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gordo

hi, i have put Sentinel 1ltr Heavy Duty Sludge Remover into my system last night and was wondering how long it is recommended to leave it in for before draining it again? I have no heat coming from living room, dining room and garage, all radiators have been renewed with bigger and better ones (apparently) and the boiler has just been replaced also but still they don't heat up. 10MM pipe supply a blame and hopefully sludge. so fingers crossed the sludge remover works. any help appreciated.
 
what does the back of the bottle from the sludge remover say?

you basically need to follow the instructions on the back of the bottle.
 
Dont want to sound negative or anythin but the sludge should have been removed before the new boiler went in.
Where the rads cold before the boiler an rads went in? They may be air locked.
 
hi, yeah the bottle stats "until water running clear and performing normally" but also stats a maximum of 2 hours for alluminum central heating systems.
Twisted nuts: A guess in hind sight it should have been cleaned but a thought that was part of the process when replacing a boiler but a guess not. The radiators were heating up fine but just thought they were a bit small for the size of the room. The one in living room is an additional radiator so had to be plumbed in.
I took off all the down stairs radiators and blasted them with a real powerful jet wash yesterday to clean any dirt out but they were not bad. What i have noticed is that the inlet pipe is hot to touch but once it hits the radiator its stopped in its track, as if no pressure to force it thru the radiators. Just to give you an inside i was told its a drop down system. The cleaner has not helped what so ever. Also when i switch of all the rads up stairs the new radiators start to work but not as good as they should. Guys any insight or ideas is much appreciated !!! cheers
 
what boiler and system do you have?

sounds like you need to first try to balance the radiators to see if that helps. If i does not it could be a number of things like undersized pipework, blockage's, poor pump performance etc.....
 
Really should have been cleaned before the new boiler was turned on.
 
Theyre just air locked.

Turn them all off at the valve, just one side will do.
Now open just one rad, fire system up. When this one gets hot turn it off at the valve and open another radiator up. You should hear a lovely gurgling noise, like your belly just before dinner time. This gurgling should be music to your ears, cos its a good sign.

Do this with all rads then turn them all on at the valve. Should be up and running again.
If this doesnt work you can try an pull the air locks out at a rad valve but you may not need to do this if the above method works.

When theyre all working you will probably have to balance the system to make sure all rads get equal pump distribution.
 
i'm no expert, but try switching off all the upstairs rads for example to increase flow to the blocked/slow ones.

also fit a Fernox TF1, can't recommend them enough.
 
i'm no expert, but try switching off all the upstairs rads for example to increase flow to the blocked/slow ones.

also fit a Fernox TF1, can't recommend them enough.

And what occupation are you in at the minute my friend?
 
And what occupation are you in at the minute my friend?

not plumbing? why have i got it wrong? that's why i said i'm no expert but i see 'twisted nuts' suggested a similar thing just before i did.

from experience, after a flush on my system i had 2 rads that weren't working so i switched all the others off and turned the pump up to full, they started working again, then i bleed the system again. seemed to work.
 
not plumbing? why have i got it wrong? that's why i said i'm no expert but i see 'twisted nuts' suggested a similar thing just before i did.

from experience, after a flush on my system i had 2 rads that weren't working so i switched all the others off and turned the pump up to full, they started working again, then i bleed the system again. seemed to work.

Just a polite joke my friend i was hoping you would say you are a TF1 salesman. Your advice is bang on
 
haha, not me mate, sorry. just a simple farmer.

used a bit of common sense and online searching to find out how to flush my own system after BG quoted me ÂŁ1200 to do a powerflush and re-pipe certain sections. see my thread...
'What's the worst case if I leave Sludge Remover in permanently ?' (sorry, can't post links yet?)
a few hours work and it's running sweet as a nut!
 
I did have a look at your thread mate yes nice work i find all you farmers to be very good at turning your hands to anything like DIY, mechanics, shooting...

I can't quite believe bg quoted you ÂŁ1200...whats the world coming to???
 
if its definately not air , and your trying to break down the sludge causing poor circulation sentinel x400 (system restorer)can be left in for up to 4 weeks , but usually find 2-3 weeks is enough .

try to isolate the rads that are working ok before adding the cleanser to keep it as concentrated as possible circulating through the affected rads/pipework. leave like this for a few days , then isolate all but one of the affected rads and allow to heat and circulate for a few hours before isolating again and opening up another of the poor heaters and allowing to circulate for few hours. when you have all the affected rads heating , open them all up and allow to circulate through entire system for another few days before draining and flushing out.
 
First of all, i greatly appreciate you's taking the time out and giving me you advice it really is appreciated. The reason being these problems must come up all the time yet you's kind people still reply and help out normal punters.

So far i've removed rads and cleaned with jet wash. I now have tried so of the advice by switching of all the rads but keeping one of the unheating ones open. While i had done this i tried bleeding it from the bleed valve but no air came out. I then tried bleeding it from the return valve end but a don't think any air came out, just cold water. Also because the rad is the only one operating the boiler kept switching off cause it had thought it had reached its operating temperture(i think). I repeated this with all the radiators that aint heating up but the same outcome. The rad in the living room was heating up pretty dam good at one point but then when back to its unhelpful self. Its the same with all the radiators that are not heating up, slightly warm at top but cold the majority of the radiator. Its really doing my head now. Plumber suggested replacing 10mm microbore pipe with 15mm (re-pipe) would solve the issue. You's think so? As stated cheers for any help.
 
Hi, also just thinking if i was to attempt a re-pipe using 15mm pipe instead of the microbore in place just now what kind of pipe would you recommend using? plastic ? I've used john guest stuff before and worked ok although not on a central heating. cheers
 
Still sounds like a major air lock to me. Changing to 15mm would help though and JG Speedfit is as good as any other to use. Copper looks best going to the valves though and it stays straight when hot!

Have one last go with the air lock removal before you start re-pipin. Try this - Take one of the rads off thats not performing, place a bucket under one of the valves (you may need old towels, can get messy) and open it up. You should get a massive blast of air out.

An even easier way is to put a drain off rad valve on, if you dont already have them. You can then put an hose on and open each side of the rad in turn until all the air is removed. Ive had systems like this that were mega air locked on the return somewhere in the system. Once you clear it they should all come back on as if by magic

Best to do it with the boiler off too really, whilst theres loads of air floatin about :)
 
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Alright twistednuts, Am going to go with your advice and give it one last try with the airlock, its really doing my head in and plumber don't sound to interested so its down to me. You seem to know your stuff so here's hoping. thanks very much. G
 
hey twistednuts / all, Thats me at wits end, have nothing else to give to this heating system. Tried bleeding radiators again by adding a drain valve to radiators down stairs but still rads in living room , dinig room are slightly warm at top but cold at bottom. What i did notice was that if i fill the boiler up a tad so its operating at a higher pressure(2.2 bar) they seem to get slightly warmer??? So do you's thinks its a repipe needed now or any other ideas????? cheers g
 
Hi. Ive got exact the same problem. Did you sort out yours problem with heating system???
 
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