Hendleys Heating Engineers

POWER FLUSH

Powerflushing is the fastest and most effective way to flush heating systems with minimal disruption and dismantling. It is the process which is used to clean heating systems using water at high velocity, but low pressure. It usually involves the addition into the system of powerful cleansing chemicals and mobilising agents. These chemicals and agents clean heating systems by removing flux, sludge and other debris which has collected in the heating system over the years.

How is Power flushing carried out?

The power flushing pump is connected to the system across the flow and return pipework. All debris and corrosion is then dislodged by the flow generated by the pump. The dislodged debris and corrosion is then flushed through the pump’s drain. At the same time, the pump fills the system with fresh water from the connection to the cold water main.

When should I Powerflush?

Prior to fitting a new boiler
Cold or partially cold radiators
Radiators that need to be bled regularly
When radiator water is dirty
Kettling noises from boilers
Noises in pipes
When you start experiencing pump failure

There are thousands of ageing central heating systems with circulation and boiler noise problems caused by accumulations of sludge, corrosion, debris and scale. Some clients try to remove sludge by installing chemical mobilising agents directly into the system and then repeating the process some weeks later. This is fine for systems that only have a minimal amount of debris. However, for systems that are suffering from sludge, it really is best to get your system power flushed. Power flushing will cure most circulation problems.

Boiler manufacturers recommend that a heating system should be power flushed immediately before a new boiler is fitted to an existing system. Some manufacturers even make the boiler’s warranty conditional on this. When a new boiler is fitted, the system alterations and high efficiency of the new boiler can dislodge accumulated debris which has been in the system for years. This is why boiler manufacturers are reluctant to carry out warranty repairs where it is suspected that the fault has been caused by debris and sludge in the system. Only by power flushing can you be sure that a system really is clean to the standards demanded by modern high efficiency boilers and heat exchangers.

Radiators that are cold or partially cold are often this way because there is sludge trapped in them. The sludge tends to sink to the bottom of the radiator. This is why radiators can sometimes feel cold at the bottom and hot at the top. If the sludge is removed by power flushing, then the water is able to circulate around the whole radiator rather than just the top part of that radiator.