Radiator not turning off

[Rob Nicholson]

Doing a spot of redecorating in the bedroom and want to take the radiator off the wall so I can strip the wallpaper completely ready for painting.

With good old manual valves, it's just a matter of turning it off at one end by hand and the other using a pair of pliers.

Except this radiator has a thermostatic valve on it and it's not turning off, i.e. the radiator is staying hot. I've taken the thermostatic valve off and the pin is very sticky but I understand that if the pin stuck in, then the radiator wouldn't come on at all, i.e. the pin has to spring out for water to flow.

So why isn't it getting cold with the pin pushed all the way in? :-)

I suppose I could drain the entire system (which I can reasonably easily do as the lowest radiator is in the cellar next to the pump) but that seems a little OTT.

Thanks, Rob.

[Lobster]

Should do - new TRV's are supplied with a dummy cover(*) which you screw on in place of the usual variable hand wheel part; this has the effect of pushing the pin right in, and cutting off the flow.

Are you sure your pin is right in? Takes a fair bit of pressure to hold it down. If you've just unscrewed the hand wheel and are looking at the pin bare, then that implies it's all the way out, especially if the rad is hot!

David

(*) These covers are meant to be kept in a safe place until the week before you're planning to remove a radiator for decorating, and then you have to lose them until decorating is complete. (Don't ask why, it's just the rules)

[Rob Nicholson]

You're right - the pin wasn't all the way in, maybe a mm out. I happened to be on the floor next to the radiator and could hear water going through. Push the pin in manually and it went quiet. So re-fitted the cover, screwed right down and pushed hard and it's gone off now.

That said, I'm not happy about such a flimsy cut-off when the radiator is off and the pump is turned back on :-)

Moot anyway - can't find the right size spanner to release the fitting anyway. Oh well, another trip to B&Q! Not that B&Q have a particularly good selection of spanners. I've been looking for an excuse to buy a bigger wrench anyway :-)

Cheers, Rob.

[Lobster]

Mmm!! See

or

[Rob Nicholson]

I know what I'm going to buy now! :-)

Cheers, Rob.

[Lurch]

On Wed, 29 Dec 2004 16:53:20 GMT, "Rob Nicholson" strung together this:

Could be coincedence. TRV's come with a manual commisioning cap as the TRV doesn't generally switch the valve all the way off. The cap will push it all the way down, so it is off. I've heard of people doing what you're about to do and waking up to find the valve has opened and flooded the place.

[John Rumm]

As a stop gap you can:

Remove TRV head insert small coin into cap replace cap and screw on tightly

The coin should keep it turned off regardless of what the TRV head wants to do.

[Rob Nicholson]

That's a good idea!

Cheers, Rob.