A friend wants me to help him change the radiator in his bathroom to a towel rad. This towel rad is taller than the existing rad and the top of it would be about 2 inches below the bottom of the header tank which is in the airing cupboard. Will it work or should I move the header tank into the loft?
Adam
there will be no problem c/h systems are pumped and the header tank is there for expansion and top up of the system,just be aware of draining down and allowing air in to the system,and top up the water with inhibiter.
Having said all that if you would feel happier there would also be know problem with putting the tank in the loft
The message from "ARWadsworth" contains these words:
No problem. It would be continue to be OK provided the top of the radiator was below the water level in the header tank but the closer that becomes the slower it will be to bleed air out of the towel rail.
Problems arise with limited head where the positioning of the vent pipe allows the pump to suck air into the system.
This could be potenial problems sucking in air or pumping over water.
2" is very tight and I doubt any boiler manufacturer would recommend you having such a low head. Contact the boiler manufacturers and they will advise. Some recommend air separators when having low heads. I know of none that say the bottom of the tank can be below the top of the boiler, although I don't have experience of all the makes. If it is easy to relocate the header tank in the loft do it, as it should have been there anyway, and problem solved..
That problem if it exists would be unchanged by the change of a radiator though.
The head the boiler manufacturer is concerned about is that present at the boiler.
Who mentioned that?
I would suggest If it currently works ok, then try it with the new rad, if you can bleed all the air out of it then you have saved yourself a job.
No problem there, the boiler is downstairs.
Moving the tank into the loft is awkward (due to space) but not a major problem. A bit of plastic pipe and something to rest the tank on and it could be done in an hour or so.
I will try it without moving the tank next week and take the bits with me to move it if needed.
Adam
Seems like a fair plan. Remember the head is actually to the top of the water in the tank, not the base of it. So in reality you could still have a foot of head over the top of the new rad, which ought to be enough to get the air out of it.
I suppose if things are marginal the pump might have problems overcoming the extra 'head'. So if you have to crank it up look out for pumping over. If this happens is it possible to extend the expansion pipe up a bit?
A definite way to make sure it's not needed. ;-)
For an hours work, move it. Take no notice of the others, it could be sucking in air and you don't know it.
Might make more sense to work out where the pump is for starters. If it were near the boiler for example, moving the header will make no difference at all to the chance of the system drawing air in.
We appear to have a new heating 'expert' on this group. Who rubbishes other solutions. Wonder where I've seen that before...
His understanding of the pressure in a heating system was uncannily similar to that of drivel's too.
Your solutions are easy to rubbish as you have little to no experience of such matters. New on this group? Look harder.
...and appears a number of steps higher than those on this group, who have little to no practical experience of such matters, as the poor advice on this thread indicates.
Heh heh. I can well remember your appearance on here with your simpering acceptance of dribble's more outlandish 'solutions'. And the extremely basic questions you asked in your quest to be a 'property developer'
Strange that you are suddenly an expert on open vented systems being a 'property developer'? I suppose you'll shortly be claiming a degree in such things given your similarity to dribble.
Land redistribution and Prius threads?
The resident prat speaks again.
Not strange at all, as I do it. Prats may not be capable of figuring this out, which accounts for your confusion.
Absolute nonsense. Provided everything is below the *top* of the header tank there is no chance of sucking in air and pumping over is a separate issue determined by the position of the pump and header tank, not the radiators.
Unless you really know about pump positioning in a CH system, it is best to raise the tank as it is borderline. I have had pumping over problems and raising the tank solved it. What I said stands.....This could be potenial problems sucking in air or pumping over water.
As can more simply extending the height of the expansion pipe - which I suggested if problems were encountered.
Perhaps you might explain what you mean by 'sucking in air'?
Considering the sludge that came out during the system drain down this morning we are looking at replacing all the rads and the old inefficient boiler for a combi and new rads. My friend has not decided what to do yet as money available depends on the cost of his divorce. The house is not yet occupied as we ripped out the bathroom the day he got the keys as it was worst than disgusting.
Adam
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