Radiator Sludge

[endecotp]

BTW: which thermal camera do you have?

 

[RainTown]

Basic things, like checking whether the flow and returns of the system have been mixed up,

Sorry, practically, how to know? 95% of the piping is under tbe floor. Is that something the customer should be checking after a new boiler was installed and new TRVs fitted to all radiators? Really?

Remember around 8 different plumbers/ gas/installers have looked at it over last 3 years or so, as I got various quotes for a new boilerTRVs supply and installation, and 3 in last 2 months in this very issue, and all looking at same system with same hardware/connectivity. None mentioned the flow/return might be wrong way round.

The Hive TRVs are apparently bidirectional btw.

As I said in earlier post, tbe CH system was installed for my elderly parents via some government scheme. Has the TRVs been at ankle level, they would have been harder for them to use. TRVs attached on the top of radiators seems pretty common in my limited personal experience, in/around Scotland mostly.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Sorry, practically, how to know? 95% of the piping is under tbe floor. Is that something the customer should be checking after a new boiler was installed and new TRVs fitted to all radiators? Really?

It shouldn't be necessary, but you are, where you are, and need to find a solution.

Remember around 8 different plumbers/ gas/installers have looked at it over last 3 years or so, as I got various quotes for a new boilerTRVs supply and installation, and 3 in last 2 months in this very issue, and all looking at same system with same hardware/connectivity. None mentioned the flow/return might be wrong way round.

One, who knows what he's about, should be enough, but these are commercial businesses, out to make a profit, from you the customer. The better informed the customer, the better able they are able to know what needs doing.

 

[RainTown]

BTW: which thermal camera do you have?

It’s a seek thermal attachment to my old iPhone.

Seek Thermal Compact XR Extended Range Thermal Imaging Camera with Lightning Connector and Protective Waterproof Case for Apple iOS Devices - Black

Cost me 180 quid from Amazon in 2017. I lost track of it, and only found it in a box of cables a few weeks ago. My specific model can’t take sequences of photos with same temperature range, their support team just confirmed that, which is a bit annoying.

“This control is only available with the SeekThermal Compact Pro or Compact Pro XR cameras. Unfortunately, it is not supported on the standard Compact models, even when using the latest version of the Seek Thermalapp on an iPhone.”

 

[RainTown]

They quickly remove the old boiler and dump it in the garden. Now they’ve got a load of pipes sticking out of the floor and a boiler with some connections. They can probably identify the gas pipe, I hope. The others - well, some are 15mm and some are 22mm. They connect the 22mm pipes to the CH flow and return, and turn it on. Great, the radiators don’t fill with gas! And they get warm (kinda). Job done, go to pub!

I hoped a Gas Safe registered installer, also on the approved list from Baxi , would be better.

They actually were very tidy, and took old boiler away. They didn’t go to the pub, but they had a train to catch. The 3:15 from Glasgow Central. Left my place 2:35 or so.

 

[denso13]

TRVs attached on the top of radiators seems pretty common in my limited personal experience, in/around Scotland mostly.

They are, it isn't an issue.

 

[endecotp]

Sorry, practically, how to know? [whether flow and return have been swapped]

Feel the pipes at the radiator. The one that get warm first is the flow.

Of course you shouldn’t need to do this, but…….

 

[RainTown]

Feel the pipes at the radiator The one that get warm first is the flow.

Of course you shouldn’t need to do this, but…….

This is what I assumed. And that “gets hot first” connection is consistently at the lockshield. And without being able to say 100%, I think it was always so. Pre Baxi too.

 

[endecotp]

This is what I assumed. And that “gets hot first” connection is consistently at the lockshield. And without being able to say 100%, I think it was always so. Pre Baxi too.

Well, whatever the history, it is certainly wrong. Fix it by adjusting the pipework wherever is most convenient, likely at or near the boiler.

Edited to add: “consistently at the lockshield” isn’t the issue, but “consistently at the bottom of the radiator” is what matters. Just for clarity.