Black water from rads after drain down / inhibitor + other questions

[DIYNotIan]

I'll try to make this my last heating question!

Having had some work done on our plumbing, which included a drain down and some new inhibitor (and a system filter), the plumber told me to bleed the rads after a day or two. So I did it earlier and was surprised to see that some of them shot out black water. I expected to see clear water so soon after the work. Does this sound ok?

A couple of other things I wanted to run passed you all if you don't mind...

- He said that because some of our rads are old, he would never use system cleaners as they might make them leak as they rust from the inside out)

- He said that balancing the rads (something he did for us) take about 2 minutes. We have 14 radiators.

- We put the heating on for the first time since he's been tonight and some of the rads are colder, especially at the bottom, than they were before. Not what I wanted after paying out all that money! Could this be due to something outside of his control or is it likely he's done something wrong?

I'll be calling up on Monday to discuss with the firm's boss but wondered what you think in the meantime...

Cheers

 

[Joe 2017]

Have you payed for a flush or just a drain down

Why did you call him out for

 

[DIYNotIan]

Just a drain down...

We called him out to fix several leaks, add TRVs to some rads and a system filter, and a few other small things...

Cheers

 

[terryplumb]

If you have not asked / paid for your system to be flushed / cleaned ,then you will not have a clean system ,so it shouldn't surprise you if black coloured water comes out when you bleed the rads.
If your radiators are so old that they can't sustain being cleaned its time to replace them anyway.
"some rads are cold/ colder at the bottom than they used to be ".... Do they eventually get hot ?

 

[DIYNotIan]

Fair enough re the black water, that makes sense. I did ask re a flush but they said they didn't think it was necessary, just that it needed balancing.

Some of the rads are lovely and hot all over. But the ones that are "cold/ colder at the bottom than they used to be" remain so and don't get any better with the heating on, no. Definitely not as hot as they were before he did the work. Perhaps they'll start to improve with time?

Many thanks for you help everyone

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Balancing takes very much longer than 2 minutes and changing one, means it will affect the other rads. Poor balance might be the cause of your colder rads, or it could be poor flow due to blockages.

Draining and flushing out is not that involved a job, something the average DIY type can easily do. You just need a drain hose and a fill hose. Best way is to drain the entire system down and take radiators out one at a time, to flush them through outdoors until they run clear. Hose through the pipework and the boiler.

A job best left until summer, when you will not miss the heating system, but when you refill - don't forget to add inhibitor.

 

[durhamplumber]

Draining and flushing out is not that involved a job, something the average DIY type can easily do.

Rofl.Whatever "average" means.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Rofl.Whatever "average" means.

Well, someone with at least as much savvy as a plumber.

 

[durhamplumber]

Well, someone with at least as much savvy as a plumber.

As thought,,,at best,,,dillusional

 

[mattylad]

Here we go, the plumber is now coming out wanting to claim that only a plumber is competent to flush out radiators... ROFLMAO...
I'll get some popcorn

 

[durhamplumber]

Here we go, the plumber is now coming out wanting to claim that only a plumber is competent to flush out radiators... ROFLMAO...
I'll get some popcorn

Numbty,,not what i said at all,,,dopy