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Clean radiators

Howard Emerson
Howard Emerson Member Posts: 111
in THE MAIN WALL
Shortly upon the completion of our new EK-1 System 2000, I thought I would take the opportunity, pre-heating season, to clean the old convector elements.

The house was built in 1954 and I had a hunch they'd never been cleaned before.

I got out my Scunci Steamer that I purchased at Home Despot a couple of years back, and proceeded.

Yikes!!!! I could not believe the amount of crap coming out from between the fins!!!! I wonder how much I increased the efficiency of the radiators by doing this.

In any case, the payoff was that for the first time that I can remember, there was no 'first-heat-of-the-season' smell at all when the radiators came on:-)

Dust really doesn't smell good when it's being heated........

HE

Comments

  • brucewo1b
    brucewo1b Member Posts: 638
    Howard

    Just amazing what can collect over the years, but how are you going to know when the heating season starts?
  • J.C.A._3
    J.C.A._3 Member Posts: 2,980
    How many...

    Missing things did you find?..I've found all kinds of crazy things in baseboard and convectors when I originally set out to bleed them.

    Plastic Army men, melted crayons, money and the occasional piece of jewelry are the most often found...but there have also been some great finds ! The missing screws from the blind that was specially made for that window saved one H.O. a pile of time. I'm sure ther are more..but I'm tired.

    I like the last question. How WILL you know when the heat kicks on without "that smell"? I'm sure that the output will be greatly increased also. Chris
  • Howard Emerson
    Howard Emerson Member Posts: 111


    JCA, Bruce,
    'How will I know when the heating season starts?'....Good question.

    I'll probably find out after the fact when I get notice from our oil company that we're being dropped because we're not using enough oil, or we must be purchasing spot market stuff....:-)

    HE
  • bob_84
    bob_84 Member Posts: 10


    Sounds interesting. Whats a "Scunci Steamer " and whats the procedure you used. How would you collect the dirty water?
  • Howard Emerson
    Howard Emerson Member Posts: 111


    Hi Jim,
    The Scunci Steamer is a homeowner grade steam unit with a bunch of attachments for cleaning all sorts of things and it works very well.

    I put a long aluminum pan underneather the element as I steamed and it caught most of the gunk. The steam itself, is very dry steam and tended to not make a wet-mess. It also held the dust together more than using compressed air, but I still kept my central vacuum hose nearby.

    http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/scunci_steamer.html

    HE
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