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Which antifreeze for central heating


umpire111

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The current anti freeze in my central heating is pink in colour. Have been told not to mix differing sorts, i.e. Blue with pink. Can anyone tell me what type the pink wil be as need to top up. Called into Midland Chandlers and they only sell the blue type for engines. Also Halfords cannot help.

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It's probably long life antifreeze. All the antifreezes are based on ethylene glycol but the anti-corrosive agents in ordinary (blue) and long life (pink) are not compatible. That said, there is no absolute certainty that the colour reflects whether it's long life or not, hence my "probably". The "perfect solution" would be to drain the lot and start again with known stuff, but if you want to take the risk then you can use http://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/antifreeze/halfords-oat-antifreeze-concentrate-5-litres

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14 hours ago, nicknorman said:

It's probably long life antifreeze. All the antifreezes are based on ethylene glycol but the anti-corrosive agents in ordinary (blue) and long life (pink) are not compatible. That said, there is no absolute certainty that the colour reflects whether it's long life or not, hence my "probably". The "perfect solution" would be to drain the lot and start again with known stuff, but if you want to take the risk then you can use http://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/antifreeze/halfords-oat-antifreeze-concentrate-5-litres

That's really useful, thanks

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15 hours ago, nicknorman said:

I think you should be abl to buy 5 litres of the "red" antifreeze for considerably less than £25, though.

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12 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

I think you should be abl to buy 5 litres of the "red" antifreeze for considerably less than £25, though.

Not much less I suspect. Red "long life" seems to be fairly expensive. I gave the Halfords link because the OP mentioned the shop. They are expensive but sometimes it's worth swallowing the extra cost rather than travel a long way to save a couple of quid.

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Personally I would drain and flush the system, then fill it with Ford Long Life antifreeze because it lasts up to 10 years, rather than up to 5 for the Halfrauds antifreeze.

That way you know what's in the system and can forget about it for 8-10 years (test by draining a bit out and putting some bits of copper, steel and aluminium in it - if they don't corrode the antifreeze still has its anti corrosion properties. Test for antifreeze concentration with a hydrometer or sticking it in the freezer).

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