Our combi boiler started leaking from the pressure gauge . The man came out and said it’s because our system is full of sludge. He’s coming back today to flush and fit new gauge.
We are paying by the hour and he is being a bit vague on how long it will take , any idea for 7 radiators?
Does he need access to all the radiators? Will he need to disappear for several hours to get something unforeseen from screw fix?
Full working day, give or take. £500+
Needs to access every rad to give them a pummelling with an agitator (an SDS boxing glove mounted to a rotary stop drill)
Should involve a machine and chemicals
Gauge leaking might be a broken tube to the gauge caused by opening and closing the case for service
My memory of it is that he will need to access the radiators, that he stayed and monitored the machinery (a sort of magnet?) to gauge when the process was over and the time taken really all depends on the state of your system. I think ours took most of a morning for probably a dozen radiators and that it did make a difference.
Needs to access every rad to give them a pummelling with an agitator (an SDS boxing glove mounted to a rotary stop drill)
Or rubber mallet - I think that's what he was using judging by the sound it was making. The alternative is to remove each radiator & flush them out individually or replace them...
Anyone know when the best time to do it is if you're replacing (almost) all of the radiators, either in 1 go or a couple at a time?
Should be adding a pre flushing agent to the system and running it before doing the power flush which can cause problems if the system is old or corroded. Also if you have a modernish combi there should be a sludge- magnetite filter fitted so you can keep the system cleaner.
An inconsiderate power flush could block the combi heat exchanger if not isolated .
Mike the boilerman website for good advice.
my system is old and fragile so self flushed with multifunction pond pump and picked up a retired boiler man’s magnetic filter set . Not for the faint hearted but worthwhile as saved a bit of money and took less time than a mini series binge watch..
Anyone know when the best time to do it is if you're replacing (almost) all of the radiators
If you're replacing the radiators do you still need to flush the system?
Did you ask him how dirty radiators can break the pressure gauge?
The best time to do it is June. I'm not a plumber but I emptied the system, took each radiator outside and stuck a hose in each of the four holes in turn and sloshed them around till the water ran clean.
10 years later the house is still warm, only one radiator needed changing last year and that was the bathroom one that was rusting on the outside.
I know there are professionals who will react in horror but I've witnessed two power flushes that simply resulted in moving the sludge from one place to another.
I know there are professionals who will react in horror but I've witnessed two power flushes that simply resulted in moving the sludge from one place to another.
Only because they are not getting paid for it.... Probably the best way to do it is to remove & flush each radiator, but it certainly is an arse of a job that way & easy to eff it up if one of the connections is a bit stiff & you end up knackering something.
What boiler? Although I imagine the gauges are all pretty much the same. Our Worcester combi had a leak from the pressure gauge. Had a magnaclean on which was always pretty clean.
I just replaced the pressure gauge.
Being cynical, the plumber will make more money out of a power flush , than simply changing the gauge, which is literally a 5 minutes job.
I'm also struggling to see how the need for the radiators to be cleaned is liked to leaking from the pressure gauge. I would have thought that changes in pressure should be linked to changes in temperature and the mains fill pressure more than the pump pushing against resistance. And if the pressure was getting too high, it should go from the relief valve rather than leaking from the pressure gauge.
Did you ask him how dirty radiators can break the pressure gauge?
Could very easily be misinterpretation of what the heating engineer said. Dirty radiators are caused by sludge in the system and sludge is caused by corrosion. This is generally a result of excess flux when soldering fittings, causing the water inside the system to become acidic, combined with no inhibitor in the system. Corrosion could easily cause a pressure gauge to fail, especially if there is already a tendency for galvanic corrosion - two different metals connected together, e.g. copper heating pipes and stainless steel gauge connection.
Power flush done properly will have the pump going through each radiator individually until it runs clear, depending on how bad the system is could take a while. I did a 10 radiator house that took a good 7 hours. Make sure the guy puts in enough inhibitor once it's done, and maybe invest in a magnetic filter if there isn't one there already.
Oxygen is the biggest cause of corrosion.
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