Radiator Sludge

[dilalio]

chucking what gunk is removed down the kitchen sink?

I'd be using the magnets to catch as much as possible and then dumping the water down the loo, not the sink.

 

[denso13]

Any input much appreciated. I don't have great DIY skills, so I presume this is beyond my own abilities. Know Your Limits

Sounds like you need to find someone you can trust to properly diagnose and carry out the necessary repairs. That can be difficult.

Family recommendations, local social media groups and the like can help. Research the companies/installers if you are unsure, but you'll ultimately need to rely on someone to put things right.

 

[dilalio]

Sounds like you need to find someone you can trust to properly diagnose and carry out the necessary repairs. That can be difficult.

Family recommendations, local social media groups and the like can help. Research the companies/installers if you are unsure, but you'll ultimately need to rely on someone to put things right.

Best thing if you don't know anyone is to go into your nearest "independent" trade merchants and ask them to recommend someone.

 

[ChrisJP]

Have any of the tradesmen actually gone around and balanced the radiators? That is: adjust the lockshield valves on each radiator to ensure that water doesn't flow preferentially to only a sub group of radiators? That could be the reason why some of your radiators don't get very warm rather than them being full of sludge.
Balancing can actually be done by anyone, although it requires a lot of patience. With the system running, open the main valves fully on every radiator and close the lockshield valves on all radiators except the one that get the least warm. Check that that one now heats up. Then go to the next radiator is the "warmness heirarchy" and gradually open the lockshield valve on it until it too now heats up. Check that the first radiator stays hot. Wait for at least 20 minutes between adjusting the lockshield and checking the radiator temperature. Proceed in this manner until you've adjusted all the lockshield valves, checking each time that all the radiators you've adjusted stay hot, and waiting 20 minutes of so between each adjustment and temperature checking (I said it needed patience!).

 

[spile]

which can be dealt with with chemical clean and hot and cold flushes in the vast majority of cases . But then again that doesnt generate £££ for unnecessary work

Agreed

 

[spile]

Balancing can actually be done by anyone, although it requires a lot of patience.

A skill worth learning. Paying an engineer to do it doesn’t make sense to me given the time it takes.

 

[dilalio]

A skill worth learning. Paying an engineer to do it doesn’t make sense to me given the time it takes.

If you want to do it properly and have the time... A couple of temp clamps and adjust lockshield until getting the correct deltaT

 

[Madrab]

I see 2 different distinction with balancing when it comes to central heating systems -

1- Balancing rads to obtain the correct ΔT across the rad to ensure the radiator is delivering its documented output and can replace the heat loss for the space it's been sized for. Also to try and ensure that a condensing boiler condenses as much as possible, maximising efficiency.
2 - Balancing the system to ensure that all the radiators heat up at the same time to try and ensure all the spaces and the overall property heats up uniformly, maximising comfort in as fast a time as possible. That also aids in maximising efficiency.

IME, the whole process is really quite fickle to try getting the 'mid point' between the 2 just right.

 

[spile]

I see 2 different distinction with balancing when it comes to central heating systems -

1- Balancing rads to obtain the correct ΔT across the rad to ensure the radiator is delivering its documented output and can replace the heat loss for the space it's been sized for. Also to try and ensure that a condensing boiler condenses as much as possible, maximising efficiency.
2 - Balancing the system to ensure that all the radiators heat up at the same time to try and ensure all the spaces and the overall property heats up uniformly, maximising comfort in as fast a time as possible. That also aids in maximising efficiency.

IME, the whole process is really quite fickle to try getting the 'mid point' between the 2 just right.

I only concern myself with 2 and then ensuring the heat curve of the boiler is appropriate for our house.