Updated 19 April 2023

Note – Boiler replaced, however Magnaclean has been retained, Blog HERE.

Today (21 April 18), I decided to install a Magnaclean Pro 2 in my heating system which has a system boiler with hot water and central heating controlled using the ‘S’ plan design.

Magnaclean removes suspended solids (ferrous (Magnatite) and non ferrous) from the circulating water and traps them within the canister, this is then cleaned out at regular intervals.

The removal of these particulates will improve the longevity of the boiler and its parts, although my system water has been previously treated with inhibitor and ran clear during the drain down to fit this, these devices are installed when boilers are replaced in compliance with Building Regulations Part L , so I thought I’d bring it up to code.

The instructions specify that the Magnaclean is installed on the return to the boiler after the last radiator and before any system filling/pressurisation point, next to the boiler was a good location for me.

In order to make room for the Magnaclean to fit, the cold water filling loop needed to be raised.

With the boiler power isolated, the case was removed to give more working room, a hoselok fitting was screwed onto the cold fill line and a hose ran to drain, I then isolated at the stopcock and drain the line ready for cutting the 15mm copper pipe and raising the whole assembly.

Cold fill raised and leak tested, the maximum height was governed by the length of the braided filling loop, the 22mm copper pipe nearest the boiler is the return and this has two marks 150mm apart indicating where the cuts need to be made.

I used the hoselok fitting on the return filling valve, and drained the heating system water opening a couple of upstairs radiators to break any vacuum.

Using a 22mm pipe slice it was fairly easy to cut the pipe, due to the restricted working space, I had to use pump pliers to grip and turn the pipe slice through some of its travel.

The Magnaclean has a slip socket allowing the unit to slide over the pipe, then once engaged, the unit is lifted slightly so the inlet pipe engages allowing a nut and olive compression fitting to be made, I used jointing compound on both top and bottom olives before tightening.

The isolation valves are on the left, rather than the right, I had to use this orientation so I could easily access the isolation valves, I was going to use obtuse street elbows to form  a tight set in the return pipe, lifting the  Magnaclean clear of the flow pipe so I could operate the isolation valves, but this was way too much work for no real gain, especially as effective fluid flow is a function of the Magnaclean canister and not the valve orientation.

Once the canister was pushed into place and the lid was tight, I closed the radiator vents and started to fill the system watching for leaks, the filling system pressure reducing valve is set for 1.5bar, so this was left open as I went round venting the upstairs radiators.

With the first round of venting done, I vented the Magnaclean and boilers circulation pump before turning the boiler on to heat.

This was followed by more venting until the majority of the air subsided, I isolated the Magnaclean and drained it so I could add 500ml of Fernox F1 inhibitor to the system, using the canister as a dosing pot.

As I only partially drained the system, (downstairs radiators are below the boiler so I only drained upstairs), 500ml should be sufficient to top up protection.

The installation went well with no leaks, and once the Magnaclean was proved to be ok, I registered the device online for the 10 year warranty.

I’ll post pictures in a few weeks of the Magnaclean magnet to see what it has picked up.

5 May 18 – Checked the Magnaclean and this is what it had caught:

My Vaillant Thermocompact system was installed in 2003 and has 13 radiators piped in 10mm.  I’m very happy with the low level of magnetite retained and nothing was trapped within the lower filter housing, I’ll check this again in a years time, but so far so good 🙂