Rad corrosion

[sparky]

saw a job today on a fairly new system was a leaking rad. The water from the bleed was clear but the puddle on the floor and where the bulky inlet is joined to the rad was like a big lump of brown black snot. Really thick, not watery at all. I could understand that the system probably hasnt been flushed, cleaned or had inhibitor added but has anyone seen this tyoe of corrosion?

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

yes its been roughed in,if its black ordinary sludge,if its red theres other problems,it needs cleaning/power flushing and quality inhibitor

 

[justlead1]

Hi. I feel i must be alone on this topic. Having installed something like 600 C/H small bore systems (oil, Gas, Solid fuel) in the late 60is and 70is. When returning to the area, i meet people who say "The old C/heating is still going great, had a couple of pumps fitted over the years) no inhibitors were used. I am aware of boiler technology changes and the needs now to protect same. But its almost like the chemistry of the water must have changed when one sees the marketing of these products and the constant use of flushing machines.

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

you should see what corrosion does to the insides of boilers i have to repair,at the end of the day things were very different in the 60s and 70s,for a start boilers were built to last,imho boilers are to fragile nowadays,and rads are a lot thinner,with the small waterways and hydrolics we get in modern combis plus aluminium heat exchangers theres no wonder theres problems with corrosion

 

[justlead1]

Fair comment. I was thinking some chemist was filling a can complete with label for 50p and selling it to the trade for a tenner.

 

[Mbear]

you should see what corrosion does to the insides of boilers i have to repair,at the end of the day things were very different in the 60s and 70s,for a start boilers were built to last,imho boilers are to fragile nowadays,and rads are a lot thinner,with the small waterways and hydrolics we get in modern combis plus aluminium heat exchangers theres no wonder theres problems with corrosion

have to agree here. Old large water content boilers don't have things like microscopic pressure guage pipes( that you couldnt fit a hairpin inside) like the modern combi does. Or 8-10mm flexihoses running from small holes in pump manifold to the exp vess that are very prone to choking. Don't even get me started on modern glowworms etc with their 3million o-ring(slight exageration) manifolds that can obviously perish and split very easily. Much prefer fibre washer boilers myself. I think as the modern boiler gets smaller and made a the cheapest price possible then sludge was always inevitably gona be a bigger burden to us engineers.

 

[stevetheplumber]

hardly a burden realy how much extra work has powerflusing provided in the last five years

 

[Plumbstar Tom]

hardly a burden realy how much extra work has powerflusing provided in the last five years

spot on

If things didnt go wrong i would have to spend half my time stacking shelfs at morrisons!

I am often glad when i get a call saying 'that electric shower you fitted has failed and the manufacturer says its out of warranty' i see the $$$$$$ signs.

In a perfect world all we would do is installations and updates and upgrades

Thinking back to the late night call about water gushing out of a fitting I would be short by over £100 quid on each occasion and might not be going to spain next month

 

[Mbear]

hardly a burden realy how much extra work has powerflusing provided in the last five years

Powerflushing alone does not clear chokeages, it cleans pipework and rads, it wouldn't clear for talking sake a choked cold feed(cut out and replace 99% of the time) or flexihoses/pressure gauges as I said in above posts.

The term 'POWERflush' is very misleading, to be honest it's not that powerfull. It's certainly won't clear a choked cold feed on it's own.