Power flushing blocked microbore

[SimonG]

If its plastic it may be non barrier pipe. It allows oxygen to permeate the pipework and choke up the pipework.

 

[David Caisley]

I had the very same problem with my system in as much as all the pipe work is 10mm copper which became eventually blocked over time. On the recommendation of a friend who searched the internet and found the answer to the problem, if you go onto YouTube and search for ”GALLO GUN” you will see how it works, it is very simple and should cost no more than £60 plus cartridges, basically it fires a small compressed air charge of 800psi clean air through the pipe and shifts whatever blockage there is, it is made for refrigeration engineers who often have to clean out small pipes on the fridges. I had to go up into my loft and cut every pipe either side of the ancient manifold and inserted into every pipe a piece of tissue to block off the end of the pipe and the got my son to go to each rad in turn and remove the copper pipe from the valve, and then fire the gun into the pipe, this would then show me which pipe to which rad. we were working on as the tissue would fire out into the loft thereby letting me label each pipe flow or return, beware when the magnetite explodes from the pipe you can get covered in muck as my rafters show. Good luck and I am sure this will be the simplest, cheapest and cleanest solution to your problem, no ripping out flooring or walls etc. All you plumbers out there should look at the Gallo Gun because it will get you out of lots of problems.

 

[Matt Paint]

sadlybroke, go to YouTube and search for Gallo Gun and you will see the answer to your problem, I had my entire ch system blocked with magnetite and had to re run all the exposed pipe work and the manifold with 15mm plastic pipe connected to the concealed 10mm copper to each rad, just make sure that the pipe your working on is OPEN at both ends before you fire the gun, you should be able to get the Gallo Gun for about £60 plus cartridges, try Amazon good luck.

 

[Jtj321]

I had the very same problem with my system in as much as all the pipe work is 10mm copper which became eventually blocked over time. On the recommendation of a friend who searched the internet and found the answer to the problem, if you go onto YouTube and search for ”GALLO GUN” you will see how it works, it is very simple and should cost no more than £60 plus cartridges, basically it fires a small compressed air charge of 800psi clean air through the pipe and shifts whatever blockage there is, it is made for refrigeration engineers who often have to clean out small pipes on the fridges. I had to go up into my loft and cut every pipe either side of the ancient manifold and inserted into every pipe a piece of tissue to block off the end of the pipe and the got my son to go to each rad in turn and remove the copper pipe from the valve, and then fire the gun into the pipe, this would then show me which pipe to which rad. we were working on as the tissue would fire out into the loft thereby letting me label each pipe flow or return, beware when the magnetite explodes from the pipe you can get covered in muck as my rafters show. Good luck and I am sure this will be the simplest, cheapest and cleanest solution to your problem, no ripping out flooring or walls etc. All you plumbers out there should look at the Gallo Gun because it will get you out of lots of problems.

 

[Jtj321]

Plastic piping - this could be kinked.

I had the very same problem with my system in as much as all the pipe work is 10mm copper which became eventually blocked over time. On the recommendation of a friend who searched the internet and found the answer to the problem, if you go onto YouTube and search for ”GALLO GUN” you will see how it works, it is very simple and should cost no more than £60 plus cartridges, basically it fires a small compressed air charge of 800psi clean air through the pipe and shifts whatever blockage there is, it is made for refrigeration engineers who often have to clean out small pipes on the fridges. I had to go up into my loft and cut every pipe either side of the ancient manifold and inserted into every pipe a piece of tissue to block off the end of the pipe and the got my son to go to each rad in turn and remove the copper pipe from the valve, and then fire the gun into the pipe, this would then show me which pipe to which rad. we were working on as the tissue would fire out into the loft thereby letting me label each pipe flow or return, beware when the magnetite explodes from the pipe you can get covered in muck as my rafters show. Good luck and I am sure this will be the simplest, cheapest and cleanest solution to your problem, no ripping out flooring or walls etc. All you plumbers out there should look at the Gallo Gun because it will get you out of lots of problems.

i imagine this is solved by now,but for what it's worth I had a blocked 10mm copper microbore that I couldn't shift.Tried mains pressure,compressed air,no joy.
As a last ditch effort I realised the coiled wire of a drain slinky is a perfect fit inside the copper pipe and will go round bends,so I shoved about 3 metres down,hit the blockage and dislodged it.
I really should have thought it through as the resulting hot black spray was quite spectacular.So drain or plug the system first.
Worked like a charm though. The flexible wire is just the right snug but not tight fit!

 

[Tasneem]

Yes, the plumber tried to balance the system. Even with all rads closed and just one open, those that usually never get warm do not heat up.

I don't have a confirmation that it is blocked as such. The plumber disconnected the radiator. He closed off other radiators in the loop. He then cut the plastic pipe that feeds that radiator about 5m away from the radiator. He used the vacuum cleaner to suck the air from the pipes but doing it one way (sucking by the radiator) did nothing. When he connected the vac to the other end of the pipes (where he cut it), there was a very slight suction in the pipe by the radiator.

The radiator was completely removed and the flow/return pipes were connected by a hose but there was no flow through it.

Did you solve the problem at all? We have the same issue and have been thinking for a couple of years how to solve it by avoiding repiping as msf flooring not floor boards. Looking at powder flush a new thing but can’t find reviews other than their website.

Really stuck so would appreciate your reply

 

[Lou]

(Just bumping a few older threads, they will drop off what is new soon)

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