Remove rads.
Take them outside.
Turn em upside down.
Run a hose through them.
That's the only sure way for a diyer.
How clean should CH be after flushing?
- Thread starter shd1970
- Start date
Remove rads.
Take them outside.
Turn em upside down.
Run a hose through them.
That's the only sure way for a diyer.
@dilalio nope, no water softener
Just 8 classic rads from Stelrad, an Adey professional 2 magnaclean and a Worcester greenstar 37CDI…. That’s it
Pipework?
@dilalio
All copper except 2 x 5m lengths (the flow & return) to a radiator at the end of my extension ( done by my builder 14 years ago)
The connections are Hep20 to this radiator
Is the pipe barrier? Standard plastic pipe lets in air- standard pipe suitable for hot and cold services. Barrier is for central heating plumbing
When a drain valve is opened to drain the system, you will never get all the water out of it. Visualise a ladder type bathroom radiator, you drain it down, disconnect the tails and lift off the brackets. Good chance water that is trapped in the horizontal rungs will discharge onto the floor. Has happened to me so know from experience.
Good shout as flushing the radiator in the garden will be effective. What is left in the pipes will not matter anyway.
Cannot understand why you embarked on this cleaning adventure since you have a mag filter. Then again some mag filters are a joke
Thanks for the reply @DP
Answering your last questions first, I wanted to run the cleaner through to give it a good clean as I’ve installed new radiators so wanted to clean the system of any flux, et cetera
The mag magnaclean doesn’t do this as I understand it, it is to get rid of the magnetite
Yes, I understand about the ladder analogy, but I just would’ve thought that filling the system six or times would’ve diluted it sufficiently considering the system has been run and circulated
Unlike I yes, I am aware of the horizontal pipes, hence why I had already planned that numerous flushes would be needed
I really don’t want to be taking the radiators off to take them outside
And regarding the plastic pipe, yes I am aware that this should be barrier protected but this was installed by the Builder and only when I got the floor up did I see that he had used this to get down to the radiator at the furthest point
The plastic pipe goes through the ceiling so I can’t get to it and if I could, I would absolutely be replacing it with copper so yes, I was annoyed once I saw it but I’m going back 15 years when the extension was built
The two plastic runs of pipe connect using HEP20 connectors and from the attached photo the paperwork shows the name Hepworth
From what I can see, it looks like Hepworth are now owned by Wavin so I’m hoping that would indicate that it was barrier protected so I have emailed their technical services the attached photo to see if they can determine whether it is or not
Attachments
Had it once on an absolute brand new standard rads system
The water came out chocolate brown straight away which is not normal on a everything new system it ran brown for at least an hour with filling loop open and hoses on .
Only thing i could think of was some joker at the factory had filled one of the rads with chocolate powder or something like it
The water came out chocolate brown straight away which is not normal on a everything new system it ran brown for at least an hour with filling loop open and hoses on .
Only thing i could think of was some joker at the factory had filled one of the rads with chocolate powder or something like it
I have received confirmation from Wavin that the red text on the pipe denotes that it is barrier protected so a useful piece of information they have provided
@gas112
Here is this morning‘s first drain down (see photo)
I have used a clear container so it is easier to see the colour of the water
I have taken a bottle as a sample when the container was completely full so I can do some litmus tests when they arrive today using the same volume of water also
I also used my wet Vac on the 4 drain points prior to flushing and that got out some quite nasty stuff presumably from the horizontal pipes so will only serve to help
System has been filled up, bled and is now heating up and I hope to get another sample before the day is out to photograph, bottle and test
Attachments
And I really didn't want to spend 2 hours in a cylinder cupboard next to a 300L UV when it was 33°C outside and about 45°C in the cupboard!
But I had to, in order to fix the issue!
Thanks for your reply again @DP but what my point is why so many fills, drains (albeit partial) and partial flushes have not yet changed the colour significantly
I’ve stuck gallons of fresh water in to dilute the cleaner and run the system but the colour looks consistent still
The cleaner is continually being diluted
If I had a glass of orange squash , drank some and then topped up with water, it would lighten in colour
Fernox have a water quality test where you send off a sample. I don't know whether this would identify what the colour is due to. No doubt other services are available.
My earlier unanswered question about what the cleaner's instructions say was supposed to suggest "does the colour matter?", i.e. if you've used the cleaner according to its instructions then the system "must now be clean", or "clean enough that you don't need to worry about the remaining discolouration". Personally when I recently cleaned my system I put the drain hose down the drain and didn't look at the colour. I'm not sure what I think about this, what do the pros reckon?
One thought, when you drain are you opening all the bleed valves on the radiators?
My earlier unanswered question about what the cleaner's instructions say was supposed to suggest "does the colour matter?", i.e. if you've used the cleaner according to its instructions then the system "must now be clean", or "clean enough that you don't need to worry about the remaining discolouration". Personally when I recently cleaned my system I put the drain hose down the drain and didn't look at the colour. I'm not sure what I think about this, what do the pros reckon?
One thought, when you drain are you opening all the bleed valves on the radiators?
As explained above...
Your version of flushing is like running bath taps, with the plug removed, to get rid of the scum halfway up the bath sides.
Your version of flushing is like running bath taps, with the plug removed, to get rid of the scum halfway up the bath sides.
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