Hello,
Firstly, I'm going to start by saying I'm no plumber or engineer or whatever. In fact I would limit my knowledge of this area to...boilers give me hot water and heat my house. But I have 2 degrees in science related subjects so I'm no moron either.
Recently I've started noticing that my boiler overheats and cuts out on high temps.
Called out the British Gas fella today, who spent some time looking at the system and the pump, then got a little magnet out and stuck it around the pipes around the pump. He then bled the radiator in the kitchen (closest to our boiler) and stuck the magnet in the resulting water, which is when it picked up some some black stuff (I'm assuming this is what he later referred to as sludge).
He then went on to say that the reason my boiler is overheating is because the sludge is preventing the return of water. So far everything was making sense to me.
He then went on to say that the system would need a powerflush to fix the problem. For my system, a non-sealed system with 6 radiators (although he quoted me for a sealed system with 6 radiators because he said it was cheaper?) he said that came to £460. He said that covers all the costs, even if they need to replace pipes, find any leaks, etc etc.
Sounds sensible...
But I have a few questions:
1. Is he talking bull?
2. If the answer to 1 is false, can the sludge be fixed by a different option, e.g. adding one of those funky additives like "Fernox" (I'm sure there are other additives available)?
3. If the answer to 2 is false, is that a rip off for a power flush of 6 radiators?
The boiler is a baxi boiler, I've heard they're crud but it was in the flat when I moved in and we don't plan to live in our flat long enough to make replacing it worth our while. It's not a combi boiler.
I'd be very grateful for any advice/comments you have for me.
P.s. I work lots of long hours and don't really have time for any DIY options unfortunately. I don't mind paying someone for this kind of thing to be done, I just don't want to get ripped off.
Firstly, I'm going to start by saying I'm no plumber or engineer or whatever. In fact I would limit my knowledge of this area to...boilers give me hot water and heat my house. But I have 2 degrees in science related subjects so I'm no moron either.
Recently I've started noticing that my boiler overheats and cuts out on high temps.
Called out the British Gas fella today, who spent some time looking at the system and the pump, then got a little magnet out and stuck it around the pipes around the pump. He then bled the radiator in the kitchen (closest to our boiler) and stuck the magnet in the resulting water, which is when it picked up some some black stuff (I'm assuming this is what he later referred to as sludge).
He then went on to say that the reason my boiler is overheating is because the sludge is preventing the return of water. So far everything was making sense to me.
He then went on to say that the system would need a powerflush to fix the problem. For my system, a non-sealed system with 6 radiators (although he quoted me for a sealed system with 6 radiators because he said it was cheaper?) he said that came to £460. He said that covers all the costs, even if they need to replace pipes, find any leaks, etc etc.
Sounds sensible...
But I have a few questions:
1. Is he talking bull?
2. If the answer to 1 is false, can the sludge be fixed by a different option, e.g. adding one of those funky additives like "Fernox" (I'm sure there are other additives available)?
3. If the answer to 2 is false, is that a rip off for a power flush of 6 radiators?
The boiler is a baxi boiler, I've heard they're crud but it was in the flat when I moved in and we don't plan to live in our flat long enough to make replacing it worth our while. It's not a combi boiler.
I'd be very grateful for any advice/comments you have for me.
P.s. I work lots of long hours and don't really have time for any DIY options unfortunately. I don't mind paying someone for this kind of thing to be done, I just don't want to get ripped off.