Nice gentleman from Baxi has just left my house, after finally fixing my boiler (got a crisis loan from social fund thank god)

He said the heat exchanger was fubared and now a new one has been fitted, the boiler should work a little more efficiently. Only issue now is the radiators. As they don't cover the radiator side of it (which I was well aware of), I'd need to get the system flushed out with either chemicals or a big pump to rid them of the grunge and muck probably situated in them currently.

I'm just happy I've at least got hot water again after nearly a month

Any ideas on what a plumber may charge to flush a system properly. I'd try myself but the radiators are old and a real pain to try work with.

 

Flushing by all accounts can be a pain in the harris. We had ours done a while back, pretty big house, and took just over an hour.

Aunt had hers done in her lil one bed bungalow, and took 3 hours based on it being old pipework and rads. Set her back something daft like £300. Fingers crossed yours is a quick one mate.

Dont need to tell me about hot water. We finally have a new boiler, its so nice not having to get up 6 times a night to relight the old one to keep the heating going.

 

Glad its fixed Chocolate, one less worry at least. It might be possible to flush the radiators, never done it myself but it would be good to save the expense.

Les

 

You can probably do the rads yourself by taking them outside and playing a hosepipe through them. There's a level of disruption you have to accept whilst doing it though. Like.... Moving light coloured carpets away from the work area. There'll always be some spillage IMO.


J.

 

you should have drain off valves at the bottom of the house/cellar- bottom of system.

get two buckets- open valves up and empty the rads.

can top back up with clean water (from filling loop) - repeat a few times ?

presuming you have a filling loop/combi system or even the valves fitted.

not sure you'll find a plumber who can be bothered to start flushing system- filthy long work.

much easier doing a bit of servicing/pipework.

 

Scottish Gas currently charge £700 for a 2 bedroomed semi (6 radiators)

Normal non rip-off plumber would be circa £400

There is an alternative slow release cleansing agent (as opposed to a power flush) that will take around 2 weeks to work it's magic and that's a whole lot cheaper (but not sure as to how effective it is in comparison)

 

If the boiler is a sealed system, depending on the installation, it can be possible to power-flush teh system without the need for a fancy pump! (fill loop needs to be on the feed, and drain on the return, boiler must have isolator valves on the heat excahanger)

Basically by shutting the right valves and opening the drian/pressure relief. Mains pressure water can be forced through the system via the fill loop to flush out debris, shutting all radiators barring one (and one side of the heat exchanger of the boiler) will flush that one individual radiator (both ends fully open, remove TRV heads), opening another radiator and shutting the previous one off will flush the next radiator, and so forth.

I've done a combination of teh above, system flushed first, then removing and flushing each individual rads (when I replaced the TRVs, which were all sticking), and finishing off with a flushing chemicle left in for a month, then the system re-flushed using the mains water pressure method though each rad again. Finalised with a dose of inhibitor.

 

Glad things are coming along COB. I'm about ready to take a sledgehammer to my CH and HW system (although I'm sure that wouldn't really help in the long run)

 

Wow, thanks for the positive posts guys.

The afore mentioned chemicals; the gentleman from Baxi who did the repairs this morning did comment the easiest way is to flush using chemicals for about 2-3 weeks. It swirls round the system and basically unblocks the grunge and crap which he commented was probably colelcted in the bottoms. This then wastes gas heating grime and crap, not the whole radiator.

My system is not a combi one. I have three tanks upstairs in my/Mrs bedroom. Lower is a insulated big round thing with hoses coming in/out and like a bleed valve. He told me this is the one I gently unscrew for getting air out. Said to check this if I hear 'gurgling' noises. The middle one is big and presume it's for cold water, and the top is like an over flow tank.

Unfortunatley I know nothing about these, which should be something I look into, so I don't feel very brave

Gonna have the heating on for a few days and see if I notice any difference in the heating, then make a decision. I know I should drain them so will have to look at it at some point. £400-700 seems like it could be a real p.i.t.a. job to do, especially knowing my luck recently. Luckily though, I have laminate in 4 of the 5 rooms I have a radiator.

 

At least with carpet, it can be pulled back when you are working on a radiator.
You can't do that with laminate, and as you know, laminate flooring and water are not a good mix so be extra careful.

If you have a drain off point on one of the lower rads that would make life easier for you!

 

Have a look for a drain off on your system.....

Could be built into the radiator valve like this (the bit to the left):


Or somewhere on the pipework like one of these:


Most probably its been painted over at some point in its life so might not be obvious at first glance.

You attach a hose to the end so you can route it outside / down a drain.

 

Just had a look round all the radiators, and couldn't find anything similar to the above. These are pics I've just taken of the airing cupboard upstairs where the magic happens

Lower:



And just above it:


Make any sense

 

There's no problem doing it on your system, but a drain point (which has to be at a low point downstairs) makes life easier as you won't spill water over your floor. Its not forced to be on the actual radiator, its sometimes on the pipework leading to a rad. Though you may not have one at all!

If you don't, what I've done in the past is adapt an old rad valve with a hose attached.

I'm not a plumber, but I look after a quite a few rental properties and do most of the plumbing work myself. I can diagnose faults on boilers which saves time for my Corgi bloke. Diagnosed a faulty flue fan yesterday, so mr Corgi just has to order the part then make one visit to the property instead of 2.

 

Good to see your getting sorted buddy!

 

Would you like to come round my house and have a go?

Free commission if you do

The cheek of it

 

AFAIK the bleed valve ( if fitted ) should be at one of the lowest points of the system, so try looking downstairs around the bottoms of the radiators.

You quite possibly dont have one though, we didnt and when we had our new boiler fitted the plumber fitted one like the top one in the picture so he could flush the system through as part of the fitting.

 

So that would limit me to dismantling the radiators one by one then.. bugger

 

Funnily enough I'm often in Scunny, wifey works there and I sometimes pick her up from work, as I did tonight!

Quite busy at the mo' with new tenants and stuff. But if I get time and you still want it doing I'll drop you a PM and come round to give you a hand.

 

If you don't have a drain point, it might be worth fitting one. The rad valve versions are only around 3 quid and you only need one fitting!

 

I make a blinding cuppa

Any time when you can I would be very appreciative of it

 

You can now have a shower cob glad it is all sorted now chap

 

Sorry mate, don't have a shower in the bathroom any more. When I had a new bathroom suite, new floor/wall tiles etc etc fitted about 2 1/2 years back, I decided not to bother with on, as it was causing a lot of damp and mold to grow (theres not very good ventilation and cavity walls etc were too expensive).

But yeah, I spent a good 30 mins earlier today soaking in the bath, having a think about things.

 

When he took the cover off the boiler did you notice a PGH1372 stamp on the main lid, next to the inspection window....if so, it was one of mine.

If it was mine I apologise, it may have been a Friday afternooner, or a Monday morninger.

 

I thought of that but if it's never been done before, he might just end up causing a blockage in a lower loop somewhere.

OTOH, that would limit any potential spills from the rads.

If I was doing it in paranoid mode, I'd use plastic sheeting, duck taped to the pipe stems to prevent direct water damage to the flooring. Secondary spillage is down to the skill or numptiness of the home owner.

J.

 

Dunno, can't be bothered to look. depends how long you've worked there too.

On second thoughts, I should be grateful theres no parts missing

 

Thank god its fixed,,,,,,,,,,,,you stink

 

I'd be more worried about how Joanne knew I stunk

 

She said only on Tuesdays cob

 

Good reply

 

If i recall

B&Q used to do a two part cleaner/ flusher & conditioner. about £30

you drain the hot header tank a fair way, ( i exposed the fill pipe and filled directly ) and add the cleaner. you then open the drain on an outside rad to pull the cleaner from the header tank into your HW system


heres the fun part...

you then have to run the system on full heat for one week !!!!!


(yup it was mid summer when we had to do ours!!!)


after one week, you drain the system completely, then refill adding the conditioner as you fill from the header tank. Run for a couple of hours, and thats it..



If you want to go down the flushing route, yourself, its a pita, and you run the risk of leaving sediment in your nice new HE


alternately ring a few local plumbers, remind them theres a recession on, and offer some artwork for the job




Mart