Cold radiators? Sluggish heating system? Noisy, banging boiler that may be regularly cutting out? Intermittent hot water? Your system may require a powerflush.

Why powerflush your system?

Powerflushing is a popular method of cleaning and maintaining a central heating system. A thorough powerflush will improve heat distribution throughout the property, subsequently lowering household energy bills and increasing system reliability.

A powerflushing unit sends water at high velocity through the system to dislodge and remove debris, limescale, and sludge build-up, with the water flow reversed regularly to create turbulence which will stir up sludge trapped at the bottom of radiators and pipes

At the same time the system is flushed, chemicals are added to the heating system via the powerflush pump to dissolve the magnetite so that it can be carried out of the heating system and disposed of.

Severe cases are treated by adding a chemical cleaner about 7 days in advance of the powerflush and then vibrating each radiator on the heating system with an agitator to disturb the sludge compressed onto the bottom of the radiators.

Once the hot water system has been cleaned a corrosion inhibitor is added to prevent magnetite from returning.

What causes Magnetite?

Magnetite is a black sludge formed by the corrosion of the inside of pipework, radiators and other metal components within a heating or hot water system over time. Magnetite is heavier than water, it can accumulate within the system, boiler and heat exchangers causing severe blockages. If magnetite sludge has formed in a radiator there will be a noticeable difference in the temperature between the top of the radiator, which should be hot, and the bottom, which will be much cooler due to sludge build-up stopping the heated water from reaching the entirety of the radiator. This diminishes the transfer of heat and can result in pipe, radiator valve and heating control servo valve damage. In some cases this will eventually lead to the premature failure of the boiler. Once magnetite has formed in your heating system the only effective solution is to flush it out from the radiators, boiler and pipework.