Magnetite

[Polly]

This was a complete surprise!  My daughter bought me a pretty bracelet as a birthday gift. Grandson chose it, the boy has taste! 

As it happens it is made of magnetite, the label warns off pregnant persons, well women really, and pacemaker carriers. Being neither I put it on to admire it and kept it on all evening. 

Now the thing is that I have a pesteringly achy shoulder, it can wake me up, it ain't nice. Since wearing the bracelet, it has been absolutely fine. It said on the box that magnetite has long been an alternative therapy for pain, but I didn't believe it......well not at first.....but the shoulder is pretty convincing. It stays fine when I take the bracelet off for several hours too.

[BroadScot]

Hi Polly,

I too have a magnetic bracelet for my psoriatic arthritis, I don't keep it on all the time, but have felt benefit from it. I suspect our - excuse the pun - metabolism, has something to do with it maybe ?

Iain

[Polly]

Weird innit?

[BroadScot]

6 minutes ago, Polly said:

Weird innit?

Indeed it is !

[SteveO]

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio.......

Still wierd tho'

Steve

 

 

[ranworthbreeze]

Both Tan and I have magnetic bracelets Tan has the pretty type mine are a combination of stainless or copper bracelets with two or more magnets, we both feel they help.

Regards

Alan  

[ChrisB]

Just don't let your wrist get too close to the compass or that trip to Ostende might be Hamburg!

[Viking23]

I have just been researching on how to get rid of magnetite from my central heating boiler, as it is kettling. Magnetite is that horrible black sludge that comes out of a radiator, usually spils onto the carpet if you remove radiators when you decorate.

I will be flushing loads out of my radiators and hopefully the boiler.

 Maybe I should dry it and compress it lol..

[Baitrunner]

Viking 23  - Maybe sell it as a rub? It could take off!!!

And now the twist on the thread, as we get onto central heating - It would seem our 30+yr old boiler may have heated it's last tank of water. The BG man broke it during it's service. Parts like rocking horse doodahs. If we have to have a new boiler we will be having a little flush out ourselves so will collect the gunk for you!!

On the "positive" side the wife is re-designing the utility room to house the newer smaller boiler (that we may not need yet) and moving cupboards around in her head. Guess who will get the job of patching that lot up and putting it all back in it's new place?

Still, could be worse, at least we don't need any central heating yet

[ranworthbreeze]

45 minutes ago, Baitrunner said:

Still, could be worse, at least we don't need any central heating yet

Hi Mark,

That is bit of wishful thinking, it is only a few weeks ago since we last had the heating on. We can live in hope however.

Best of luck with the heating.

Regards

Alan

[BroadScot]

Looks like its turning warm your neck of the woods Mark, more like bbq than diy weather !

[Baitrunner]

Iain, I have no intentions of doing any internal DIY this side of October at the very earliest. Sun or nay sun.

[TheQ]

I'll be stopping off to get some Fernox tomorrow as some time soon, before it gets cold, I've only 17 radiators to clean out.....

Before you think I have a huge house I don't, there are hoards of small radiators everywhere even in the outside toilet!!

The parents of an area manager for Shell gas owned the house once....

[ranworthbreeze]

Hi Q,

I would flush your system fully before adding any Fernox, it might also be an idea to fit one or two magnetic filters adjacent to your boiler and pump.

Here some information from a supplier:-

https://www.mrcentralheating.co.uk/central-heating-magnetic-boiler-filters?gclid=CMjglazKtM4CFdUW0wodPoIOXQ

Regards

Alan

[ChrisB]

Some say Screwfix own be as good as Fernox at a much lower price. 

[BroadAmbition]

I have had a Magnaclean professional 2 fitted earlier this year.  I got proper tired of the amount of black sludge forming no matter how much fernox was put in the system.  Then I 'discovered' the magna clean, what really gripes me on this one is that Plumbers are well aware of them but don't like fitting them or even offering them to clients as they stop so many breakdowns and system cleans.  Which is un professional and a bit naughty imho.

Anyroadup, I have been lazy, well not so much lazy but not had time to sort the system out proper which I will do before this winter arrives, that is to remove each radiator, flush them out, then flush out the entire pipes / boiler, clean the filter in the magnaclean then re-fit the lot adding an inhibitor.  From then on it will just be a matter of cleaning the filter out.  Job done

Griff

http://www.screwfix.com/p/adey-magnaclean-professional-2-magnetic-filtration-22mm/49961?kpid=49961&cm_mmc=Google-_-Product Listing Ads-_-Sales Tracking-_-sales tracking url&gclid=CLS8jajQt84CFUsq0wodNT8PcA

[LondonRascal]

The real issue surly is the fact that it is the radiators being made from Iron, then you've got copper some aluminum and maybe zinc going on and you've got perfect corrosion conditions. They all react with each other in the presence of water to produce oxides and other residues you see as sludge and black mucky liquid.

Knowing how much inhibitor to add can be tricky though - i wonder about the benefits of using the cooling mixture CNC machines use.  It prevents oxidisation and lasts and lasts without going 'off' though unsure where one would buy it from.

An easy 'old wives' way to see whats going on inside your system is bleeding radiator water into a glass jar and adding a steel nail and a 1p coin. If the nail turns rusty after a month, then that will be happening to your radiators too, so you will need to add more inhibitor until the system stabilises.

 

[Viking23]

My intention is to use some fernox ds40 to descale and remove sludge. Not for the feint hearted, as caution is required, and has been known to find any pin holes in the radiators, previously blocked with sludge. Also expect the odd radiator valve to now weep too !!

First I will fully  flush the system, several drain downs etc, now when I did this 7 years ago, this was enough to stop the worst of the kettling anyway. 

