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What causes rust pin holes in central heating radiators?

What causes rust pin holes in central heating radiators?What are the causes of rust pin holes in central heating radiators? There are a number of reasons that will be the most common cause of rusting radiators to domestic or commercial heating systems most of which can easily be avoided. If a radiator has large amounts of general rust on its surface it could be leaking joints which has built up over a long time. It may just be superficial surface rust and if it is cleaned off and the leaking valve or joint is fixed the problem will be resolved. Should the actual metal of the radiator be blistering or layers delaminating with rust then the radiator will require replacement.
 Pin holes in radiators are normally associated with more serious problems. If all the pin holes are along the lowest levels of the radiators then you could expect to find sludge or oxides in the bottom of the radiator. The system will require a thorough cleaning with sludge removal chemicals or even a power flush. Despite the cleaning etc the radiator will once again require replacement with a new one. It is a very good idea to install a system filter like an Intaklean or similar. A rust inhibitor should be added to the central heating system water which will greatly reduce the chances of the problem returning. The secret to preventing this problem returning is to be absolutely thorough with the cleaning of the system. If you do a good job of cleaning out a heating system it could easily take a day to do.
General pin holes in a random pattern all over the surface of the radiator either on the front or back of the panels and at different heights is once again a terminal problem for the radiator. This kind of pin holing is often associated with high levels of iron or copper particles in the water and often is in conjunction with elevated levels of PH due to excessive flux being used. All new installations of radiator central heating systems should be flushed out after first water testing to remove excess flux contamination. This sort of rusting can be fast destroy the radiators in a matter of a few months. Once metal has been pitted away it cannot be put back so therefore the radiator is permanently damaged. The system must be cleaned and it will probably require all radiators to be replaced. This sort of problem is a poor installation problem which would easily have been prevented by good installation practice. A well installed radiator on a treated heating system will normally last indefinitely without ever being a cause of concern.
Clickon is a part of a long established plumbing and heating stockist selling a wide range of Ultraheat radiators run by an ex engineer with over forty years of experience in the heating industry.
Created On  13 May 2014 11:06  -  Permalink

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