Brown rust blockage in copper pipe? (see pics)

[twgas]

op has probably got a perfect system, but is lonely, so doctored it so someone wil talk to him

 

[ChrisNason]

Yes I did photoshop it. Blacked out all the surrounding then had to show the pipes hidden by the new returns fitted last Tuesday. But that it is the layout and you can now see how much distance there is between Pump - Feed - Expansion.
So what would be the perfect alignment?

 

[The Baker]

As has been suggested some X400 would work wonders for your system.

I removed some copper pipe that was almost completely blocked up, it has been submerged in a mixture of tap water and X400 for some three or four weeks with no powered flow through the pipe, just siting in a paint roller tray.

All I have done is lift the pipe out every other day and then re-immers it in the water/X400, the blockage has loosened and would fall out if I shook it.

Regarding the magnet. The way to do it is to hang a very small magnet on a piece of cotton, a bit like a fishing rod with a wieght on it. Slowly move the suspended magnet nearer to th suspect tube and it will probably move towards the tube.

Your pumping over problem could be caused by quite a few things which I have not time to explain today, but I will say that the blockage problem may be due to air being entrained in to your system which you could cure by converting the system to a sealed system, assuming its open vented at the moment.

Tim

 

[Agile]

Yet again we have evidence of a "plumber" who has absolutely no idea of how to treat this very common problem!

X300 has a very specific application to new radiator systems. There are other far more appropriate chemicals for this situation like DS40 or X400.

Many of these people embarrass me!

Tony

 

[ChrisNason]

After the unkind comments about my Photoshop skills I now attach the original photo (with just labels)

I am going to change the pipes and still need to know how close the feed and expansion should be. And the gap to the Pump.

You can see there is quite a gap after the expansion before the feed joins just under the pump.

Or would you join the feed in to the expansion and only one joint under the pump (as it shows in my Potterton Boiler instructions)?

 

[ChrisNason]

The photo didn't work. Try this...

 

[fine tune]

if you wanted to alter the pipes the cold feed tee should be relocated just above the vent tee to a max of 6inch . when you take that compression tee off you will see a partial blockage which is causing the problem , there will be a similar restriction at the vent tee which could be cleared bye poking if you wasnt renewing that . add sentinal x100 when refilling

 

[ChrisNason]

if you wanted to alter the pipes the cold feed tee should be relocated just above the vent tee to a max of 6inch . when you take that compression tee off you will see a partial blockage which is causing the problem , there will be a similar restriction at the vent tee which could be cleared bye poking if you wasnt renewing that . add sentinal x100 when refilling

So a maximum of 6 inches between expansion and feed. But how far should the feed be away from the pump?

 

[The Baker]

You may find a drawing of what you are looking for in the FAQ part of this site, or a moderator may provide a drawing that will be worth a thousand words.

Tim

 

[fine tune]

if you wanted to alter the pipes the cold feed tee should be relocated just above the vent tee to a max of 6inch . when you take that compression tee off you will see a partial blockage which is causing the problem , there will be a similar restriction at the vent tee which could be cleared bye poking if you wasnt renewing that . add sentinal x100 when refilling

So a maximum of 6 inches between expansion and feed. But how far should the feed be away from the pump?

keep the vent in the same position and lower the feed to suit . the distance from pump is not that important .

 

[ChrisR]

The distance between the Feed and Vent isn't that critical. What you have to avoid is a pressure difference between them, due to a blockage as I showed.
In your case it's simple because you have a compression joiunt. Undo it and clear out the blockage!
You don't need to move any pipes.
I expect the pipes in the compression tees have lovely burrs on them - you could scrape those out to discourage further scale collection.

 

[ChrisNason]

The distance between the Feed and Vent isn't that critical. What you have to avoid is a pressure difference between them, due to a blockage as I showed.
In your case it's simple because you have a compression joiunt. Undo it and clear out the blockage!
You don't need to move any pipes.
I expect the pipes in the compression tees have lovely burrs on them - you could scrape those out to discourage further scale collection.

Thanks all. I'll drain down and open up the compression joint to poke about. If it's as bad as the return circuit I'll renew from the pump shut off down to the floor (about 18 inches) and cut the vent so that it is within 6 inches of the feed. Should then look something like this...
0
| | |
| |___|
|__|
|
The system gets rid of all my nice spacing!!