Sentinel X400 procedure and Magnaclean

[FFCForever]

Hi All,
Can you let me know if im OK in doing this? Im about to add Sentinel X400 to my heating system due to a sludge issue.

I then intend to leave it for 4 weeks before turning off the boiler then opening the bleed valve in my top most radiator and opening the pressure release valve outside my house from the back of the boiler to empty the system.

Refill with water then flush immediately again for good measure (no Sentinel X400).

I then want to add a protecting fluid and get a local plumber to install a magnaclean at this point.

So does that sound about right? Will sludge moving toward the boiler be a bad thing as it empties? Should i install the Magnaclean at the same time as I add the X400? And roughly how much would i be expected to be charged just to install a Maganclean assuming i buy one?

Thanks

 

[gas4you]

Never use the prv on a boiler to drain it, that is unless you have a new one handy to replace it with when the crud jams it open.

Drain/flush from a drain cock under a downstairs rad instead. Flush through each rad with mains pressure water via the boiler filling loop.

Done correctly this is as good as a powerflush.

Fit the magnaclean in the return to the boiler after the final drain down.

 

[JohnD]

if you have the Magnaclean fitted prior to adding the X400, you can have the pleasure of seeing how much sludge it collects. You will enjoy that. After a couple of weeks you will probably find the amount drops (you still have to empty and rinse it to remove the non-magnetic muck)

 

[FFCForever]

I dont think i have a Drain cock on the system, i cant find one anyway. I think i'll ask the plumber to put on on as well unless he can find one.

Thanks for the advice about the PRV though, good job i checked.

 

[JohnD]

If you have radiators fed by pipes coming down from the ceiling (common with concrete floors) then you need a DOC on each rad. You can get a lockshield valve with DOC incorporated (I use these) which are handy and quite neat.

IMO it is good to have at least one full-bore drain off that you can fasten a hosepipe to (I used a washing-machine hose tee) as the water will gush out of it at a good rate, and this will (1) speed up the draining (2) help wash out the dirt. Best to put it on a Return pipe as the temp is lower so it will last longer. DOC washers eventually perish.

I am just a householder.