How to do a Central heating power flush

[littlemonkey]

Hey guys,

I'm wanting to get a Power Flush done on my central heating and am thinking of renting out the machine and chemicals to get it done. BUT! I've never done this kind of thing before and I wondered if anyone could give me any tips / guidance on how to actually do it?

Cheers

 

[kevplumb]

have a look in the FAQ at the top

 

[mickyg]

I wouldn't bother renting a machine etc. You could quickly spend over a £100 on rental, chemicals and useful fittings and tools to carry out the job properly. Your then in a position of having no experience of how to carry out the task or over come any potential problems, and it could be money down the drain, literally!
Try manually flushing it with chemicals and draining/refilling. I think there's something in the FAQ to advise on this.

 

[littlemonkey]

Hi Kev,

Sorry if I seem really stupid here, but I did look at the FAQ and there isn't a particular post covering how to do a Power Flush.

Did I miss it?

 

[namsag]

Why do you think it needs flushing

 

[kevplumb]

no i ain't been around for a bit its gone

you add chemicals and run the system will shift some

removing rads and putting a hose in them is a better plan

most of the dirt settles in the rads

you can also flush the system with a hose ie mains pressure

i ain't a great advocate of powerflushing as a one stop fix all solution

 

[gas4you]

I agree with Kev. Powerflushing per se, is over rated. Just as good a job can be done using just mains pressure water if you know what you're doing.

It is very rare I get my powerflush machine out these days

 

[littlemonkey]

Is there any issue of having to rebalance the radiators / boiler pressure afterwards? That is really the bit that bugs me.

My plan was to:

1) Find the stop-tap. Turn water off in the house.
2) Unbolt one of the radiators, carefully lift off the wall and drain it outside by letting the water run out into a drain
3) In the valve coming out of the floor that used to be connected to the radiator, plug the powerflush system in and set it going for a while.
4) Put the radiator back on. Turn the stop tap back on.
5) ....then what?

 

[littlemonkey]

....also I'm in York. Is anyone on here local? I'd be happy to pay for the help if someone could come around and guide me through it.

 

[kevplumb]

Is there any issue of having to rebalance the radiators / boiler pressure afterwards? That is really the bit that bugs me.

My plan was to:

1) Find the stop-tap. Turn water off in the house.
2) Unbolt one of the radiators, carefully lift off the wall and drain it outside by letting the water run out into a drain
3) In the valve coming out of the floor that used to be connected to the radiator, plug the powerflush system in and set it going for a while.
4) Put the radiator back on. Turn the stop tap back on.
5) ....then what?

if only it was that easy

balancing the rads is easy enough

and if you have to top the boiler press up you dont need to turn the water off just the boiler

 

[simond]

The reason the powerflush machine was invented was to prevent us from having to remove 18 radiators on a white carpet and cart them outside for a good hose out.

As has been said, if you have the time and don't have white carpets, save £100 and hose them out outside. There is no better way, it's just uneconomic and too risky if you are in the contracting game.

 

[littlemonkey]

Why do you think it needs flushing

Two reasons:

1) We had a new boiler installed about 2 months ago and I was told to make sure I get it done

2) The radiators are cool at the bottom and hot at the top

 

[littlemonkey]

The reason the powerflush machine was invented was to prevent us from having to remove 18 radiators on a white carpet and cart them outside for a good hose out.

As has been said, if you have the time and don't have white carpets, save £100 and hose them out outside. There is no better way, it's just uneconomic and too risky if you are in the contracting game.

This is exactly it - the attractive thing about a power flush is only having to take off one radiator and plug it into the valves. The thought of carrying radiators down the stairs is not cool.

 

[littlemonkey]

if only it was that easy

Was there something I missed in the steps I outlined? :O Please let me know.

balancing the rads is easy enough

This is something i'm not sure about. How does I balance them? It is where I use a key to let out air of each radiator OR do I need to do something with the boiler?

and if you have to top the boiler press up you dont need to turn the water off just the boiler

I've got no idea about this. Please explain what you mean.

Thanks Kev.

 

[mickyg]

1) We had a new boiler installed about 2 months ago and I was told to make sure I get it done

who told you that?