Radiators - and "pipe centres" dimension

[harryagain]

You can buy adjustable "tails" (that go between the radiator and the valve) if it helps.

[Tim Watts]

Does this actually mean what I think it means - the distance between the vertical centres of the pipes as they come up from the floor into the valves?

Because it seems an odd measurement and assumes all 90degree rad valves have the same joint offset dimensions.

Or does it mean "distance between the two shoulders of the threaded ports in the rad"?

It matters in a couple of cases :)

[Lobster]

On 07 Feb 2015, Tim Watts grunted:

Not only that, but the length of 0.5" threaded chrome pipe protruding from either end of the rad is going to vary significantly too.

I don't think I've ever seem this dimension quoted on a radiator - it's usually just the overall length of the body, for this reason. Is it definitely not just referring to, say, a towel rail where the connections point vertically downwards? If not, sounds like a clueless manufacturer!

[Tim Watts]

No - it's all over the UltraHeat website:

sadly I cannot locate any drawing which clarify it!

[Bob Minchin]

If it is so critical then the only option is to contact the makers and ask for an engineering drawing of each critical rad and then hope their inevitable policy of "continuous improvement" has not kicked in and changed the dimension before you buy.

[Tim Watts]

Well - I guess. But as they bother to quote it, I was trying to find out of it was a well known general term. Seems not :(

Never mind...

[Roger Mills]

On the one which you cite, the pipe centres are 90mm greater than the rad width.

I've just done a straw poll of a few of my rads and - except for one to which I've fitted extra long tails - the pipe centres are all 90mm more than the rad widths, within maybe plus or minus 5mm. So, unless it's ultra critical, you shouldn't be far out if you assume 90mm.

[Tim Watts]

Ooh - thank you Roger :)

That is a big help :)

[Andrew Gabriel]

I'm not in the place with Ultraheat radiators, but I measured the noname

1991 radiators here. The pipe centres are 40mm further out than the faces of the 1/2" BSP female connections on the radiators. The valves on these are not like today's ones though - the tail is 1/2" BSP into the radiator, but they're all 3/4" BSP cone connections into the valve body. So these are not necessarily representitive of today's reversible radiator valves.

[harryagain]

The pipe centres can only be a nominal dimension. Waste of time really as they don't know which valves will be fitted.

The table has not been compiled by a technical person, there are other errors in it.

[ginnyjory]

Ginny

[Roger Mills]

Blimey, I'd forgotten about that - it was over a year ago!