Weeping rad' valve, can I tighten it ?

[Brian]

There is a very slight weepage from one of the c/h radiator valves. It is from where the copper pipe goes into the base of the valve. There is a nut there so will a little persuasion with a spanner tighten it just enough to stop the weep ? If so, which way does it go - screw down onto the pipe or screw up onto the valve body ?

Thanks

Brian

[Harry Bloomfield]

Try turning it a fraction of a turn, perhaps one flat on the nut. Probably it will work, but not guaranteed.

It needs to be tightened onto the valve body. If pipe comes up from below, turn the nut from the left to the right a little.

[David Hansen]

On 21 Jan 2007 01:31:20 -0800 someone who may be "Brian" wrote this:-

We're not very good at predicting the future.

If you tighten the nut slightly then it will probably make things better (sometimes after making things seem worse at first), but it may make things worse. What happens if you tighten the nut depends on the current condition of the joint, which we don't know.

Since it sounds like you are not very au fait with heating it might be worth trying to make a temporary repair at this time of the year and leaving further action until the heating is off and you can cope more easily if things go wrong. Wrapping the appropriate bits tightly with PTFE tape would be one way of attempting a temporary repair.

[Andy Burns]

Surely clockwise/counter-clockwise would be better notation that left/right motion?

[The Wanderer]

It might do, but then again it might make matters worse. If it's microbore, I wouldn't touch it at all.

[david lang]

Hold the body of the valve with mole grips or similar to make sure it doesn't twist when you do the nut up.

[Brian]

Thank you for all those hints/advice/opinions etc

To elaborate a little further, the pipework is not microbore and YES ! I have been able to turn it a fraction so I will wait and see if that solves it. If not then I will be calling the local plumber.

Not sure if the comment about who I am was serious or not, but my name is Brian and this is a genuine post from someone asking for advice. If I have misunderstood the comment then please accept my apologies.

Thanks

Brian

[Harry Bloomfield]

Normally yes, but not the way the OP put it. I was trying answer the question to match the level of the enquiry, leaving out the possibly confusing terms.