MagnaCleanse vs Kamco - Which One?

[besters]

Hi guys,

We live in a 1930's, 3 bed semi and for a few months now, well probably close to a year or so the heating has been only heating the top part of the rads (of which there are 9 in total) and for the most part the bottom sections are cold. That said the towel rails in the bathrooms are OK, no issues with them.

I had a visit today from a boiler engineer who uses the MagnaCleanse system and it seems like the best choice based on the problems not being so severe that it would warrant a Full Power Flush by something like the Kamco system.

There is also someone coming soon to visit who uses the Kamco power flush system but I'm thinking now that this could be overkill, as from reading various threads, videos etc it seems that the full power flush is needed for where there are quite severe problems like heat exchangers kettling, pumps failing and so on. We don't have anything like that, just the rads only getting hot at the top and not the bottom and the pressure on the boiler reaching the red (3.3 bar) after about 45 mins or so. When the heating's turned off the pressure drops to about 1.2 bar or maybe a bit less. Difficult to say exactly as the gauge apparently is inaccurate and looks very low but the digital readout said 1.2 bar.

With regard to the pressure hitting 3 bar+, the general consensus is that the rubber diaphragm inside the expansion vessel is likely ruptured or damaged and so we're looking to replace the whole expansion vessel as well as the pressure release valve. The bulk of the work will be the MagnaCleanse treatment, so is an all day job.

Boiler is a Vaillant ecoTEC 837 Plus, 8.5 years old.

Look forward to your advice/thoughts/comments guys!

Cheers,
Nick

 

[oz-plumber]

At a guess, how old do you think your heating panels are?
Also the age of the rad valves.

Rad valves cause issues with flow due to being clogged or stuck in one position, the lock shields may need opening also.

It might be that you are better off replacing the panels and the valves - depending on the age of the equipment.

 

[Jim09876]

Listen mate if those radiators are donkeys years old your plumber may struggle with any type of power flusher. Bet he ain’t gonna remove each individual radiator off the wall and flush it outside?

 

[Brambles]

Please take this as a positive contribution.

A credible heating engineer will examine your system and propose a solution. They may also add a few caveats if they think that it might not fully solve the problem. Establishing ehether or not the expansion vessel has failed is a 5 minute job to see if water is coming out of the air valve ( it should never be a “may be” needs replacing).

Anyone just proposing the method of cleaning to you is in effect saying “I will bring this kit” use it and it may or may not work. They certainly should not be asking you ( the customer) to be making the choice of cleaning required. I don’t do power flushing, I give the work to a man who specialises in it, in return he guarantees to give me a clean system. It never takes him less than a day ( and it is hard work to do it properly).

Having said all that, if I were in your position I would spend a couple of hours draining and removing a small radiator ( preferably in a room with no carpet). Then make a judgement on what comes out when you flush it with a hose in the garden. You can also look at the condition of valves. It won’t solve your problem - but it will give you a much better idea of the extent and scale of the problem. From what you have described, I would not regard your system as being a minor issue - If the issue is solely sludge to the extent you describe, I am surprise that the boiler performance is not being severely compromised.

One of the earlier posters referred to sludge impacting valves - unless your boiler is properly protected with a decent filter you are going to need the boiler properly cleaning, not just flushing through as part of a system clean.

So, my advice would be, remove and have a look at one radiator, then get a good heating engineer in, tell him what you have found and ask for his proposal and the guarantees he offers with it.