We've just moved into a '30s house that has been recently (last few years) extended and a new boiler. Some of the radiators appear to be off but don't have a nice hand-rotatable jobby with marking from 0-9. How safe is it to carefully try to rotate the spindle (where such a jobby would be) with pliers?
At the other end of the rad there is another valve that typically one does not appear to need to touch. These have a small white plastic cap on, that can be removed or turned. What is this valve for? Can/should it be turned and if so, does it have a stop or will it continue turning until it comes off (as is, I assume, the case with the air-bleed screw at the top of the rad)?
If it is a square ended shaft, try turning it anti-clock to open up the flow.
If it is a pin, then try pushing it down and it should spring back. If not try gently pulling it up, but not to far. Up is on and it is missing the TRV head(the 0-9 jobby).
Before TRV's (or where TRV's have not been fitted), one valve was used to balance up the flow and a second one to turn the radiator on and off. The balance one will have had its handle removed and a cover fitted.
Balanced - as in the flow adjusted, to ensure there is proper flow through all of the radiators.
Best approach is to turn valve shafts with an adjustable (or fixed if you have one) spanner NOT pliers/moles/stillsons etc. Shafts are only brass and easily buggered. Turn gently back and forth if they are stuck. if they won't move with gentle pressure, slacken the gland nut below the shaft by 1/4 turn and try again. adjust gland if they start leaking.
Normally the valve at each end are the same apart from the knob/cap. The capped one is called the lockshield valve because that is what the cap does/is.
The valve at the other end is used for balancing the radiators to one another so they all get the correct share of the boiler output. These should be set and left alone. If you want to balance then the temperature difference between inlet and outlet (doesn't matter which valve to use to set but leave the other fully open) then set for 20 C difference. The flow rate on the pump should set 20 degrees difference at the boiler. It is not an exact science but an aiming point. Don't get worried if it does not work out perfectly.
I'm not sure if this is a piss-take or not but here goes :-
The " Jobby with marking from 0-9" you refer to is the head of a TRV aka Thermostatic Radiator Valve and I have no idea why they would have been taken off or not left for the new owners . My understanding is that taking them off leaves the TRV in the "open" position allowing water flow through the rad ( but see below). If you can work out the manufacturer of the TRV's you might be able to get replacements or be able to buy another complete TRV and use the head from it .
When you say" spindle" do you mean the pin that sticks out cos this does not turn ..
The other valve also controls the flow of water and will not "come off" by turning .It's just like a tap. It may have been closed by someone else when the TRV head was taken off for wahtever reason .
Others will be along soon to give you more ( and probably more informative) advice
They don't have what is known as a TRV - Thermostatic Radiator Valve - worth fitting but you have to drain the system. These sense the room temperature & adjust the valve accordingly.
You appear to have manual valves
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one on the left of the picture with a knurled grip is used to adjust the temperature of the rad in a basic 'hotter' or 'colder' way. The knurled grip comes off with an upwards pull revealing the spindle which can be turned with pliers if necessary. In a fairly new system turning the knob by hand should do the job.
Completely, it can't come out. By undoing it by hand/with pliers you are doing manually what the TRV would do automatically.
Its called a 'lockshield' valve (on the right in the picture). The plastic cover pulls upwards to come off.
Again, undoing it won't cause a problem, it can't come out - unlike the bleed valve which can.
Its main purpose is to isolate the rad (used in conjuction with the TRV or manual valve at the other end) from the rest of the system. Its also used to 'balance' the flow of hot water through the system.
If some rads are 'off', check that the lockshield isn't closed (fully clockwise). If it's not closed, record how many turns it takes to close it, then put it back where it was. If it is closed, open it by 1 full turn as a starting point.
Now open the manual valve at the other end about half way. The rad may now require bleeding.
Balancing a system is a little more complicated, so don't muck about with lockshields too much & record their original position.
First thing is to turn valves open, then bleed radiators of air until just water comes out, and know the water level needed at the boiler to fill the system. Air in radiators is a likely cause of no heat, if all this is new to you, and it seems it is, get a pro your neighbors trust and have him go over the whole system with you so you know how it works. With a new boiler or a very small leak its common to loose enough water over the summer to get air in the system, and no heat in some radiators
Not directly in text groups such as this. But you can upload pictures to your own website (if you've got one) and post a link here. Or you can use sites such as Flickr - again posting a link here.
and yea verrily commit themmselves to such extra tasks so as to identify wheether they indeed be a troll or somesuch pithtaker of the learned men hereunder....
It is the lockshield which is used for balancing, and left alone once set - not the one at the 'other' end. The one at the other end from the lockshield normally has a handwheel-type knob, and is used for turning the radiator on and off.
I'm not sure about systems with modern condensing boilers, but 'traditional' systems normally have a drop of about 20 degF - or 11 (not 20) degC. It doesn't matter whether the balancing valve is on the input or output side of the rad - but it *does* matter that it mustn't have a handwheel so that it can only be adjusted with a spanner, and not accidentally interfered with.
Thanks, this was just the info I needed. Yes, all the rads have one or other of those at one end. At the other end is either a manual one, or a White ECA Liquid Filled Thermostatic Radiator Valve (as I've now discovered). So, a bit better then I feared - I thought the whole lt were manual.
Good - that's the basic info I needed. Our old house had a completely new system installed 15 years ago so it worked pretty much OK with no interference except bleeding. Here, I'm not sure what I've got.
First thing is to turn valves open, then bleed radiators of air until just water comes out, and know the water level needed at the boiler to fill the system. Air in radiators is a likely cause of no heat, if all this is new to you, and it seems it is, get a pro your neighbors trust and have him go over the whole system with you so you know how it works. With a new boiler or a very small leak its common to loose enough water over the summer to get air in the system, and no heat in some radiators
I think that it is best to use a handwheel on the lockshield valve - temporarily remove one from a radiator. If you use grips or pliers it encourages heavy handedness.
Yes, even then! With handwheels both ends, you might forget which one has been used for balancing, and which is the on/off valve. Also, other people (cleaners?) may come in and turn a rad off using the wrong valve.
I suppose that if you're a recluse with everything minutely documented, you
I didn't say that *I* had cleaners - anyway, I don't live alone! That was just an example of someone who *might* come in and fiddle with the radiators. If you prefer, substitute *friends* or *relations* - but if you haven't got either, then maybe my final sentence (of my previous post) applies to you!
True but the gland can start leaking, anything from a small bead of water forming over a period of several minutes to a trickle. The former will stop by tightening the gland nut but latter probably not...
Small spanner that fits the square end of the spindle is preferable or a small adjustable spanner.
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