Novice seeking advice - white deposits in header tank

[vtechnician]

Hi all,

Ive been a long time reader of this forum - now a first time poster! Of coarse the motivation is a result of a problem.

Ive recently moved home and regrettably i didnt fork out for a plumber to survey the heating system and now Im faced with dealing with a few problems. The first in the list is related to the 3-port valve. Having replaced the top part and finding the valve is still allowing hot water through to the radiators I assume now i must replace the valve itself. The over-ride lever is still a bit floppy to begin with when the system is off.

I must add at this point that I am just a DIY dabbler with limited plumbing experience. The second issue (which is my main concern) is draining the system. Having looked inside the header tank there is a thick layer of white deposits at the bottom of the tank. Looks like limescale. There's loads of it - all crushed up and im concerned it might get sucked up when draining.

Any advice on how to remove it - safely?

 

[SimonG]

Wet vac

 

[JCSPLUMBING]

fork out for a plumber and learn from your previous mistake :wink_smile:

 

[joni os]

Header tank. Tie up ball cock or isolate water supply by other means. Plug outlet to stop scale entering pipework. Bale out header tank into bucket, mop up remnants with sponge and remove deposits.

 

[Best]

You saved money by not forking out for a plumber to survey the plumbing, so why not just spend the money now on a heating engineer to fix all the wee niggles and have it all as good as it can be? A good heating engineer would be much quicker and might spot other potential faults.
The broken limescale in bottom of tank could be due to the tank being empty of water at some period in the past.

 

[jtsplumbing]

Has small tank got a cover on it ? don't think its scale, possible dirt from roof, or remains of anti scale bag that some people place in tanks, are you in a hard water area ? scale build up would show on end of ball valve even cause it to jam up

 

[thompsonbrown]

Have you got the right tank?
Having limescale in your F&E tank sounds strange.

 

[Unregistered]

Has small tank got a cover on it ? don't think its scale, possible dirt from roof, or remains of anti scale bag that some people place in tanks, are you in a hard water area ? scale build up would show on end of ball valve even cause it to jam up

Hi yes I live in a hard water area. It also crossed my mind that it could be an anti-scale product but shouldn't it be contained in a netted bag or similar?

Both of the tanks are covered with what looks like an insulated black bag. The smaller tank doesn't contain the same white substance. Instead a thin layer of possibly dirt/dust. Perhaps i'll take a photo and send.

thanks again

 

[jtsplumbing]

Hi yes I live in a hard water area. It also crossed my mind that it could be an anti-scale product but shouldn't it be contained in a netted bag or similar?

Both of the tanks are covered with what looks like an insulated black bag. The smaller tank doesn't contain the same white substance. Instead a thin layer of possibly dirt/dust. Perhaps i'll take a photo and send.

thanks again

Think your getting tanks mixed up very small tank is the header or F&E (Feed & Expansion) for heating system, The other larger one is the cold water storage tank (Domestic water supply) hot water cylinder & maybe cold to Bath & WC. Basin should be on mains cold

 

[Unregistered]

Im back with a few photos:

 

[jtsplumbing]

Well it does look kike scale just drain out tank and clean it out shouldn't go down pipes as its below level of outlet, but it could be remains of anti scale bag. maybe take some into local chemist and ask

 

[zzzjim]

Have you got the right tank?
Having limescale in your F&E tank sounds strange.

If you are genuinely worried and want the system given a once over ,
call in an old pro-plumber with some experience of old systems !

They will know how much cleaning/draining is needed , and when not to touch ,
"Disaster Area" (a rock band !)

 

[Frelon]

Limescale. I had this in the cold water storage tanks of a flat that I bought some years ago. I seem to remember that I took about three buckets full of the stuff out of the (plastic) tank. I turned off the water (plugged all outlets) and scraped the stuff up before giving the tank a good clean up.

I then installed a water softener. Job done [emoji106]

 

[vtechnician]

thanks all for the advice. this looks like a job i can handle!

ps i cant fight the urge to tinker - im an electronics engineer by profession and im fascinated by how things work - i guess its in my DNA!