Flushing Radiators

[Jay85]

I wedged a plastic funnel in one of the ports and left it under the tap for ten minutes then did a couple of fills, shakes and empties with distilled.
Didn't bother with the mo-ra.

A garden hose connected to a G1/4 barb is also a great choice, tap on full whack will remove any stubborn bits stuck inside.

 

[SpudMaster]

Round here, I still wouldn’t be happy unless flushing through a couple of times with distilled water, the water is so hard and full of limescale.

Yeah thats goes without saying regardless of water type. But flushing with tap takes out all the hard work. I fill and let it soak for a bit with vinegar and water solution to loosen up any gunk then attach hose and flush it. Then quick rinse with distilled or deionised water

 

[novalis]

likewise.

I ended up using about 5L of distilled/deionized water to flush and rinse the radiators.. about 2L was purely used in the kettle to boile along with citric acid

With citric acid - does that cause erosion/corrosion at all?

 

[im4gine3]

With citric acid - does that cause erosion/corrosion at all?

i believe it depends on the metals.. if your radiators copper/brass, it shouldn't but if its alumuminium, i'm not sure

 

[novalis]

i believe it depends on the metals.. if your radiators copper/brass, it shouldn't but if its alumuminium, i'm not sure

Thank you. I have copper radiators, what about vinager?

 

[im4gine3]

Thank you. I have copper radiators, what about vinager?

White diluted vinegar. I typically use 10:1 vinegar and water ratio, but use more vinegar if the stuff inside is stubborn to get rid of

 

[novalis]

White diluted vinegar. I typically use 10:1 vinegar and water ratio, but use more vinegar if the stuff inside is stubborn to get rid of

Amazing thanks! I'll remember this for the next flush I do

 

[Bubo]

A garden hose connected to a G1/4 barb is also a great choice, tap on full whack will remove any stubborn bits stuck inside.

Absolutely, this really all you need to do, and to be extra sure swap the flow to the other barb a few times to send water through backwards, that will deal with any theoretical dead spots with flow in just the one direction, though really with mains pressure tap water it shouldn't be an issue, but swapping the flow is so easy so why not do it.

By all means do a single flush with deionized before the tap water dries to rinse any miniscule scale build up, like what you'd see on a shower screen, just don't let it dry. But really, the amount of build up will be tiny and won't affect performance or block anything even if you left it. Unless you're leaving it connected to the tap flushing for like a month.