Do I need a power flush & hot flush?

[Rags11]

Hi,

I am having a new combi boiler installed, replacing my cylinder system. Yesterday tanks were removed etc & new Vaillant fitted.

I asked if he has done the power flush as I didn't see that & add inhibitor. He said the power flush was done, but he is also doing a hot flush today, then might need another power flush.

On the original quote I got from the company he works for, it said a hot flush would invalidate the warranty & they would do a powrr flush. So why is he doing one? Also am not sure a power flush was done, it was quite quiet & he didn't touch the rads in living room or kitchen. Could he have done a power flush? They are finishing a half day earlier than expected (2 men).

Am I being paranoid? Is it standard to do a power & hot flush? Is it possible to do a power flush without touching the rads?

Thanks

 

[Terry lambert]

I have to say, you've obviously got some very quick engineers.

Convert to combi and power flush in one day.

It would take most of a day to powerflush if not all, if it's really dirty.

You wouldn't need a hot flush and a powerflush

 

[Terry lambert]

You would need to go to all the radiators to flush it

 

[goodadvicebob]

They should have flushed the system one radiator at a time. Professionally cleaning central heating and boilers systems and removing sludge and rust that can build up over years inside the boiler, radiators and piping. The central heating slowly clogs up and you end up paying high bills and with a central heating system that is not working efficiently. Various problems are caused by blocked radiators and boilers ranging from cold radiators to noise in the pipes. Modern boilers can have heat exchangers that are extremely slim in design compared to years ago and even small bits of sludge or rust can cause partial blockages in the boiler heat exchanger.

 

[Onetap]

They should have flushed the system one radiator at a time. Professionally cleaning central heating and boilers systems and removing sludge and rust that can build up over years inside the boiler, radiators and piping. The central heating slowly clogs upand you end up paying high bills and with a central heating system that is not working efficiently.

It doesn't.
The central heating would only slowly clog up if there was a corrosion problem (pumping over, a leak, galvanic corrosion, etc.). Power flushing is not routine maintenance, it is a remedial action to attempt to recover a damaged system, frequently caused by incorrect installation.

 

[ALCPlumbing]

In my opinion all systems should be flushed BEFORE installation of a new boiler. When converting from a vented system a power flush of very important. When replacing a boiler on a system that is already unvented that was properly power flushed at time of original conversion then a few hot chemical flushes may be sufficient.

Sounds to me like that have not done one.

When I do a proper power flush it will take a half to two thirds of a day just to do a two bed flat.

Did they fit a filter on the return? I.e. a Magnaclean.

If not I guarantee you will get F75 fault code within a year as either the pump will fail or the water pressure sensor will become clogged.

Manufacturers will look at the state of the system and use a poorly flushed/dirty system as a means to get out of upholding the warranty and you will end up paying for any repairs.

If you were in while they were doing the install you will definitely have known if they were doing a power flush.

 

[ALCPlumbing]

Having read your original post fully again there is no way they have done a power flush.

As someone else has mentioned you will need access to each radiator and personally I use a radiator agitator (these make a huge difference by the way) which is an attachment for a hammer drill. This is pushed against the radiator and the drill hammers the attachment at fast powerful rate to dislodge stiff sludge by way of vibration. It is very noisy. However this is not done by everyone, I just find it shifts more sludge.

You should never powerflush a new boiler as you are pumping all the sludge and strong acid through your brand new pump and heat exchanger.

I would do a hot flush with a small amount of cleaner after installation of boiler to clear any flux (as it's corrosive) before draining, re-filling with water and draining again. Then I will fill and add inhibitor.

I probably go a bit over the top but then I often charge more than most but am very thorough and want my customers boilers to give them as little trouble as possible.

Vaillants are very sensitive to dirty systems so I think you may be in for a rough time.

Sorry to be bearer of bad news.

 

[ALCPlumbing]

What a waste of time, just realised how old this post is.

 

[Fluffster]

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