Inspected the system last night and cannot find a drain tap for the radiators!
sponix
The lowest one!
Other possible characteristics of a good location:
Christian.
There are three or four lowest ones!
Good points..
Any reason why a draincock has to be used here? I was thinking of using a 15mm isolating valve (with a screw control) and after that a
3/4 inch BSP male thread so that a hose connector can be screwed on.Mr F.
ISTR my dad putting a washing machine valve with the plastic handle removed on his - perfect for attaching a hose and easy enough to turn on with a pair of pliers.
Use whatever type of draincock or valve you like, provided it can do full isolation. The hose I use just pushes onto a standard draincock, so I used one of those..
Christian.
That's fine - but I would screw a blanking cap on as well just in case there's any seepage past the valve.
I'll mention it to him - but its a good 10 years since it was done so I doubt he'll be too interested!
I was thinking more of the OP doing a new one!
I went a stage further and picked a pipe location adjacent to a gully on an outside wall. Drilled through and fitted a pipe through the wall such that it emptied over the gully, connected via a service valve inside. So to drain there is no need to mess about with hoses etc, just open the valve.
I did something similar in my previous house - which had suspended wooden floors with the downstairs pipework under the floor so it was easy to have a pipe going out through an airbrick.
My current house has solid floors, though - with the CH being distributed between the floors and dropping down to each rad - so each individual rad needs a drain c*ck - which is a right pain.
I drain down via a gate valve into a 5 gallon barrel in the garage. I can then use a hand pump to re-pressurise the system, so as not to waste the inhibitor in the water. Unless (very unlikely) I'm draining all the radiators, it is more than adequate.
The big question is how do I drain down the existing system as there isn't a valve on it (That I can find)
The system is 35 years old and has never been drained in the last 6 years. Before that I don't know. Maybe it has never been drained.
sponix
If you have a suspended floor downstairs you can do pretty much anything underneath without worrying too much about spillage of black gunge.
You could fit a self-cutting drain c*ck (e.g. BES Part 17036) to any
15mm pipe anywhere in your system. (Haven't tried ths myself but it looks like the appropriate part to me)Mr F.
Hmm, well fitting at the top would be pretty stupid actually, but you could do it if you wanted to. :-)
I've got these in several places round the house (downstairs heating comes down in several loops). The outlet goes out through the wall, and since the house floor is a foot or so about the outside ground level, you can get a bucket underneath if you want to (I tend not to bother).
Nothing wrong with it, but no good for me working on my own on big, long, heavy rads!
Mark
Well, the TRV replacement went fairly well but I managed to flood the kitchen!
All the "tails" bar two were the normal straight ones. The remaining two came out very easily despite the fact they had been there for over
30 years!The tool I bought didn't fit-the hexagonal hole in the tail was smaller than the corresponding hex on the tool-I used a large flat bladed screwdriver instead.
Anyway, when I refilled the system it became apparent that there was air trapped in the boiler so I undid a rather large bleed valve/tap thingumy to let the air out...
Loads of air came out followed by a jet of water. I did the valve up but the water still came. I did the valve up tighter and the water still poured out!
It turns out that the washer in the valve completely disitegrated when the valve was opened-I fould the bits on the kitchen floor.
swmbo was not amused. Ho-hum.
sponix
She will see the funny side in time....
Probably every time she reminds you about it in fact in years to come!
At the moment she sees it as good reason to replace the entire kitchen!
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