soda blasting interior of heat exchanger

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Hi,

A short cycling boiler at Christmas and evidence of sludge prompted me to fit a magnaclean2 and put a couple of litres of sentinel x800 into the system and circulate this for a few months till the weather improved.

I am now thinking of draining the system and restoring full operational efficiency to the boiler by using my domestic pressure washer connected to some suitable flexible pipes to back flush the system, each radiator and the boiler's heat exchanger via this pressurised flow.

Then an idea surfaced, in that pressure washers lend themselves to the introduction of water bourne abrasives via a venturi. But instead of inserting a light abrasive into the flow why not use bicarbonate of soda as the fizzing aids the removal of contaminates but will not harm the materials of the heat exchanger or so the theory goes...see soda based blasting via a Google search.

What is the forums view of using this blasting technique on the heat exchanger? I would welcome your practical advice before I take the plunge.

Boiler is a Worcester Bosch FS30cdi

Cheers

Joe
 
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Nah it's a Tupperflush :)

Got a cracking deal on the pump and I sort of got carried away. All the valves are 1 1/4 BSP full bore, 1" hosing. Needs a few more mods and got to install a magnetic rod into the tank return.
 
Well if its not powerful enough I can always hire a specialist unit from a hire shop.

It's just that the power washer is in the garage doing nothing, I have all the time in the world, and bicarbonate of soda is cheap and it would appear very effective given its nanoscale effect in getting into the micro fissures of contaminates and cracking, bursting and dislodging them via its fizzing effect.

Just a thought and I wont know how effective the technique is until I've tried it given there doesn't appear to be any prior experience of soda blasting heat exchangers here.

Don't forget what Niccolò Machiavelli said:
"It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new"

Cheers
Joe
 
Don't waste your time, I don't think you get the concept....you need a high flowrate to dislodge the muck. Power washers are very high pressure but very low flow....it won't do anything more than clean the bit of pipe where you connect it.
 
OK I'll hire a specialist flushing unit and do it properly from the outset.

But before I reconnect the flow and return to the boiler I will try a soda blast of just the heat exchanger to see if it dislodges anymore crud to itry and mprove the thermal transfer .

Cheers

Joe
 
Yes, going back to a finish of a job I did just before Christmas to check the magnacleans and strainers....be interesting to see the results.

Trouble with all powerflushing is the TRVs...some especially Danfoss are incredibly restrictive. TRVs really need taking out before the flushing starts.
 
X800 should never be left in a system longer than one week and does everything that it is going to do in 24 hours.

What chemical reaction are you expecting the bicarbonate of soda to have on the heat exchanger? ( What boiler is it for that matter? )

I doubt that your bicarbonate of soda will be any better than you would get by using dihydrogen monoxide!

Tony
 
Hi
I looked at the X800 instructions and they make no mention of a timeline for flushing so I thought I would leave it in till the weather got warmer.

Re the soda blasting I don't believe there is a chemical reaction the cleaning action is purely mechanical and can be delivered by air or water based propellants . See extract:



What is Sodablast?
Sodablast is a process of removing paint and contaminates from surfaces with little or no impact to the original surface. A combination of sodium bicarbonate and air are blasted onto the surface at relatively low pressure (40-100PSI). The soda particles fracture when they meet the hard surface and the energy created by this fracture displaces paint and/or other contaminates. The Sodablast compressor propels a bicarbonate-of-soda based media via compressed air onto the surface to be cleaned. This process gently removes the material without harming the substrate and can be performed wet or dry.

How was Sodablast developed?
Back in 1972, when New York State engineers were looking for ways to clean the Statue of Liberty, they had many concerns involving issues of the environment, waste disposal, and protection of the statues surface itself. Any use of any abrasive material to clean the surface would have been very harmful to the soft copper plates, let alone the waste in the water surrounding the statue. Sodablast was invented because it would not only do the job while having a negligible impact on the waterways and harbour, but it was also non-abrasive. Just like the surface of the Statue of Liberty, this non abrasive action allows Sodablast to be used on surfaces that currently popular abrasive media would damage. i.e.: aluminium, stainless steel, brick, stone, glass, fibreglass, wood, some plastics, seals, bearings, splines, radiator cores, transmission cases, and hydraulic cylinders. In some cases, using dry blasting, shutdown of electric motors and pumps is not necessary.

Cheers

Joe
 

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