Dirty water in central heating system.

[gavroche]

We have been told by the boiler engineer that our water in the c/h is dirty now and is clogging up the heat exchanger in our boiler. Can anyone give me an idea of how much it will cost to have the system flushed and do we need specialist treatment for that?

 

[Dave7]

We have been told by the boiler engineer that our water in the c/h is dirty now and is clogging up the heat exchanger in our boiler. Can anyone give me an idea of how much it will cost to have the system flushed and do we need specialist treatment for that?

Yes.
Had it done twice.
The whole system has to be emptied. Has to be refilled with a decent inhibitor.
TBH a decent handyman can do it (that excludes me.
I think its half a day plus the inhibitor.
Before you get it done ask yourself if any other bits need doing that would be easier with an empty system eg some decorating? New rads anywhere?

 

[mistyoptic]

We had it done some years ago “powerflushed”. big system with 16 radiators. They connected the system to a big tank outside the house a bit like a bigger version of the external heart thingy you see in hospital dramas. All the cr*p ended up outside the house in their tank. Guy said he’d never seen one as bad (probably ten years of neglect by previous owners). Fitted a Magnaclean after and that and good inhibitors have kept it clean since. We paid £446 for the flushing and new inhibitors

 

[Dave7]

We had it done some years ago “powerflushed”. They connected the system to a big tank outside the house a bit like a bigger version of the external heart thingy you see in hospital dramas. All the cr*p ended up outside the house in their tank. Guy said he’d never seen one as bad (probably ten years of neglect by previous owners). Fitted a Magnaclean after and that and good inhibitors have kept it clean since. Think we paid about £200 for the flushing

Sounds good.
Ours was flushed via a rad near the conservatory and straight down the grid.
Similar price though.

 

[mistyoptic]

Sounds good.
Ours was flushed via a rad near the conservatory and straight down the grid.
Similar price though.

Edited price as found the invoice

 

[lazybloke]

Always thought a powerflush was a ripoff. A local plumber is enough of a friend that his kids have been on holiday with my family more than once, but not enough of a friend to discuss powerflush charges. Surely the biggest cash-cow of plumbing.

I diy it with mains water pressure.

 

[TissoT]

It sounds as if your system needs power flushing if its clogging up the heat exchanger
A 12 rad system will be around £400 its a specialist job.

Filling the system with a inhibitor and flushing with mains pressure will not do it
It needs to be pushed out with machine pressure.

 

[slowmotion]

Always thought a powerflush was a ripoff. A local plumber is enough of a friend that his kids have been on holiday with my family more than once, but not enough of a friend to discuss powerflush charges. Surely the biggest cash-cow of plumbing.

I diy it with mains water pressure.

I do that too. You need to understand the plumbing layout of your central heating system, but after that it's a doddle. Saving a few hundred quid and thwarting a shameless scam is quite an incentive to me.

 

[Milkfloat]

Be very careful with a powerflush you could spring leaks all over the place. I would never have one done and would just drain, put in some cleaner And run the system then in a week or so drain and fill again with some inhibitor.

 

[captain nemo1701]

I get my system cleaned annually (coming up in October) when I have the boiler serviced. Some years ago, I had one of those magnetic traps fitted which collects the magnetic metal gunk from inside the radiators. The plumber just disconnects it, empties it, puts it back on. Annual service/clean costs me about £100-ish including putting that special cleaning fluid inside the system. This powerflush seems a bit of a rip-off to me..

 

[postman]

Watch out don't get stung with one of these fancy power washes.We were told by Vailiant our water was grungy.It was ,black Guinness colour.So i looked and checked on power wash.Oh boy prices.Well we are lucky because we have an annual service,so our guy did it Two visits in a week,he puts something in then comes back and flushes it out.It takes a bit of time,but boy how well it worked.Find a good and well used heating engineer local to your area.Ask relatives,but do get a good one,not a mates mate.Captain Nemo and Milkfloat great suggestions.

 

[Mr Celine]

If your heat exchanger is clogged up the boiler will be kettling, which sounds like a kettle coming to the boil.

 

[mickle]

Power flushing machines are available to rent from your local tool hire outlet.

 

[Milkfloat]

Power flushing machines are available to rent from your local tool hire outlet.

As are dehumidifiers when it all goes wrong.

 

[gavroche]

I have been in touch with British Gas and they are coming next Thursday to give me a quote. Better use a reputable firm I suppose, far too many charlatans out there.