Power Flushing....your views...

[SuperMario80]

I was having a chat with a friend the other day (a plumber). We were talking about power flushing, he mentioned he doesn't like them as sometimes they do more harm than good in terms of causing the odd leak where the system had previously been 'held together' by the sludge and muck. He mentioned he preferred to just add sludge and flux remover for several days to circulate, then flush out just using water from the header tank and finally add inhibitor. Yet others I talk to swear by them.

What do you experienced guys think about them?

 

[kevplumb]

it has it's place but is not the universal answer to all heating woes

personally i think it is grossly oversold

 

[muggles]

Done correctly it can revive an old system very effectively, yes it may find the odd weak point in the system and "cause" a leak but that bit was going to leak sooner or later anyway and it's better that it happens while you've got someone there who can deal with it than while you're away on holiday, for example. If it's clearing sludge and muck from these bits then that's surely proof that the powerflush is doing an effective job of making your system squeaky clean.

 

[transam]

what happens to all the contaminated water after a power flush ?? 'obviously ' its disposed of in a responsible way ?? what generally happens is that its dumped down the nearest drain ? thousands of gallons of water , contaminated with magnatite , various acids and other chemicals are dumped into the U.K's drains , as a direct consequence of power flushing , every year .

 

[heatingman]

A lot of machines will filter/clean and re-cycle the bulk of the water, to reduce excessive waste.
system chemicals if used correctly are approved for dumping into waste water systems.

 

[bengasman]

what happens to all the contaminated water after a power flush ?? 'obviously ' its disposed of in a responsible way ?? what generally happens is that its dumped down the nearest drain ? thousands of gallons of water , contaminated with magnatite , various acids and other chemicals are dumped into the U.K's drains , as a direct consequence of power flushing , every year .

And??
Since when is it a problem to dump acid in a sewer?

 

[bengasman]

...he doesn't like them as sometimes they do more harm than good in terms of causing the odd leak ...

Powerflushing does not cause leaks anymore than pulling a nail out of a tyre causes a leak.
It may reveal a leak, but that leak was already there and just not visible.
Quite often powerflushes are sold to make more money whilst not really necessary, but when a system is clogged up with a limescale/magnetite mix, no magnaclean or 5 gallons of softcleaner will shift it.
Having said that, a powerflush machine operated by a numpty that does not know how to use it, won't shift it either.
Anyone claiming a bottle of x100 and a magnaclean is just as good, can be counted as such a numpty.

 

[mickyg]

It`s rubbish and a gimmick, basically a crap pump fitted in a dusty bin container with loads of impressive valves/leads dump/options added. slightly more powerful than the one doing your heating system now. It does nothing other than `circulate`chemicals and dump dirty water, completely pointless, fit a magnaclean and see how effective your powerflush wasn`t.

the powerflush machine you have previously used is no good, the chemicals were no good and your methods of using it were poor, or more likely, as I suspect your just a returning troll thats never been near a heating system in its life.

 

[lawrance]

yeah, fitted magnacleans, boiler buddy's, also have a magnaclean power flush filter. Do a power flush on a dirty system properly and fit a magnaclean you will get near to sod all on the magnaclean a year down the line providing the system does not have problems like drawing air in or having to top up the system at regular intervals.

 

[ajstoneservices]

It`s rubbish and a gimmick, basically a crap pump fitted in a dusty bin container with loads of impressive valves/leads dump/options added. slightly more powerful than the one doing your heating system now. It does nothing other than `circulate`chemicals and dump dirty water, completely pointless, fit a magnaclean and see how effective your powerflush wasn`t.

the powerflush machine you have previously used is no good, the chemicals were no good and your methods of using it were poor, or more likely, as I suspect your just a returning troll thats never been near a heating system in its life.

Not returning troll, username had a ring to it, thought it would get you on your toes. BTW Kamco and Fernox personnel who run their courses may disagree. Done both.

Are you saying that Giles from Kamco says power flushing is a waste of time? if so it's not what he's told me and I know him outside of Kamco.