British Gas asking for money!!

[momebatti]

hi all! newbie here...Dont really know anything about plumbing.

Moved into a 1983 house 2 months ago and the boiler is as old as the house. Some rads become hot but others remain luke warm even after keeping the CH running for 10 or more hrs.

Tried bleeding. No use. The British Gas guys came and have given me a quote for £700 to Powerflush and Magnaclean.

Is that worth it ?

They are gonna give me a quote for the boiler change which includes a Powerflush and Magnaclean so I am assuming this is gonna be pretty damn expensive,

Any advice?

 

[Steady]

Sounds like your system is sludged up so needs a powerflush or a thorough chemical clean.
You don't HAVE to have British Gas do the work or have them fit a new boiler. You could get a local independent installer do the cleaning and/or the new boiler installation and save yourself a lot of money.
If you want to subscribe to the BG insurance cover for your boiler and central heating then they will insist on having the powerflush done-either by themselves or someone else who will issue you with some paperwork to prove the work's been done.

 

[D_Hailsham]

Any advice?

Get two other quotes from local independent contractors (ask you neighbours/friends for names of reliable people).

You can lay good odds that BG will be the most expensive.

The system should aloways be flushed when a new boiler is installed. This does not necessarily mean power flushing. A Magnaclean or a TwinTech is a good idea.

Turn off all the rads except one and check the one rad heats up OK and has no cold spots. If there are cold spots at the bottom there is sludge build up; cold at the top means air in the rad; bleed it.

Then close the first rad, open the second and repeat. Do this for all rads until you have identified those which do not heat up or have cold spots.

If there are no problem rads, the original problem is due to incorrect balance. How to Balance a CH System

 

[kevplumb]

flush and refill the system a couple of times

then give it a good dose of DS40 and shift the crap out of it

drain and neutralize

drain again

another way to help it is to isolate and remove rads one at a time and hose them out

rubber mallet is handy as well

 

[hym]

B/gas are probably priced higher than most but end of the day they guarantee the flush for life, magnaclean are good and worth it. Used to do flushes for B/G and they were done properly with few come backs and that is what you want. If i do a job now and B/G have flushed it i am happy. You get what you pay for at the end of the day,,,,,pay peanuts get monkeys

 

[Agile]

If a power flush has been done properly then why should a Magnaclean be needed?

In any case the system may just need balancing. See the FAQ on this site for DIY instructions.

We charge about £300-£350 for most power flushes so I would say that BG are rather over priced.

Tony

 

[dextrous]

Think I'd be inclined to spend a few quid with readily available chemicals and try to clean the system out first before looking to get the big guns and a replacement boiler in.

BG aren't the cheapest, and they're not always the best in spite of the price difference. Whatever you do with regard to getting a new boiler, 3 independent written quotes is always advisable.

 

[doitall]

It would be nice to know more about the system.

What boiler is it and the pipe sizes.

Is it a microbore, one pipe or normal two pipes for example.