Powder Flushing?!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Spinal

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 14, 2004
Messages
4,806
Location
between Uxbridge and the Alps
Car
x254, G350, Duster, S320, Mach1, 900ss and a few more
I need to get my radiators flushed...

I have typical signs of sludge build up.

That said, I've stumbled across powder flushing (as a pose to power flushing) here:
POWDERFLUSH

They seem to the be the only one's doing it that I can find...

Has anyone experienced this? Thoughts/comments?

M.
 
Sounds interesting - though it is hard to believe that there will be no impact on valves and pumps.

Even the company offering the service think it is an option to be pursued only after conventional methods have failed so I guess this means it is going to be expensive (and new radiators are quite cheap!).

Have you tried flushing it yourself yet? I leave flushing agent in the sytem for up to two weeks and drain down after running the system for several hours.
 
An easy way to flush the system is to remove each radiator in turn and flush it out. Costs nothing and will give good results.
 
I would question if it voids any warranties on your boiler and valves.
New it may be I've never heard of it before.
I would worry that usually the main reason is to clean an old system.
As a system gets old the pipe walls get thinner and seals wear and this is why good plumbers advise on potential dangers and cost of powerflushing.
Any abrasive material may exaggerate the ageing on the system.
The aggressive chemicals used with a professional powerflush will not eat down to bear metal unless they are left in the system longer than they are supposed to be.

I would suggest letting someone else be a guinepig
 
on an old system power flushing can be a bad idea.yes it removes the sludge from old pipes but always causes leakes on compression joints,and valves as already said.
if you have a nice home don't have it done..
 
Whatever you do, get a Magnetic System Filter fitted as well.

Had my system flushed some months ago and been cleaning out the filter this afternoon. Had captured remarkable amount of crud & bits of scale
 
Powerflushing is a con IMO as are the magnaclean and other filters.

The best thing to do is remove all rads as mentioned above, but be careful and have sheets down as the black sh1t that comes out stains! Then when outside flush them through both ways and keep going till it runs clear and repeat for all rads.

Another alternative is to drain down the system, remove one rad then block the feed, vent and isolate the ball valve in the header tank. Connect a hose up to cold tap on the flow pipe on the rad you have removed and another to the return which goes down the drain. Then isolate the boiler and pump. Turn all rads off bar one then flush it through when it comes clear open the next rad and shut the last one down and go round them all only having one rad "flusing through" at a time.

But it is a lot better to remove the rads. I recently did the system in my new house then flush as mentioned above for good measure which will also clean out the pipework. Even though it sempt to be working fine it is now a lot more efficient. Put some inhibitor in also when you refill the system.

Don't forget the coil in the hot water tank also.
 
Powerflushing is a con IMO as are the magnaclean and other filters.

The best thing to do is remove all rads as mentioned above, but be careful and have sheets down as the black sh1t that comes out stains! Then when outside flush them through both ways and keep going till it runs clear and repeat for all rads.

Another alternative is to drain down the system, remove one rad then block the feed, vent and isolate the ball valve in the header tank. Connect a hose up to cold tap on the flow pipe on the rad you have removed and another to the return which goes down the drain. Then isolate the boiler and pump. Turn all rads off bar one then flush it through when it comes clear open the next rad and shut the last one down and go round them all only having one rad "flusing through" at a time.

But it is a lot better to remove the rads. I recently did the system in my new house then flush as mentioned above for good measure which will also clean out the pipework. Even though it sempt to be working fine it is now a lot more efficient. Put some inhibitor in also when you refill the system.

Don't forget the coil in the hot water tank also.

You have a system that is open to the atmosphere so more at risk of sludge build up than a closed system.

If you are a tight budget and want to save money and you also have the time and patience then taking every rad off and flushing with a hose will give them a good clean.
It will not clear any sludge build up in the slow legs of pipes or heat exchanger.

Also if a new boiler is fitted the manufacturer may like to see evidence of a proper system clean.

I bet if you fitted a Magnaclean you would be surprised at the amount of iron sludge it will collect in a month.
 
Powerflushing is a con IMO as are the magnaclean and other filters.

When I first heard about the MagnaClean, I thought it seemed to be a bit like snake oil.

However, British gas have fitted MagnaCleans to both of my aunts' central heating systems free of charge as part of their maintenance policies - so I can only conclude that British Gas believe that the benefits of Magnaclean are such that they reduce British Gas's risk of having to undertake repairs at their cost.

That is a pretty strong endorsement of their value.
 
You should always use a suitable inhibitor except if you have a self priming cylinder.
I have noticed a lot of people requesting antifreeze additives as well
 
When I first heard about the MagnaClean, I thought it seemed to be a bit like snake oil.

However, British gas have fitted MagnaCleans to both of my aunts' central heating systems free of charge as part of their maintenance policies - so I can only conclude that British Gas believe that the benefits of Magnaclean are such that they reduce British Gas's risk of having to undertake repairs at their cost.

That is a pretty strong endorsement of their value.

You need to be careful as some of the Magnetic ones are just that: a magnet in a casing that will not catch non magnetic particles and crud. Some of the cheaper ones can block, rendering them worse than useless.

The better designs are the "Hydrocyclonic" ones that do incorporate a magnet but will captures non magnetic crud as well. I have one of these

magnabooster2 magnabooster 2 how does the magnabooster work - YouTube

I was a bit dubious about this but the amount of crud it has taken out surprised me. (And, as we all know, better out than in......)
 
I've just fitted a Fernox TF1. Am surprised at the rubbish it collects.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom