I have a sealed system and did that with my bathroom towel radiator but having poured in all the inhibitor I filled the empty container with water and poured that in until it reached the very top. Quicker to re-pressurise and of course I swilled out the very last drop of inhibitor.
Careful with new modern TRV's on towel rads, even when closed to their OFF setting (frost symbol) they don't shut the water off to the radiator as they dont push the little pin in the TRV carcass all the way that stops the water so there's pressure continually getting into the radiator. Always best with the new TRV's to unscrew the securing ring to release and take off the thermostatic head from the TRV base, find or borrow the plastic blanking cap that came with the unit, and screw that on firmly in it's place so it pushes the pin and stops the water/pressure. Then after checking the other side valve is fully closed, then the towel rad can be bled with a bleed key and top sealed nuts loosened.
Thanks Al, that's embarrassingly simple! I've always had a tank in the loft but my new home has a combi and I was scratching my head trying to work out where to put the cleaner.
If you don't want to drain or flush. You can just depressurise, the whole system or just that rad via the lock shields, and either draw off enough water with a syringe and a tube or squeeze bottle. Or just a long piece of flexible tube inserted into the top, pinched, pulled out and the water will just siphon out. No need to muck about with the bottom connections which are likely very old. Not being critical, but there is a much easier way to drain the water.
I found an angled pipe fitting in my garage, which had the same thread as the plug hole. I used some putty on the thread to prevent any spills, which got pushed to the thread end. The open end of the pipe fitting, pointing upwards, was higher than the water level in the radiator. I used a small funnel to pour in the inhibitor, followed by some clean water to rinse. Easy !
Great video. Is it best practice to open all the lockshield and TRV valves when adding a cleaning solution like Fernox F3 to a f&e system? I assume this would help all the sludge to pass through the system?
Is this the same for leak sealant. I've tried twice on with fernox and sentinel express systems and it never worked. So I'm going to try the liquid version and this seems quite straightforward
Hi Al, how do you wanna do the bottom? Where does the water go? How do you collect the water? How do you connect it all up how much of it do you take out my radiator goes right to the floor does this mean I have to take the radiator off how do you do that great video if you’re a plumber
hello mate couple of questions how much inhibitor do you put in qnd also your not turning the main water off just the shut off and trv at the towel rail 👍
If you are filling the system from fresh then the whole bottle. If you just turn off the TRV and lockshield valve, then empty the water out of the rad you should have enough space for the inhibitor. If not, then leave the valves on and drain some water out via the drain cock. You will not need to turn the water off if you have a combi boiler, but you will if you have an F and E system.
@@dereton33 Had 2 new radiators fitted yesterday. I don’t seem to have much luck with plumbers. He was good but fiddled me out of lots of money. He said he put inhibitor in my towel rail. I don’t think he did and let him know that. So now I’m going to have to get another plumber ☹️
my heating system has a shut valve that flushes directly to the sewer system... should I drain my heating system using this valve or the way you described in the video is better? thanks
Why is my towel rail still absolutely firing water out even when boiler pressure is 0 and central heating system is off? And I have used leak sealer on the particular towel rail before and was no issues 🧐
The very first time i fitted rad I had the presence of mind to fit a valve with a drain tail. It happened to be right next to the back door too so I can drain the whole system easy peasy. Why isn't that standard practice?
@dereton33 do I need a gas engineer to do this job as he's trying to charge me £80.00 to put the fluid in one radiator a litre and it will go around the whole system. He claims it will be £80 as its a 1 hr job. Don't seem like it. I can close one radiator take some water out and then after fluid is in check if the pressure is at 1.5 as that's where it said be around without heating on
Another top vid!!! Inhibitor is something that's meant to be added approx every two years i understand. Can you simply do this every two years or do you have to start worrying about dilution rates after the first time of doing this? As I assume if u don't fully flush the system down there will still be some "older" inhibitor in the system?
Dear Al, if I want to add Inhibitor myself, but don't want to drain the system again (and risk more air getting in!! :( ) but don't have a towel rail (open, F & E, condensing boiler system), is it possible to do it via another radiator? Which would be the best one? Do you have a video for this? Thank you as always for all your help, Isla
@@dereton33 Thank you Al :) That's the video I was looking for but couldn't find. It's knowing how to drain the radiator (top ones don't have a drain tap) and fill - it would be easiest for me to do it via the bleed valve...if you know the link to the best video, that would be great, Isla
Excellent, thanks! Incidentally, are you from the same part of the world as Stanley Unwin? I think you sound a lot like him, (except I can understand you a bit better!)
