Do I need a Power Flush?
- Thread starter Delaine
- Start date
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Just a thought, if the system was installed in copper, and wasnt filled straight away (or flushed after installation!), could these blue bits be dried flux residue?
D
davebgas
Bluey/greeny flecks reminds me of copper when its oxidated (is that the word?!)
I know what you mean, or is it oxidised? (To combine chemically with oxygen.) (Says my dickandharry.)
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D
davebgas
Thats the word I was looking for!!! Dim-witted northerner I am
I had to look it up. There again we're all carrot crunchers round here I'm told.... 
Do as said above, but after you drain it all off after running cleaner in it for a week. Take all the rads off one by one and flush them out in the garden with the garden hose. When you have put them all back on, fill up and add inhibitor.
Our house is 8 yrs old and the crap that came out of them was immense when I took them into the garden for a flush. Needless to say it's doubtful that the CH system ever had a sniff of inhiitor in it's entire existence. The guys that put the CH systems in a lot of houses must leave the inhibitor out and flog it on eBay. That's why fernox is so cheap on there and why peoples systems are silted up after only a couple of years!
BTW, powerflush = revenue generator.
Tanks for that advice.
Just got in from work and have noticed that the vent pipe now has a constant drip coming from it. No signs of blue particles though. Any ideas about the water dripping?
Just got in from work and have noticed that the vent pipe now has a constant drip coming from it. No signs of blue particles though. Any ideas about the water dripping?
Looking at this post top to bottom, I would advice system balance. While OP says it has been carried out, top to bottom temperature (which I would suggest should be inlet to outlet temperature) on the rads should be the same. System balancing takes time.
Run boiler in CH mode. About an hour later, take temperature readings and record these on a note pad. Now start throttling the lockshields that are passing TOO much water (i.e. temperature difference slight) and OPENING where you find temperature difference greater than delta t). Delta t is a figure that is chosen for the system- I make mine 15 degrees C. Each balancing act requires system to 'settle down' to altered system water distribution. Go round the system to check figures again and adjust as required until all rads show (near enough) the same temperature difference.
It is possible the PRV has a bit of muck under the seat. Try clearing it by repeated operation.
System should have been flush in accordance with the boiler manual when system installed. I wonder if particles are bits of plastic (due to cutting pipe with saw)
Find it hard to believe a system 2 years old will be needing power flushed/ chemically cleansed. I would consider this if the rads had cold spots in the middle, not to be confused with temperature difference between top and bottom rib on the rad.
Run boiler in CH mode. About an hour later, take temperature readings and record these on a note pad. Now start throttling the lockshields that are passing TOO much water (i.e. temperature difference slight) and OPENING where you find temperature difference greater than delta t). Delta t is a figure that is chosen for the system- I make mine 15 degrees C. Each balancing act requires system to 'settle down' to altered system water distribution. Go round the system to check figures again and adjust as required until all rads show (near enough) the same temperature difference.
It is possible the PRV has a bit of muck under the seat. Try clearing it by repeated operation.
System should have been flush in accordance with the boiler manual when system installed. I wonder if particles are bits of plastic (due to cutting pipe with saw)
Find it hard to believe a system 2 years old will be needing power flushed/ chemically cleansed. I would consider this if the rads had cold spots in the middle, not to be confused with temperature difference between top and bottom rib on the rad.
Hi DP,
I must admit that the Gas Fitter didn't take long to balance the system. He just seemed to give some of the Lockshield valves a quick tweak and then on to the next one.
I have since measured the temperatures of the inlet and outlet pipes. They are all over the place. None showing a 12 to 15 degree drop.
Also, judging by the temperatures, it looks like some of the Lockshields are fitted to the radiator inlet pipes. Can a radiator be balanced with the Lockshield on the inlet? I thought the idea of them was to slow down the flow of water on the outlet side of the rad and so enabling the rad to efficiently radiate the heat from the water inside. Surley having the Lockshield on the inlet side will just have the effect of reducing the amount of water entering the rad.
Or am I just confusing myself!!!!!
I must admit that the Gas Fitter didn't take long to balance the system. He just seemed to give some of the Lockshield valves a quick tweak and then on to the next one.
I have since measured the temperatures of the inlet and outlet pipes. They are all over the place. None showing a 12 to 15 degree drop.
Also, judging by the temperatures, it looks like some of the Lockshields are fitted to the radiator inlet pipes. Can a radiator be balanced with the Lockshield on the inlet? I thought the idea of them was to slow down the flow of water on the outlet side of the rad and so enabling the rad to efficiently radiate the heat from the water inside. Surley having the Lockshield on the inlet side will just have the effect of reducing the amount of water entering the rad.
Or am I just confusing myself!!!!!
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