Do I need a powerflush on a system that is only 4 years old?

[kksingh87]

I've detailed the saga below, any advice and help would be very much appreciated, as I am a bit confused with what to do.

The story is that I have two radiators that aren't working in my house.

The first one stopped working back in Feb 2010, and then it was recommended that radiator be cleaned out, after which it started working again, however a back in September it stopped working again.

The second radiator stopped working just under a month ago.

The first radiator is in the the downstairs front room, and the second one is in the upstairs front room, rooms are directly above each other.

The central heating system, including radiators and pipe work is all 4 years old, it has plastic pipes. 2 years ago I had a magnaclean fitted as well.

I had the thermostatic radiator valves changed, just incase it was those that was causing the problem, however it didn't do anything. All the other radiators in the house work perfectly.

I have a homecare agreement with British Gas, and they have recommended a power flush with a lifetime guarantee, for £600, will this solve the problem, or am I just being ripped off? Also, they haven't carried out a water sample test.

I have spoken to a few independent central heating contractors and I seem to be getting a lot of different views, but they all seem to agree on one thing, that British Gas may just be trying to rip me off. I've had one say that microbore (I think he said microbore)/plastic pipe systems shouldn't need powerflushing and that the chances are just a blockage in one of the pipes.

Any advice would be much appreciated as I don't know what to do

Thank you in advance

 

[lawrance]

Check the small print cos it sure aint a "lifetime guarantee"

 

[45yearsagasman]

Its for as long as you stay on contract with no break.

 

[1john]

If there has been no or inadequate amounts inhibitor in the system then it will be corroding as you read this. Plastic pipes / microbore can be powerflushed, granted the plastic keeps quite clean but the debris in the system is from the rusting of the radiators from the inside.

Have you tried bleeding them, do they need bleeding frequently, have you treid turning off all the other radiators on the system and just leaving either of the ones that doesn't heat on, perhaps the system needs balancing. How much debris collects in your magnaclean?

 

[kksingh87]

I tried bleeding the radiators first and that didn't work. The have never needed bleeding in the past 4 years.

I have also tried switching off all the radiators and just keeping either of the faulty ones on, and that hasn't worked either, I've tried that on a few separate occasions.

Finally when cleaning the magnaclean, there is quite a lot of debris.

 

[JohnD]

when cleaning the magnaclean, there is quite a lot of debris.

what colour, and how much is "a lot"?

Scrape it into a jamjar and see how much you get in a month.

Is this a sealed, pressurised system? Has it been leaking or topped up? Or is it an open-vented system with a feed and expansion tank in the loft?

What cleaning chemicals, and what corrosion-inhibiting chemicals have been used, and when?

Has anyone said the plastic pipe is the wrong sort?

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[Ray84]

I think a powerflush may be your best option (be it done by bg or someone else)
.
Even if you do try treating the water in your system with chemicals if pipes are completly blocked and not circulating i dont think you'd get much sucess also the magnafilter will do nothing if theres no circulation.

if you plan on sticking with your BG homecare id bite the bullet and get the powerflush, they could start not covering faults with the system caused by the poor water quality (i.e pumps or waterleaks) and the lifetime warrenty means if 5 years down the line another powerflush is required it would be free of charge.

Ray[/u]