1st stage, add DS 40 to the boiler only, leave a while, then top up system adding more DS 40 and circulate this through the hot water system, firing up the boiler, after a few days hopefully notice a quieter boiler, then I will circulate through one radiator, to maintain high concentrations, then eventually, through all the radiators to loosen the sludge, then drain down then add the neutraliser to neutralise the acid in any remaining DS 40.

More system flushes etc.

The system flushes will include a water hose attached to each downstairs radiator in turn and fill, drain, fill drain many times. A poor man's attempt at a low cost "power flush"

Eventually I will be adding inhibitor.

Re dosing, most inhibitors are 1 litre to 100 liters of system water, as a rule of thumb, this is for around 10 normal radiators. So if you have more, add a litre per 10 rads or part there of. A double radiator counts as 2.

I have read on the internet, that some people never use inhibitors, it is oxygen dissolved in the water that causes rust, and once everything has rusted, then the oxygen is exhausted, and no further rusting will occur.

The problem with this is, if you are constantly replacing water, you are adding more oxygen, and minerals, so the initial water will also contain lime etc, hard water areas will have more of course, the limescale is mostly deposited in the boiler first, so from day one, even with a new boiler the scaling up has started. I will advise how well it works...

Incidentally, if you have a new boiler fitted, as part of the guarantee, you must have a system power flush before the new boiler is installed. So expect a bill of around £600 - £900 for a professional and certified flush.

On day two after the installation, start saving for your next new boiler, as the average life is around 8 years. Another power flush etc etc.

Our old Potterton Profile cast iron boiler, was installed when the house was new, it must be close to 20 years old now, had it been one of the later type combi boilers, we would now be on our third now.

So doing the maths,  new combi boiler will use less gas, cheaper to run, but, offset this against replacing the boiler every 8 years, say £2k + and a power flush, £600 -£900 then there is the reliability, you have all seen these adverts for quick loans, "... there is no hot water AGAIN Mum" 

Ok the old boilers are not as efficient, they will use more gas, but you have to look at the long term cost of ownership.

A descale of the cast iron boiler will remove limescale and make the transfer of heat to the water more efficient, and use less gas.

Let's look at the environment, ok you are burning more gas, so more carbon dioxide, but how much resources and carbon dioxide and energy is used in manufacturing a new boiler? 

Some well known gas companies are condemming boilers, if it's a safety issue fair enough, but some engineers are paid a bonus for every new boiler installion that leads to a new sale. 

A friend of ours recently used a gas engineer from a well known supplier to service their boiler, they were complaining of headaches and nausea, further investigation showed that the engineer hadn't refitted the seals on the flue forrectly, and they were slowly being poisoned by Carbon Monoxide.

The boiler was soon condemmed and an investigation is now taking place.

They now have a carbon monoxide monitor... here we go again.

Maybe some gas companies should fit CO monitors for free, just to cover them selves against such action. 

 

[ChrisB]

I have to say every time British Gas sevice our boiler they always say have you got a CO detector.

When I say NO! They get straight down to the sales patter before I can say that we don't need one as there is no combustion in our house. The heating boiler is not in the house and hot water is by a direct Magaflow system. No open fires or anything. Done the old property bit with fires and wood burners, you can keep them, OK in world of interiors, and tv programmes but not for me anymore.

[TheQ]

On ‎09‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 3:53 PM, ranworthbreeze said:

Hi Q,

I would flush your system fully before adding any Fernox, it might also be an idea to fit one or two magnetic filters adjacent to your boiler and pump.

Here some information from a supplier:-

https://www.mrcentralheating.co.uk/central-heating-magnetic-boiler-filters?gclid=CMjglazKtM4CFdUW0wodPoIOXQ

Regards

Alan

We've already got a magnetic filter fitted, the system will probably be flushed more than once from different drains around the system.

 Which reminds me, I need to get another radiator / drain point key, that way the old one will turn up.

[Viking23]

8 minutes ago, TheQ said:

We've already got a magnetic filter fitted, the system will probably be flushed more than once from different drains around the system.

 Which reminds me, I need to get another radiator / drain point key, that way the old one will turn up.

We keep ours on the same key ring as the gas / electric cupboard key.

Also window lock keys too. 

[Baitrunner]

2 hours ago, Viking23 said:

We keep ours on the same key ring as the gas / electric cupboard key.

Also window lock keys too. 

Dangerous - lose those keys and not only will they break in they will steal your gas and electricity as well

Griff, never heard of those filters and if we do have a new boiler will look to get one fitted.

Viking, BG have been telling us to replace our our 30+ yr old Poterton for years as "new boilers are more efficient". We may save a months payment on gas each year (if we are lucky) with a new boiler - which as you say will never pay for itself unless it lasts 20 yrs. They always ask us about a CO detector as well - and it's fitted next to the boiler!!!!

[TheQ]

Not being able to get mains gas, we have the luxury of paying 3 times as much for gas, to not be bothered by BG. As the House is 110 years old we don't have gas or electricity cupboards either.

[grendel]

We once lived in a grade 2 listed council house (I am not kidding you) and I had to box in the electricity meter there as it was at floor level next to the front door, right at toddler height. the gas meter was outside in a box sunk into the garden (so it wasnt touching the house) and we were not allowed new double glazed windows to replace the draughty wooden sash windows (we did get secondary glazing eventually). before we moved in the council had to inject a new damp course, and the first time we lit the fire (after they had lined the chimney as the smoke leaked into the bedrooms from the chimney) the concrete base of the fireplace exploded from the damp in the concrete.

Eventually we got gas central heating, but only after a great controversy as to the location of the exhaust vent (due to the grade 2 listing) it was eventually bought out inside the side hedge that started from the corner of the house - so it could not be seen (the gas man who fitted it did point out it should be clear around the exhaust, but was overruled by the grade 2 listing people).