Watts Radiant Onix tubing giving us major problems and a massive headache

Denzy

My wife and I just spent the majority of our savings on the purchase of a lovely new home... with one slight caveat: the heating system.

We have an oil boiler with forced hot water baseboard heating. On day one of moving in we noticed there was no heat in the upstairs and we immediately called a company that services these boilers. They said the problem was the piping. The first floor water was coming back hot, but the second floor was ice cold. They took off the pump to the second floor and showed me the inside... it was clogged with black gunk, so they flushed the line and installed a new one. No matter what they did they couldn't get the water to flow as fast as it should be, and told me it was because of the 1/2 inch black radiant Onix tubing used. They applied so much pressure when they tried to flush the lines that the boiler sprayed water all over the floor, and the water that was coming out of the lines from flushing was a black sludge. They said it was a defect in the piping and it is allowing oxygen into the system, and nothing can be done except replace all the pipes.

After the flushing we now have reclaimed some slight heating to the upstairs, but rooms like the master bed,
and bathrooms are still iceboxes... the baseboards don't even get warm. I was told that the flushing was a temporary fix and that the issue will most likely return. The estimate they gave me was upwards of 20k to fix, but honestly if we were going to dump that much money into this system we'd do something completely different anyways... neither of which we currently have the money for.

Is there anything we can do to fix this? I have done some research into people who have had similar issues and said that they needed to use a "power flush" machine to clean the lines and that has given them success in restoring water flow, but I don't know who exactly to contact about this as the "professionals" that previously came to us said the only solution was to replace the pipes.

Any suggestions? My wife is freaking out that our new house is a money pit, and I'm worried she might be right.

kcopp

Yes a power flush cart would help get out the sludge.
After flow is returned the you can add in Inhibitors to the system to help stave off the corrosion.
Where is this home?
We may be able to direct you to help.

Alankr

I'm having a similar problem. I'm wondering if this solved the problem or if the problem returned. My heating contractor is suggesting the same solution, but I'm concerned in 2 years I'll be right back here. The onix tubing was originally installed in 2005 and a new IBC boiler was installed in 2021 and the small internal pump keeps getting clogged.

SuperTech

You can power flush the zones and then separate the boiler from the non barrier tubing with a brazed plate heat exchanger. Use bronze or stainless circulators for the zones with non barrier tubing and treat the water in those zones with an additive like Fernox or Rhomar. That option might be less expensive than replacing the tubing. I'd call around and get a few different options from different companies who specialize in hydronic heating. 

kcopp

What specifically was done?
Was the system power flushed w/ a flush cart?
Were all the Non ferrous parts removed from the system?
That would include the circ pumps, the air separator, the expansion tank and any manifolds or boiler headers?
What was put in the system for an inhibitor?
Was a magnetic filter installed?

I have done this w/ a couple of the IBC HC/ DC boilers. It has worked. IBC does allow for the use of non barrier tubing. (I would not install it new... but its out there)