The way to clear a gas heating system
The way to clear a gas heating system
At some moment in the life of your fully pumped central heating system you will want to drain it. To replace the central heating boiler or a metal radiator is a frequent reason. Cleaning your system is something that can be done by the none professional but competent diy practician.
Cleansing the radiators is the most popular driver of this activity. Before any work is undertaken you need to switch off the water heating pump and central heating boiler. To enable the system to completely flush you will need to ensure that no water is getting into the gas central heating system.
The header water tank in the attic is used to normally top up the system with water. This has a ball-valve that is the same as the one seen in your toilet water tank. This ball valve is a ball connected to an arm that, when raised closes the valve, which means when the cystern is full no more water can arrive as the valve is shut. As the water level falls, say through Flushing, the ball drops in the tank venting the valve and allowing more water to enter the gas central heating system. Water will need to be prevented from entering the central heating system if the Flushing process is to complete. A good way to do this is to prevent the ball moving by connecting it to the top of the water tank.
Once you have completed the above run a hose pipe from an outside clean to the outlet of at the bottom of one of your metal radiators. Water can now enter the external drain my flowing through the hose out of the metal radiator valve. To flush your whole heating system you need to attach this hose pipe to one of the ground floor metal radiators, the lowest ones in the house. You now need to be diligent and check that all the water has discharged out and that no more water is getting in before any other work is executed on the heating system.
The process can be hurried up by venting the bleed valves in the top floor metal radiators. When completed work can now begin on the system.