When you have a problem with a radiator – or more than one in your central heating system – it’s natural to conclude there’s either an issue with pipework or individual radiators; for instance, maybe one or more of them are blocked. If a blockage is a problem then, how can you be sure and what can you do about it…?

 

What may cause a blocked radiator?

There are several reasons why one or more of your radiators gets blocked:

  • Do you live in a hard water area? If so, limescale could build up in your radiators; similar to how it does in a kettle.
  • If the central heating system experiences internal corrosion, you may find black sludge will form and congregate.
  • Should a chemical reaction occur between hot water and copper piping?
  • If there’s a chemical reaction between the air, water and the metalwork of your home’s central heating system.
  • If rusting takes place within a radiator or several of your system’s radiators.

What are the symptoms of a blocked radiator?

If you fear there may be a blockage in one or more of your radiators, look out for the following signs – if you can tick any of them off, you may well be right:

  • Is one – or more – of your radiators not warm/ hot all over (say, fine at the top but cold at the bottom)?
  • Are the pipes to your radiators hot but the units themselves stone-cold?
  • Is it taking an age for your radiators to heat up?
  • Does your central heating system’s pump keep on failing?
  • Are your central heating system’s valves constantly sticking or have you had to replace more than one of them recently?
  • When you bleed a radiator (to try to address a problem you’ve discovered), does any water come out? If not, you could well have a blockage
  • Are there tiny ‘pinhole’ leaks in a radiator or two? If so, a blockage could well have caused corrosion inside and, in turn, brought about the leaks
  • Is one or more of your radiators overly noisy?

 

How can you unblock a radiator?

Experts suggest there are different methods you can try to unblock a radiator – or more – in your system. Some of these require more technical knowledge and expertise than others, though; so, you may conclude it’s best to call on the services of a reliable, professional heating engineer.

First off, should one of your radiators be taking longer to heat up than the others in the system – or isn’t doing so at all – you might want to try balancing the circuit. This would require adding a system cleaner to the header tank (or, should yours be a combi system, injecting the cleaner into the filling loop). Following this, give the system a few weeks to settle down, for the cleaner to circulate throughout the system and radiators, before draining down and flushing it through with mains-pressure water. Note that if you apply such cleaning fluid to a single radiator (if you’ve isolated just one as being a problem), then it may well help clear out dirty water from the unit, but may not remove a blockage.

Alternatively, if you do believe a single radiator has an issue, then you can ask a professional engineer to remove it from the wall and, via a hosepipe connected to your home’s mains water supply, remove the blockage by draining it out with water. That said, this technique may not remove a very stubborn blockage.

 

The Reina Carpi Towel Radiator.

 

 

How can you prevent a blockage from happening in the first place?

Well, aside from filling your home entirely with non-water-powered heat sources (for instance, electric radiators), you could try installing a central heating power flush to remove sludge and prevent it from coming back in future – although, be warned; experts claim this can produce very mixed results – or you might turn to put a central heating filter in place.

Above all else, though, make sure that your system’s boiler and tank are installed up to standard; if so and all appears correctly fitted, it should significantly reduce the chances of anything entering the system that shouldn’t and causing a blockage.

 

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If you have any questions about your blocked radiator, please contact us today. Our award winning customer service team are always happy to help you in any way they can.