cleaned out the...

Right. Well, I will try reducing the valves on nearer radiators to get balance. However, would you expect the last three rads to be *completely* cold, as they have been? Also, a slight update here... the 'middle' of the three rads is now getting hot! (When I say middle, I can't be sure it's...

Yes, it overheats and locks out (goes to red light - needs to be manually reset). This event is preceded by kettling in a pipe in the cylinder cupboard - can't really tell which pipe. The pump was replaced in summer (by Heateam, not me) as was the diverter valve. The boiler's PCB has also...

I will try that - thanks. May sound silly but how best to capture the water coming out of the bleed valve? Obviously I usually use a towel to capture the escaping water but if I have to capture 1 pint of a fast-moving jet, tips appreciated - a deep jug, I suppose?

Yes, all the rads are at the end of the circuit (so far as I can tell - the pipework is mostly hidden), but they're all in line, one after another - so it makes sense that they're at the end of the circuit. As for balancing, at the moment I have all valves fully open, to circulate the Fernox...

Right... I've spent most of today, draining, flushing (repeat twice) our CH system and also removed and hose-flushed three problem rads (they're all cold, basically). I've also added Fernox F3 and will leave it to circulate now for a couple of days, as per the instructions. However, the three...

Thanks all. Have decided to run it through hot, but will do it on Monday when the kids are back at school (and thus out of my way!).

So I'm cleaning then protecting our CH system today. The instructions suggest I should circulate the water in the system for 2-4 hours, which I understand. Obviously I know I can do this by having the CH on (and thus the rads hot) but I'm wondering if there's any way to have the pump circulate...

Just to bump this one last time (I promise), why are people so down on shop-branded chemicals, like the Homebase Cleaner/Protector bottles that I've bought? Do people really believe that Fernox et al are that much better? Surely these are essentially commodity chemicals that are bottled and...

Thanks. It has the new-style PCB cos it was fitted by Potterton a few months ago. This has a label on it that, hnadwritten, says only '50'. All stacks up then... it's a 50. It's getting the chemical treatment tomorrow...

Thanks. Our boiler has the PCB on the right behind a door that's hinged on the left, so that certainly makes it a 50/50L then. Any relevant difference between the 50/50L (relevant to my purposes, I mean, which is knowing whether or not the boiler has a cast-iron heat exchanger)?

Yes, yes - I know. I'm evil/stupid/naive. Happy to buy something else but it's all they had in stock and I want to do this quickly, cos it needs it and it's getting cold. Open to recommendations tho...

Yes, narrow curvy door on the right, covering the control panel. So the 50 deffo has cast iron and therefore it's safe to use these Homebase cleaning/protector chemicals? Thanks, Harry.

So I'm going to flush my CH system and add cleanser then protector. I was all set to do it when I read the bit on the fluid bottle about not using in boilers that have aluminium heat exchangers... I called Potterton to check and, while the tech chap was helpful, I wasn't entirely confident in...

Well, I imagine you'll laugh but I bought two 1-litre self-branded bottles from Homebase -- so Homebase Cleaner and Homebase Protector (or something like that). I did see a bottle of X200 but that was less descriptive in what's required, so I went for the bottles with the clearer explanation...

depends what you mean by "connecting to a radiator"? Have you got a drainoff valve anywhere? Yes, drain-off valves present on two downstairs rads, both next to outside doors, so very convenient. Not worried about draining at all. I mean running fresh water through the system to remove as much...