Gas boiler cleaning

Any equipment in a private house, installed to ensure comfortable living conditions, needs regular maintenance. These are pollution prevention measures and the direct procedure for cleaning certain parts. Cleaning a gas boiler is the very process in which it is better not to intervene without certain skills and knowledge. Therefore, we suggest reading about what methods exist for cleaning boilers, as well as how to understand when to clean them.

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How to clean the heat exchanger?

The process of cleaning the heat exchanger depends not only on its design, but also on which water is used in the system: unprepared or prepared - with special additives.

By design, the heat exchanger may well be one of several types:

• fire tube;
• bithermic;
• lamellar.

Lamellar are divided into several types - secondary and primary for heating water.

Important! A fire-tube heat exchanger is installed in floor-standing boilers, bithermic - in compact floor or wall-mounted models.

Cleaning is carried out by the following methods:

• mechanical;
• chemical;
• electric discharge;
• hydrodynamic.

Important! Maintenance of gas equipment, including boilers, should be performed by specialists with relevant knowledge. If you do not have enough technical knowledge and skills, it is better to call the wizard for help.

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How to clean the fire tube heat exchanger of a single-circuit boiler?

Cleaning floor boilers with a fire tube heat exchanger is fundamentally different from the similar procedure for attachments. In this case, there is no need to remove the heat exchanger to carry out this procedure, but you only need to provide access to it.

To complete this work, you will need the following tools:

• metal brush;
• open end wrench;
• manual metal brush;
• screwdriver;
• brush made of nylon or natural pile.

Important! The first thing you should do is turn off the gas tap. Then perform 3 stages of work - provide access to the heat exchanger, clean the parts, assemble the boiler back. The assembly and disassembly steps vary by model.

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Bypass boiler cleaning

For a boiler with a circuit for water heating, it is mandatory to clean the secondary heat exchanger from internal scale. Moreover, it is necessary to clean it a little more often, because a whole stream of unprepared water passes through it. Thus, mineral hardness salts are actively deposited on its walls.

Important! The same goes for bithermic heat exchangers.

How to clean the boiler from soot at home? This work is carried out in several stages:

1. The first is the mechanical cleaning of the external surface of all parts and chimneys from accumulated soot.
2. The second stage is a chemical, electrodischarge or hydrodynamic flushing from scale.

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Mechanical cleaning of plate heat exchangers

You can clean the boiler from soot even without removing the heat exchanger. To do this, all you need is:

1. Remove the cover.
2. Next, take a hard nylon brush and close the gas nozzles so that no dirt gets there.
3. If soot has joined the surface and does not want to be removed during brushing, remove the heat exchanger and soak it in a special detergent composition for several hours.

Important! Similar products are available in stores in a fairly wide range, you can purchase Fauch and MAZBIT +. But you can use the household cleaning products that are designed to clean ovens and grills.

Before disassembling the boiler:

1. Disconnect it from the gas, but disconnect the igniter from electricity.
2. Drain the water from both circuits, as well as the expansion tank.
3. First remove the secondary heat exchanger, which is located immediately behind the boiler cover.
4. The primary, it’s primary, is somewhat more problematic to remove, because you have to disassemble the combustion chamber itself.

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How to clean surfaces from the inside?

Washing the inner surface of a fire tube, plate or bithermic heat exchanger is possible exclusively with the help of special equipment:

• High pressure pump through which hydrodynamic flushing is performed. This appliance is used to remove small deposits.

Important! The advantages of this device are the speed of the procedure and the ability to clean the gas boiler without removing the heat exchanger.

• Booster, it’s an acid resistant pump. Removes even the most old scale. Advantage - eliminates scale that cannot be eliminated in other ways.

Important! If you choose the wrong reagents (neutralizers and acids), the life of the heat exchanger is reduced.

• The Streamer complex for carrying out electric discharge cleaning. It is used to remove scale of any degree of strength. Advantages - does not affect the heat exchanger metal, provides a high level of cleaning.

Important! Disadvantage: the duration and noise of the procedure.

Of all the above methods, only chemical cleaning is possible at home, because the factory booster can be changed to a low-pressure pump. All other equipment is both expensive and voluminous, therefore such cleaning of boilers can be carried out exclusively by service centers.

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Chemical cleaning

In the event that you have a booster in service, you can do the flushing yourself:

1. The booster can be made with your own hands - this is a 10 liter tank with two hoses and the pump itself.
2. In order for the procedure to help eliminate scale, but did not affect the metal surface, choose the right acid.
3. As soon as you have treated with acid, rinse the heat exchanger with a neutralizer without fail.

Important! If the boiler was cleaned regularly, small deposits formed on the pipes, then it is better to use citric acid. The concentration of the prepared solution is as follows: 5 l of water per 200 g of acid.

If the scale is old or if unprepared water with a high percentage of minerals, i.e. hard water, is used, take more radical means - solutions based on phosphoric, hydrochloric or sulfuric acid.

Using a hydrochloric acid solution without corrosion inhibitors is not recommended because it will damage the equipment.

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How often should the boiler be cleaned?

In all technical documents for boilers, it is indicated how often it is necessary to clean it:

• For closed circuits with the addition of reagents, they are single-circuit heating boilers, cleaning does not need to be carried out often. It can be carried out 1 time in 2-3 years.
• The secondary and bithermic heat exchanger must be cleaned every year, and if the operating conditions are poor, twice a year.

What are the signs to understand that the boiler must be cleaned?

Signs that a gas boiler cleaning is urgently needed:

• the boiler is slowly gaining temperature;
• insufficient traction;
• the burner burns poorly or does not light up;
• with the same gas consumption, heat transfer is much less;
• traces of soot or not quite charred paint near the viewing window.

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Stock footage

Do not neglect preventive measures, because the result of this can be not only broken units. The safety of all the inhabitants of the house is at risk. Clogged chimneys and ducts with growths inside can be the cause of serious accidents.