Could you answer this quesion for me please ? I really liked the tutorial about introducing inhibitor into the central heating system through a radiator. My question is : Would it be possible just to use a syphon to drain off 500 to 100cls? Silverline do a syphon that looks ideal. Thanks for your interesting videos.
Sorry I wasn't too clear with my initial question. What I really meant was : Once that about a litre of water has been syphoned out of the radiator using the Silverline syphon. The Fernox could added to the system. I'm just curios to know if the syphon method would work.
@Dereton33 I am going to post a comment on 1 of your videos from 7 years ago about compression fittings and pointing compound. I would leave the comment here but it may confuse some viewers. I just posted here so you would be aware of my intentions, I would like to know your opinion on a particular problem. Thanks.
If you have a drain value downstairs why not just drain a little from upstairs .open air vent value and pour it in thier ,instead of opening valve in bottom.
I have a sealed system and did that with my bathroom towel radiator but having poured in all the inhibitor I filled the empty container with water and poured that in until it reached the very top. Quicker to re-pressurise and of course I swilled out the very last drop of inhibitor.
Great tip thanks.
Careful with new modern TRV's on towel rads, even when closed to their OFF setting (frost symbol) they don't shut the water off to the radiator as they dont push the little pin in the TRV carcass all the way that stops the water so there's pressure continually getting into the radiator.
Always best with the new TRV's to unscrew the securing ring to release and take off the thermostatic head from the TRV base, find or borrow the plastic blanking cap that came with the unit, and screw that on firmly in it's place so it pushes the pin and stops the water/pressure. Then after checking the other side valve is fully closed, then the towel rad can be bled with a bleed key and top sealed nuts loosened.
Thanks for the tip Wayne.
Thanks Al, that's embarrassingly simple! I've always had a tank in the loft but my new home has a combi and I was scratching my head trying to work out where to put the cleaner.
Glad to help
If you don't want to drain or flush. You can just depressurise, the whole system or just that rad via the lock shields, and either draw off enough water with a syringe and a tube or squeeze bottle. Or just a long piece of flexible tube inserted into the top, pinched, pulled out and the water will just siphon out. No need to muck about with the bottom connections which are likely very old. Not being critical, but there is a much easier way to drain the water.
Thanks.
I found an angled pipe fitting in my garage, which had the same thread as the plug hole.
I used some putty on the thread to prevent any spills, which got pushed to the thread end.
The open end of the pipe fitting, pointing upwards, was higher than the water level in the radiator.
I used a small funnel to pour in the inhibitor, followed by some clean water to rinse. Easy !
Well done.
@@dereton33
And no leaks !
Thank you! This video saved me a tenner and buying stuff that I was only gonna use one
Great to hear!
Just used this method - brilliant & easy! Thanks 🙏
Glad it helped!
Great video. Is it best practice to open all the lockshield and TRV valves when adding a cleaning solution like Fernox F3 to a f&e system? I assume this would help all the sludge to pass through the system?
Yes, absolutely
Is this the same for leak sealant. I've tried twice on with fernox and sentinel express systems and it never worked. So I'm going to try the liquid version and this seems quite straightforward
Yes it is the same Kev.
Like the painting of bude!
It is actually a picture I took.
Lovely picture of Bude behind you Al!
Yes one of our favourite places.
Hi Al, how do you wanna do the bottom? Where does the water go? How do you collect the water? How do you connect it all up how much of it do you take out my radiator goes right to the floor does this mean I have to take the radiator off how do you do that great video if you’re a plumber
Try watching the video again.
hello mate
couple of questions
how much inhibitor do you put in qnd also your not turning the main water off just the shut off and trv at the towel rail 👍
If you are filling the system from fresh then the whole bottle. If you just turn off the TRV and lockshield valve, then empty the water out of the rad you should have enough space for the inhibitor. If not, then leave the valves on and drain some water out via the drain cock. You will not need to turn the water off if you have a combi boiler, but you will if you have an F and E system.
Hi. I have a Gibraltar towel rail in my bathroom. I’d like to know what way do I turn the tap handle to turn radiator off
Clockwise.
@@dereton33 Had 2 new radiators fitted yesterday. I don’t seem to have much luck with plumbers. He was good but fiddled me out of lots of money. He said he put inhibitor in my towel rail. I don’t think he did and let him know that. So now I’m going to have to get another plumber ☹️
Also. Last guy a few yrs ago avoided my towel rail and used radiator in loft
my heating system has a shut valve that flushes directly to the sewer system... should I drain my heating system using this valve or the way you described in the video is better? thanks
That will empty quicker with less mess too.
@@dereton33 thanks
Love this channel. Much appreciated.
Glad you enjoy it!
