old rad flush and refurb

StevieD

These were taken out of our house in order to put in new floors.
I am refurbishing them before reinstallation. 

I made a 90* spray wand to stick inside and flush out the gunk. Here are before and after pictures of the runoff!
I wonder if it will make a difference in their performance. 

note: I pressure/leak tested each rad after flushing and so far, all  is well! 

Off to the powder coater next. h

EdTheHeaterMan

The performance may not change drastically. I don't think you will notice, because those systems heat up slowly and cool down slowly. Your energy bill won't change much either. But it would be interesting to find out from your experience if you do notice a change. Keep us posted, everyone here loves to see old radiators refurbished. Pictures, pictures, pictures!

StevieD

EdTheHeaterMan said:

The performance may not change drastically. I don't think you will notice, because those systems heat up slowly and cool down slowly. Your energy bill won't change much either. But it would be interesting to find out from your experience if you do notice a change. Keep us posted, everyone here loves to see old radiators refurbished. Pictures, pictures, pictures!

WILL DO! Im chronicling the whole ordeal/process with photos. For example, heres a 90* spray wand I made clean the insides: it shoots a 30' stream through a 1/4" hole. Its a piece of 1/2" pipe I welded shut on one end and put a garden hose on the other.

hot_rod

The closer the heating water to the cast the better the efficiency of the radiator
you are probably looking at small % gains, but it will help

Same applies to the boiler connected to the radiators. Keeping the heat transfer surfaces clean is worth some time

Running a cleaner and hot water through them would clean some more gunk out

A flush cart or tankless water heater cleaner kit, for example