Brown sludge in Feed & Expansion tank All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[Skids]

Brown sludge in Feed & Expansion tank

Hi folks,

Checked my F&E tank and the water is brown with sludge on the bottom

Am I correct in thinking it should not be brown & sludgy?

What’s the best way to clear it out?

Thank you

[muttley]

[quote="Skids"]Brown sludge in Feed & Expansion tank

Hi folks,

Checked my F&E tank and the water is brown with sludge on the bottom

Am I correct in thinking it should not be brown & sludgy?

What’s the best way to clear it out?

Thank you[/quote] The long winded but safest way is to turn the cold mains to the tank off,get a bucket and sponge and soak all the gunge up and place in bucket(not to full),clean inside of tank and refill with clean water. :wink:

[chris_on_tour2002]

no it should not have brown sludge in it but its very common to find it in F&E tanks. do as muttley says and clean out the tank. would do no harm at the same time to drain down, flush the system with clean water and sludge remover, then drain down again after running the heating for a day or two then refill and add a corrosion inhibitor. with regular maintenance you will keep the sludge at bay and save on expensive repair bills.

when we moved into our house with a 20 year old system the F&E was more sludge than water. the whole system was in a dreadful state so we ripped the lot out and started again. that brown sludge was inside the pump - it was like looking at clogged arteries, it had hardened completely and reduced the pump's capacity by 70% or more, do don't ignore this problem. do something about it whilst you still can.

[Skids]

Thanks for the help and advice, job on.

Skids