Pinholed towel rads?

[MattWeth]

Went to a job today to fix a leaking towel rad (just the locksheild) but noticed that all the chrome towel rads (in the six bathrooms!) had green blobs of corrosion on them. Pics below:



I'm putting this down to pinholing from the inside of the rad, possibly due to lack of inhibitor.

Am I on the right track with this?

cheers
Matt

 

[Roger Welton]

I would say a dodgy towel rail but 6? Do you think someone may have left some descaling chemicals in the system in the past?

 

[MattWeth]

Hard to say Roger, but the heating system is almost industrial in scale - it's a huge house - a massive Kidde boiler with a 3 gallon / hr nozzle and 2" steel on the flow until it branches to 28mm distribution, four zones on each floor and all the pipework outside the boiler room is boxed in. Not a single thing labelled and no drawings.

A drain and flush could take days!

 

[Guest123]

No inhibitor has been added. The imported ones rust very quickly from the inside out and even the instructions on the Kudox ones warns that inhibitor must be added or pinholes will appear.

People installing them by diy ignore this or don't know how to add inhibitor. Worse still are heating guys that drain down a combi system, refill it and don't add inhibitor to replenish the stuff lost on the drain down.

 

[Roger Welton]

If its that large a system, a pound to a penny even if chemicals were added they weren't in sufficient quantities, the larger oil boilers almost need a full pot of inhibitor just to cover the water within them, let alone the rest of the system.

 

[Nostrum]

The chrome towel rails seem to be effected worse than the white ones it would seem. I changed one for a mate 3 times (was from b and q and kept getting it swapped with receipt) and inhibitor was added every time.

Seen quite a few go and always chrome, normally around the weld though

 

[MattWeth]

Thanks Roger, System and sambotc. I dread to think what it would cost to redose the system, or how long it would take, but I'm going to recommend that they have it done.
Just working out a system volume will be a challenge

 

[Roger Welton]

Empty system, take meter reading then refill followed by second meter reading, though that method is no good if they want a price up front.

 

[SimonJohns]

You can doa sentenal system check for £35. That will tell you all of the makeup of the water.

So you will know if it has any inhibitor, then you can rule that out and just put it down to cheap towel rads

 

[heliotrope]

It would not be the first time I have found bathroom rads/towel warmers
piped directly off secondary supply.

Check it out! (six bathrooms though, ummmmmmmmmm?)

 

[MattWeth]

You can doa sentenal system check for £35. That will tell you all of the makeup of the water.

So you will know if it has any inhibitor, then you can rule that out and just put it down to cheap towel rads

Thanks Simon - I'l recommend this check to the customer.

It would not be the first time I have found bathroom rads/towel warmers
piped directly off secondary supply.

Check it out! (six bathrooms though, ummmmmmmmmm?)

Good call, but not this one - the hot water is a huge thermal store on recirc.

 

[MattWeth]

You can doa sentenal system check for £35. That will tell you all of the makeup of the water.

So you will know if it has any inhibitor, then you can rule that out and just put it down to cheap towel rads

Simon,
Do you know if this check can be used for a system which might contain any inhibitor, or is it only for systems dosed with sentinel products?
I've just had a quick google and I the test seems to cost £70 - £80

 

[SimonJohns]

Simon,
Do you know if this check can be used for a system which might contain any inhibitor, or is it only for systems dosed with sentinel products?
I've just had a quick google and I the test seems to cost £70 - £80

I've bought them from plumbs for £35.

It says it only guarantees a result if system has been dosed with sentinel products. But I would of thought that many other manufacturers use a similar inhibitor chemical to that used by them

 

[dancinplumba]

Have some sentinel x100 test kits (for 4 tests) in shed matt, pm me your address and i will send you one

 

[MattWeth]

Dancin' - you're a star!

PM on its way.

cheers
Matt