cleaning twintran tubing

Robert O'Brien

That a vertically fired oil boiler?

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Marc K.

cleaning twintran tubing

I am a licensed master plumber and currently work as a heating consultant. I was recently called to a homeowner's residence for the following: Customer had a Ford Titan boiler installed in the early 90's, along with several zones of Heatway twintran tubing. A mouse ate through some of the tubing, and when he went to repair it he noticed that the tubing had a mudlike buildup in it that reduced the interior dimension considerably. (It has dried to a more powdery-like substance.)
He is looking for a cleaner to be able to pump through his system that might flush out the buildup (without clogging the system) as well as treat the boiler to eliminate future buildup. Any ideas? I've seen references to Sterwart Hall, Hercules, and Rhomar products on the wall, as well as mention of an O2 scavenger, which I'm not sure is a product or just a generic name. Does anyone have experience with this type of problem, and a recommended solution? I should mention that the boiler fill was with well water that has a high iron content. When the leak occurred, the pressure regulator let in more fresh water, but probably not more than 30 gallons. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Bob Sweet

Marc

The residue build up present in your system is caused by the presence of 02 permeating through the walls of the tubing.

The only way to permantely stop this from happening, is to install a heat exchanger between the boiler water and the system water, physically seperating the two sides of the system. This will require some additional piping and pumps, but the only way to prevent this from continuing, and save the boiler from dying a premature death.

After that is done flushing the system side with a cleaner would help get rid of the existing sediment and condition the tubing.

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What is the condition

of the tube itself. Leaks at manifold connections? Getting hard or brittle in any places? Discoloring?

The Twintran is part of the Entran settlement. You may want to register that installation as it is covered for failures.
http://www.goodyear.com/corporate/heatway/index.html

You can power flush most of the gunk out, but you also flush out the plasticizers that may be keeping the tube intact.

Might be time to start thinking about a plan B.

hot rod

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