Typically, central heating systems are constructed from various metals, including brass, copper, carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum. At first glance, these construction materials make us believe that central heating systems are complex and sophisticated; however, such mixed metals systems are object to galvanic corrosion. Galvanic corrosion occurs when two or more metals or alloys are immersed into electrolyte (in this case water), and the least noble metal starts to lose electrons resulting in the loss of the metal. For example, most noble cathodic metals like stainless steel, titanium, and copper will stay intact while the least noble metals, like zinc, carbon steel, aluminum will suffer from severe corrosion. The corrosion eventually will lead to damage of pricey heating system components and costly repairs.
The good news is that proper heating system exploitation can help you to avoid this trouble by simply flushing the central heating circuits with a dedicated neutral cleaner (for example, ReDiant Cleaner C5) and then adding an appropriate dose of a corrosion inhibitor. However, it is crucial to select a quality corrosion inhibitor that effectively works in the mixed metal environment and is suitable to use with various types of water (soft, hard, demineralized). For instance, ReDiant Protector H7 would be one of the best options available for multi-metals corrosion prevention in central heating systems filled with various types of water. Both the corrosion inhibitor and neutral cleaner are derived from 30 years of industrial experience in chemical water treatment, which guarantees industrial-grade performance. In the figure below, you can visually inspect the condition of metal samples in water with and without the inhibitor. The metal samples in the figure are carbon steel, aluminum, and copper, which were kept in soft water under high-temperature conditions (82 ℃) for two weeks.
Figure. Condition of carbon steel, copper, and aluminum samples after 2 weeks in untreated (in the left) and treated with ReDiant Protector H7 (in the right) water
