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Do I need to clean my old cast iron hot water radiators?

emaydeoh
emaydeoh Member Posts: 58
in Radiant Heating

I’ve owned my house 2 years and I have hot water cast iron radiators (not steam.) I plan to clean the boiler fins of dust myself but I was wondering if there anything I need to do to flush or clean the inside of the boiler and cast iron radiators themselves? The radiators have never been cleaned internally while I’ve lived here. They all work well and heat evenly. Is this something I could DIY? I saw some cleaning solutions that you somehow feed into the system, but I have no idea how you get the solution in there or flush it out…

Any help appreciated.

Comments

  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,594

    No. Just vacuum them.

    bburd
  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,735
    edited September 8

    A good brush set helps.

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0784VVJ2L?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NPKGHFB

  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,735
  • dandub1960
    dandub1960 Member Posts: 19

    Be careful about lead paint dust if painted. Actually the dust on mine usually trigger sneezing fits so you may want to where a mask and be sure your vac has a good filter too, lest you spray it everywhere from the outlet. If concerned about lead paint dust you may want to spray with water and then shop vac the goop off.

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 11,122

    Do I need to clean my old cast iron hot water radiators?

    The water inside a cast iron boiler/radiator system may contain some harmful ingredients when it is introduced into the system.  One of the biggest harmful ingredients is oxygen.  That will take a toll on the cast iron and cause rust to form.  The good thing is that this oxygen and other harmful contaminants do their dirty work pretty quickly (usually within the first few hours of operation) and once all that rust and corrosion happens that water becomes inert. Once the little bit of damage is done, there are no more bad guys left in that water.  So, as long as you keep that same water inside that system, there will be very little corrosion, sludge, or other deposits happening for the many years of operation. 

    Every once in a while you may need to drain some water from the system to make a repair on a valve, fitting or circulator pump.  No worries, when you add new fresh water back into the system to replace the water you needed to remove for that repair, that water will be inert within a few hours and the damage will be minimal Just like the first time the system was filled so many years ago.

    What you don't want is to make a habit of removing water regularly which may happen if you end up with a defective relief valve. That will constantly let boiler water spill out and the auto feed will replace that water with fresh water.  You want to keep the fresh water going into the boiler to a bare minimum.   

    Long story short…  You don't need to clean the inside (WET SIDE) of radiators or boilers unless you are having a problem with the system working properly.  It sounds like you do not have that problem. 

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

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