Test, flush and filter service gets a result

When World Cup-winning rugby player, Steve Thompson, put a call out on social media about a problem he was having with his heating, ADEY and Sure Maintenance were quick to step in and help.

During the cold snap of December 2022, Steve Thompson – who played hooker for Northampton Saints and England –noticed that the radiators in his 1930s semi-detached house were not working properly. They had multiple cold spots and even when the heating was turned right up, rooms were still cold. With four young children and temperatures consistently below freezing, he was keen to get it sorted.

“If we’d been living in Northampton, I’d have known exactly who to call, but since moving to Northwich just under a year ago, I didn’t know where to start,” says Steve. “This was made even more difficult as my early onset dementia diagnosis means it’s much harder for me to make decisions. Something that before I would have had no problem doing without second guessing myself now panics me, so I took to Twitter to see if someone could help.”

Spotting Steve’s request, ADEY got in touch and recruited the help of local heating engineers, Sure Maintenance.

“It was such a relief when ADEY reached out,” continues Steve. “They sent over references for Sure Maintenance and arranged for them to give me a call. Even before they came out to the house, they tried to help me over the phone first, before sending someone to check the system. When the gas engineer arrived, he knew instantly that I had issues with the water in my system. He took a sample of it from one of my radiators and the results were shown to me immediately. I didn’t realise that it would be the water in the radiators causing the problem.”

ProCheck for the pro

To check the quality of the water, a water test was carried out using ADEY ProCheck, a digital test kit which gives instant, on-site lab-style results using a smartphone. This revealed that there was a significant build-up of magnetite that was causing the reduced radiator heat output.

“We sent a manager out to Steve’s house to check there wasn’t an issue with any of the boiler components,” explains Pat Coleman, MD at Sure Maintenance. “But the water test confirmed that the system needed flushing, so we arranged a date for our engineers to return.”

Using the MC3+ cleaner to help lift the sludge and the MagnaCleanse system flush meant the system didn’t have to be drained down and the flush could be carried out in one day without turning the heating off and keeping Steve’s home warm at the same time.

“The guys who came out explained what they needed to do really clearly,” says Steve. “You hear so many horror stories about people being ripped off, but I felt reassured all the way through the process.”