CH draincock and why do they put them in such damn stupid places!

[Francis]

As per my previous post I am having some problems with a failed circulating pump (fully pumped system). Problem now diagnosed as a failed pump. So drain system. Shut supply to expansion tank. Stopcock seized (will replace with 1/4 turn lever arm ball valve). Drop of oil round shaft and gently back & forth, done.

3 drain points. All very inaccessible but working. Ok & done. 4th drain c*ck on a ground floor rad, the hose outlet is touching the wall and the valve is touching a very nice parquet floor. Gentle prying has let me fit a hose and unscrew the valve. Valve does not release water although the rad is full as are 3 storeys above, valve mechanism appears to be seized solid. Have tried mole grips on the valve stem and gentle tap. Result, weep from feed to rad.

I think tomorrow I will clear the immediate area, put down plenty of polythene sheet, find suitable containers to gather and release the pipe fitting to the rad valve. When empty I will remake the fitting to the rad valve with a ballofix type fitting tee'd off.

Any suggestions please, particularly to avoid the water spillage expected.

Many thanks, Francis.

[Heliotrope Smith]

circulating

Is there not shut off valves either side of the pump?

[Newshound]

Wet and dry vac.. Put something like a tupperware box or even a plastic tray under the radiator connection so that it catches the water, use the vac to keep the container from overflowing. You can adjust the flow from the union by loosening or tightening by hand. Wet and dry vac, the single most useful tool for plumbing. (My teenager blocked the waste disposal unit the other day, and trying to be helpful (or stop me finding out) disconnected the trap below, flooding the cupboard. What he *should* have done is emptied the sink and waste disposer with the wet and dry vac before going further).

[The Medway Handyman]

Agreed 110%. Mine is always on the van. Rads, cisterns, drains etc. Don't leave home without one.

[Lobster]

Actually I think you should count your blessings that you have CH draincocks at all... I've lived in several places where unbelievably the installers have scrimped on the cost of fitting them, and I've had to do the whole drain-down through disconnected rads. Try doing that with no mess...

David

[Andy Cap]

The couple of times I've drained down my hot water storage tank, just recently because it was gradually slipping through the floor, I've drilled a hole in the kitchen ceiling and run the hose down and out the back door ! Crazy system.

Andy C

[Man at B&Q]

Each to their own. I do it by opening the hot taps!

MBQ

[slider]

Bung the system and replace the seized rad valve with a better drain off valve. Then drain as normal.

[Roger Mills]

. . . except that that doesn't actually empty the hot cylinder - only the cold header tank!

[Andy Cap]

You'd be there all day then ! ;-)

Andy C

[TheScullster]

"Francis" wrote snip................

One "blue peter" style accessory I find useful for radiator draining is a strip of lino! Cut a piece approx 3" wide x 10" long. Cut a slot in the middle of one end 16mm wide x 75mm long (yes I know, mixed units!). When you come to loosen the rad valve connecting union, push the lino up under the valve so that the slot rests above the valve tail pipe compression nut IYSWIM. Direct the bottom end of the lino strip into a bowl. The lino then catches water as it falls from the rad connecting union and directs it into the bowl below.

Phil

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Francis" saying something like:

As to the "why put them in such damn stupid places" query, it's because, as in so much else, the installer doesn't think about subsequent ease of use.

[Roger Mills]

As others have said, you should have isolation valves either side of the pump. If so, you don't need to drain *anything* - just shut them and remove the pump.

Even if you don't have isolation valves, you don't need to drain very much - and certainly nothing that's *below* pump level. Where is the pump - presumably in an airing cupboard on the first(?) floor?

It sounds like you've already turned off the feed to the fill & expansion tank - which is a good start. [If the tap doesn't work, you can always tie the ballvalve up.] The F&E tank will have a pipe going out of the bottom to feed the system, and an expansion pipe looping over the top. Block both of these off with corks. Every radiator in the house should have two valves - one with a knob you can turn and the other (lockshield) which needs a spanner to adjust. Turn off *all* of the valves, noting how many turns each lockshield valve takes, so that you can restore them to the same position. This will keep all the radiators full of water, and avoid any need to drain them.

Now, if you break a joint near the pump you will get very little water coming out - only that contained by the immediate pipework. When it stops running, you can remove the pump. While you're at it, fit islation valves to make it easier next time.

[dennis]

Don't try and do anything on the tank then as it is still full.

[Roger Mills]

Sounds like the sort of thing which allows women to pee into urinals.

[TheScullster]

"Roger Mills" wrote

Sounds like someone's spending too much time with their head buried in "water sports weekly" :)

[Owain]

What, fourteen bacardi breezers and a queue for the ladies'?

Owain

[Davey]

I find houses are rarely built with future maintenance in mind.

My folks CH system didn't have a drain plug in the existing single pipe system at all and the easiest way to drain it all down before putting a drain valve on a rad was to drill a hole in an existing rad and drain off through the hole, replacing with a new rad. A bit extreme I know, but saved getting filthy water all over the carpet.

[Jim]

A tap with a hoselock fitting would work quite well.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "TheScullster" saying something like:

Or you can always find a bit of cardboard if no lino is around. Used the above method many times.