Cleaning the heating system

At some point in the life of your fully pumped central heating system you will wish to clear it. To exchange heating radiator valves or add an additional metal radiator as an example. Your heating engineer will normally be performing list has although some householders do have the confidence to try this themselves.

The primary reason for most individuals for Emptying their gas heating system is to clean the metal radiators. Before you do anything to the actual radiator you should turn off the central heating boiler and any gas or electric that supplies the heating boiler. To enable the system to completely empty you will need to guarantee that no water is getting into the central heating system.

Your Central Heating header cylinder is where the water is flowed into the system. A ball valve mechanism, as used in toilets, is used in the expansion water tank to influence the current of water. As the water reaches maximum level the ball floats on the surface and shuts the valve. However when some water is pulled off the tank, the ball drops, the valve opens and more water gets into the cylinder. This process will need to be stopped if the heating system is to be fully emptied. Using a metal or wooden rod to prevent the ball leaves are falling in the water tank will stop water getting in the system as the water is flushed.

When you are confident that you are prevented any further water entering the central heating system you should attach a hose pipe to the outlet valve at the bottom of a radiator taking care to ensure the end of the hosepipe is in a clean outside your property. The water from your metal radiator will flow through the hose and out of your metal radiator system. As there will be water in the ground floor radiators you will need to connect the hose to one of these to ensure that the whole gas central heating system drains. Check now that no water is getting into the gas heating system and that the radiators are fully drained before you do any further work.

If you need to end this process quickly you can also open the bleed valves on the metal radiators on the upper floors. Work can commence when all the water has flushed outside.