Magnaclean leak, warranty process?

[Muzz]

Spotted my magnaclean has been leaking, on closer inspection i reckon it's one of the valves that is poorly made.

if you look at the nut that connects to the magnaclean body side on, it's approx 15mm high on one side, but the other is about 12 mm. I think as a result it's not pressing evenly on the flange and so not sealing the rubber washer to the magnaclean body. It's noticably squint.

It must have been like this for a while as the magnaclean has a tide mark in it where there must have been an air pocket.

The plastic threads appear to be ok and the plastic part has not been crushed/deformed.

Forgot my warrenty card so haven't called up Adey yet, but I diy fitted this and didn't register it, do you think I'll have problem getting anything out of them.

Doing some other work this weekend so am just going to remove it and re pipe that section for now.

 

[mickyg]

they're pretty good just phone them up. I've had bits off them for 2yr old units no quibble. Personally i'd be inclined to remove it and fit something more reliable.

 

[htgeng]

they're pretty good just phone them up. I've had bits off them for 2yr old units no quibble. Personally i'd be inclined to remove it and fit something more reliable.

Pretty bad in my experience! As per their request I sent them a magnaclean I had fitted which had leaked after a couple of years. They said they would examine(!?) it and get back to me. They didn't even bother to send me one back or compensate me so I was out of pocket for the return trip to fit it, plus the cost of the unit.

Never fit one again. Spirovent everytime now. IIRC British Gas stopped fitting magnacleans. Probably for the same reason that I did. Good idea just poor execution.

 

[Agile]

if you look at the nut that connects to the magnaclean body side on, it's approx 15mm high on one side, but the other is about 12 mm. I think as a result it's not pressing evenly on the flange and so not sealing the rubber washer to the magnaclean body. It's noticably squint.

It must have been like this for a while as the magnaclean has a tide mark in it where there must have been an air pocket.

The plastic threads appear to be ok and the plastic part has not been crushed/deformed.

Perhaps I am missing something, but you have very clearly described that the installer ( you! ) cross threaded the nut on the valve.

You then think that its Chris Adey's fault !

You also mention a tide mark. That indicates that the installer/user has not bled the air from the vent on the top !

So where have I gone wrong in assessing the situation?

Tony

 

[Muzz]

So where have I gone wrong in assessing the situation?

hmm, let me see...

Perhaps I am missing something, but you have very clearly described that the installer ( you! ) cross threaded the nut on the valve.

As I said, the plastic threads appear to be fine. The nut goes on straight but doesn't seem to be achieveing a seal. If I reverse the magnaclean and use the other valve, the threads line up and it goes on straight.

You then think that its Chris Adey's fault !

I said it was leaking and I can see something that looks incorrect.
I believe I have fitted it correctly so my next logical step is to contact the manufacturer and see what they say. If they determine it was incorrect fitting then I'll deal with that.

You also mention a tide mark. That indicates that the installer/user has not bled the air from the vent on the top !

Of course I've bled the air from the top, but as it's made of opaque plastic I can't tell if air has collected in it at some future point! It's also logical to assume if water can get out, air might get in and I wondered (whether correct or not) if this was also related

The point I was trying to make was that if you look at the nut side on, you would expect it to be rectangular in shape, with the top edge parallel with the bottom edge, it is not.
With the magnaclean detached, if you pull the nut towards you so it is pushed against the flange as would happen when it's tightened, the gap between the nut and the rest of the valve body is not equal, it is on my other valve.
It's therefore logical to conclude that this nut may not be perfect, resulting in a poor seal.

The nut is made out of metal so i can't see how i can have damaged it's threads and not the plastic threads.

 

[Agile]

Perhaps I misinterpreted your description of the nut and its location. It sounded like a description of a cross threaded connection.

The threads on the filter are not "cut" but moulded and as such they are very loose and its easy to cross thread when fitting the nut. Yes, I can say that I have cross threaded them myself and because they are so loose it does not seen to damage the plastic thread.

The air bleed is just like a rad and needs to be cpened from time to time as its a likely place for air to collect.

If the system is pressurised then air will not enter! But corrosion processes do produce gases.

Tony

 

[Muzz]

I was carefull when fitting but of course i guess cross threading could also be a problem even if they look ok.

I am wondering if I have a corrosion problem (i have a sealed system), not sure if you saw an earlier post i had where I was asking about the colour of system water as mine is brown (a sort of apple juice colour), as mentioned in my other post I've discovered leaks I've had to fix by a drain down as well as planned rad replcament (inhibitor always added though).

Anyway, i will be draining down to add 2 rads and fix a leak i spotted elsewhere so just as well i spotted this right now.

I had hoped this would be the last time I needed to touch my central heating system but if i want to refit this it might need a drain down.

How good are freeze kits and how much time would it give me to refit? we are talking about the 22mm return pipe here?

 

[Muzz]

Called, Adey they were quite helpfull once I explained I had already detached it from my system.

said they'll send a pre-paid envelope for me to send the parts to them so they can take a look.

 

[snb]

the valves on these units can become undone on the chrome body. you need a large allen key to tighten them before you assemble them. That is probably why you have a difference in size!