Gravity system pumping over?

[bigron72]

Happy New Year all. Just been out to a noisy gravity system where pipes are making a racket. Checked vent in f and and e tank and it's warm full of brown sludgy water. Am I right in saying that the see sawing of dirty water will make the system dirtier and pull in air over time. pump speed was high for a 7 rad system its all 8mm microbore and cyst said it was flushed by bg in the summer. I was going to clean out f and e before draining and doing a cold flush but thought I'd ask first. Thanks in advance

 

[king of pipes]

8mm that dont fill you with confidence bud obviously its been neglected the system should not be allowed to get in that state, all you can do is try cleaning it but may or may not be succesful pumping over will cause all sort of problems. Kop

 

[Chuck]

Be careful you manage the expectations of your customer. BG has already tried flushing the system and it's still full of sludge. Whatever you have in mind (unless it's re-pipe the system) has also got a high probability of not working and may well make matters worse. Suddenly, as the last person to touch the system, it will all be your fault.

If you do decide to have a go, absolutely don't wash sludge from the F/E tank or any of the pipework near it through the rest of the system. If you can flush section by section, that might work but it is going to be time-consuming.

IMO, vented microbore systems are the Devil's Work. Any money spent maintaining them is wasted and should instead be put towards replacement.

 

[bigron72]

Be careful you manage the expectations of your customer. BG has already tried flushing the system and it's still full of sludge. Whatever you have in mind (unless it's re-pipe the system) has also got a high probability of not working and may well make matters worse. Suddenly, as the last person to touch the system, it will all be your fault.

If you do decide to have a go, absolutely don't wash sludge from the F/E tank or any of the pipework near it through the rest of the system. If you can flush section by section, that might work but it is going to be time-consuming.

IMO, vented microbore systems are the Devil's Work. Any money spent maintaining them is wasted and should instead be put towards replacement.

Thanks both. I'll recommended scrapping the 8mm.

 

[Riley]

I’d tell them to go back to BG don’t they guarantee their powerflushes for life

 

[Inverness]

Cold feed could now be restricted from the sludge?

 

[bigron72]

I’d tell them to go back to BG don’t they guarantee their powerflushes for life

It's the banging pipes that was the initial reason for the call out but I've explained that its a smaller part of a much bigger problem. Got a feeling that they know they should have upgraded the pipework when the boiler was changed but opted to save a few pounds instead.

 

[island fling]

I was at a very similar job a couple of weeks ago.....As suggested you may get the finger pointed. I emailed before hand to explain what I was going to do & why just to cover my own backside.

I cleaned the F & E tank, cut the main flow & return under the floor & very carefully & gently put compressed air back through from each rad. The main blockage was from the cylinder coil & cause a bit of a noise when trying to heat up, it was the reason for the over pumping also.
I got the system working well but I feel it is only a matter of time.....

I advised the customers to start saving for new pipework & radiators as there is a new boiler in already & i am sure it will all save them money in the long run as the system can't be running very efficiently.

 

[bigron72]

Be careful you manage the expectations of your customer. BG has already tried flushing the system and it's still full of sludge. Whatever you have in mind (unless it's re-pipe the system) has also got a high probability of not working and may well make matters worse. Suddenly, as the last person to touch the system, it will all be your fault.

If you do decide to have a go, absolutely don't wash sludge from the F/E tank or any of the pipework near it through the rest of the system. If you can flush section by section, that might work but it is going to be time-consuming.

IMO, vented microbore systems are the Devil's Work. Any money spent maintaining them is wasted and should instead be put towards replacement.[/QUh

I was at a very similar job a couple of weeks ago...As suggested you may get the finger pointed. I emailed before hand to explain what I was going to do & why just to cover my own backside.

I cleaned the F & E tank, cut the main flow & return under the floor & very carefully & gently put compressed air back through from each rad. The main blockage was from the cylinder coil & cause a bit of a noise when trying to heat up, it was the reason for the over pumping also.
I got the system working well but I feel it is only a matter of time...

I advised the customers to start saving for new pipework & radiators as there is a new boiler in already & i am sure it will all save them money in the long run as the system can't be running very efficiently.

The customers already suggesting the system Is worse since I looked at it and I've not touched anything yet.

 

[island fling]

The customers already suggesting the system Is worse since I looked at it and I've not touched anything yet.

It will just be getting worse with time mate. I would go over with a disclaimer ASAP before time passes & the system breaks completely & you get the blame.
We unfortunately live in in a blame society now.