Hi Andy,

Thanks very much for a thorough suggestion. I would buy radiator in
case it needs changing.

Thanks.

Rajinder


"Andy Hall" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 17 May 2004 23:33:54 +0100, "Ch. Rajinder Nijjhar Jatt"
wrote:

Hi,

Today I drained the central heating system and the water flow was
very
weak a baby ****ing out. I did open the bleeding valves but still
very
slow.

Up in the loft tank is still full and I can't understand why water
did
not flow fast as it did some years ago.

Do you think the central heating is clogged with scales/sludge
please?

What should I do?

Rajinder



I think that there is a pretty good chance that it is full of sludge,
Rajinder, especially if the water is brown.

There are three ways to deal with this.

1) Is to follow a method that I have posted a few times which involves
draining as much as you can and then removing the radiators one by
one, taking them outside for a thorough flush through with a hose or
pressure washer. I won't repeat the details again, but you can
search in Google Groups for it. One point is to take great care
because sludge and heating water are a strong dye and you will not
clean them out of a carpet easily if at all. You can flush the pipes
out as you go, carefully from the header tank.

2) Go to a hire shop and rent a power flushing machine. I am not sure
what this would cost, but probably a bit more than £100 for a day.
This technique pumps hot chemical around the circuit and collects the
sludge.

3) Pay somebody to do (2). Shop around. British Gas charge up to
£800 for this and there are plenty of cowboys around charging similar
amounts for what is a very easy job.

After you have the system clear, use a flushing agent according to the
instructions. If the radiators and valves are in a poor state, as
they may be if the system is this bad, then be prepared that you may
have to replace them.

Finally flush clean once more and add inhibitor. This is very cheap
insurance.




.andy

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