Grate tip and advice as usual Al 👍
Thanks 👍 Cliff.
Why is my towel rail still absolutely firing water out even when boiler pressure is 0 and central heating system is off? And I have used leak sealer on the particular towel rail before and was no issues 🧐
Because it will still have water in it , until you drain the water below the level of the towel rail, then it will stop.
@@dereton33 ok. It’s absolutely firing out how am I meant to slowly drain that?
The very first time i fitted rad I had the presence of mind to fit a valve with a drain tail. It happened to be right next to the back door too so I can drain the whole system easy peasy. Why isn't that standard practice?
Nothing is standard in plumbing
Make sure your radiators are cold when adding any chemicals into the system as you don't want to burn yourself
Thanks.
Can i do the same and it will go to all my other radiators around the house ? Shall I switch boiler off when doing this ?
You can but switch off heating before doing it.
@dereton33 do I need a gas engineer to do this job as he's trying to charge me £80.00 to put the fluid in one radiator a litre and it will go around the whole system. He claims it will be £80 as its a 1 hr job. Don't seem like it. I can close one radiator take some water out and then after fluid is in check if the pressure is at 1.5 as that's where it said be around without heating on
@@dereton33 do I need to switch boiler off
Another top vid!!! Inhibitor is something that's meant to be added approx every two years i understand. Can you simply do this every two years or do you have to start worrying about dilution rates after the first time of doing this? As I assume if u don't fully flush the system down there will still be some "older" inhibitor in the system?
Yes it is best to drain and flush everything out before adding fresh inhibitor.
Will this get rid of sludge that could be causing overflow from the f and e tank?
Best to use system cleaner first.
@@dereton33 ok...how do I do that? (Thanks!)
Dear Al, if I want to add Inhibitor myself, but don't want to drain the system again (and risk more air getting in!! :( ) but don't have a towel rail (open, F & E, condensing boiler system), is it possible to do it via another radiator? Which would be the best one? Do you have a video for this? Thank you as always for all your help, Isla
I have a video on how to do it through a radiator. The upstairs ones are best to use.
@@dereton33 Thank you Al :) That's the video I was looking for but couldn't find. It's knowing how to drain the radiator (top ones don't have a drain tap) and fill - it would be easiest for me to do it via the bleed valve...if you know the link to the best video, that would be great, Isla
Can i add inhibitor and leakage sealer at the same time ?
No give them a gap of about a month.
@@dereton33 right , nice one. Thanks for the reply 👍🏻👍🏻
Can you add some inhibitor without draining the heating system?
Yes if you just drain one rad out.
My towel radiator is on the hot water circuit and not the heating circuit (regular system boiler). Will this method still work OK?
Yes it will
Dont think this should be done as the hotwater is what you use for pot washing ,and you dont want that it will make you sick.
@@ericward2260 it's just on the heating circuit for the hw, not heated with water from the tank. Still an odd setup though
Nice one al 👍👍
Thanks 👍
Super video, thanks, really helped
You're welcome!
Excellent, thanks!
Incidentally, are you from the same part of the world as Stanley Unwin? I think you sound a lot like him, (except I can understand you a bit better!)
Now there`s a good man.
How often do u need to add inhibitor ...don't think we've done ours for 10 years. Is that bad? 🙈
5 is best.
Could you answer this quesion for me please ?
I really liked the tutorial about introducing inhibitor into the central heating system through a radiator.
My question is : Would it be possible just to use a syphon to drain off 500 to 100cls? Silverline do a syphon that looks ideal.
Thanks for your interesting videos.
Yes that would be fine.
Sorry I wasn't too clear with my initial question. What I really meant was : Once that about a litre of water has been syphoned out of the radiator using the Silverline syphon. The Fernox could added to the system. I'm just curios to know if the syphon method would work.
@Dereton33 I am going to post a comment on 1 of your videos from 7 years ago about compression fittings and pointing compound. I would leave the comment here but it may confuse some viewers. I just posted here so you would be aware of my intentions, I would like to know your opinion on a particular problem. Thanks.
Go ahead.
Did this this afternoon, now my towel rail doesn’t work at all 😂 all other 7 radiators work fine though.
Must have air in it or the valves are not turned on properly.
If you have a drain value downstairs why not just drain a little from upstairs .open air vent value and pour it in thier ,instead of opening valve in bottom.
It really is up to what systems and ways that you like to do it.
Just for a layman, why would a central heating system need cleaning?
Corrosion black sludge (ferrous oxide)
Thanks Paul.
@@dereton33 i just started learning central heating at college 😃😃 in the geel squad
👍👍👍AL
Thanks Paul.