lost bleed valve

[tim(yet another new home)]

I rather stupidly lost the bleed valve for a radiator that I took off to paint around.

I went into the plumbing shop today, expecting to buy a new one and received a shake of the head with "you can't buy one on their own".

On expressing suprise that it was unreasonable to expect me to buy a new rad, just to get the valve, they relented and suggest that they might be able to get one if I knew the maker of the rad. But who the hell knows the maker of a 15 year old rad that was fitted into a house when you moved in?

How hard can this be? It's just a small threaded hole that needs to be filled in with the correct size screw.

Does anyone here have any ideas?

Did I just go to "numpties are us" and should expect to get better help elsewhere or is this really an insoluble problem (short of buying a new radiator)?

TIA

tim

[Steven Campbell]

I'm throwing out a radiator that has a bleed screw. Radiator must be at least 20 years old so if you PM me with your address I'll put it in the post for you.

[John]

Surely they are standard items. You may have to buy the top radiator plug but I can't believe they are not available.

[Codswallop]

"tim(yet another new home)" wrote;

Just the screw out of a BES air vent might fit.

[tim(yet another new home)]

There didn't seem to be a top plug, it lookesto be tapped straight into the frame. The end has been painted over, but that doesn't usually hide such things!

But as others have suggested the same thing, perhaps there is a replacable plug. I'll have to look again (the rad is not in my current property) and post again.

thanks

tim

[Stuart]

That doesn't sound right .Can you let us see a picture of one of the others so we know exactly what part you speak of. Is it the little square ended screw or the whole plug plus that part .?

Stuart

[tim(yet another new home)]

The square ended screw.

Presumably they come in different guages and lengths.

But even if I have to buy one of every available type I am still quids in over the alternative solution

tim

[Stuart]

Not sure about the different sizes bit .Anyone I have seen has come as part of a radiator plug,the other plug at the other end being the asame but without the bleed screw.Are you sure there isn't a plug that the bleed screw screws in to .

Stuart

[The Natural Philosopher]

Go down the scrapyard and filch half a dozen from scrap radiators.

[noelogara]

Best suggestion so far but dont forget your vice grips.

[tim(yet another new home)]

Well following this up, I received Steve's screw (thanks) but it didn't fit and neither did the one that I bought for 71p (including the plug).

I've investigated more and the whole plug did come out (easily) some had painted over it to make it look like it was fixed.

So off to the Plumb shop again to see if I can get a match. It's bound to be imperial, I hope that I don't get "They're all metric now mate" because if I do, even replacing the rad isn't going to help me, because the input/output taps on that will be imperial too.

For want of a nail.....

tim

[Ed Sirett]

Whilst the size(length) of the radiator may be different the connection holes will be 1/2" BSP even on radiator made in other countries. Maybe

3/4" on some large old rads.

If you really want to bodge this nicely you could see if you could tap the hole so ISO M4 and use a M4 brass electrical BESA box screw. If you use the taper or 2nd tap you should get something of a taper for the screw to lock up against.

[tim(yet another new home)]

That's good to know. It must be 3/4 it certainly wasn't 1/2 (it's sitting in my office at the moment)

tim

[noelogara]

Ed Sirett wrote: >

Now hold on Ed, this is a diy group and we are all bodgers here. Tapping a new hole into a rad is a bit technical for us diy ers.

[Aidan Karley]

The size designation of Imperial threads bears a relationship to logic and dimensions that I've never tried to understand. The 1/2" NPT threads I'm nauseatingly familiar with from work are close enough to

20mm that it's common for people to try to plug a 1/2NPT cable entry with an M20 plug. Which is fine (but wrong) for plugging a cable entry to a junction box. But for closing off a fitting on a 5000psi 1500GPM pump manifold, it's quite the wrong action (as is using Teflon tape to bodge up the weep at 500psi!). Anyway, to determine what size pipe fitting you've got, unless it's stamped on the fitting (uncommon, but SO helpful) you really need to look it up in appropriate tables.

[tim(yet another new home)]

This is the sort of thing that my dad used to do.

He had a whole set of taps and ? (dies??)

I've no idea what happened to them

tim