Have a badly sludged up radiator, want to take it outside for a good flsuhing. Knowing that the filthy black water/sludge produces imovable stains on anything it comes in contact with has any one got a good way of capping the tails whilst I move it through the house?
Would a 1/2" male flanged plug screw with a bit of soft rubber in side screw on and seal?
15 mm compression coupler with one end capped off? Bear in mind the radiator valve might not move very far and get in the way.
Soft bung shoved in and hope I don't knock accidentally knock it out?
I've found the water to be relatively clean when just undoing the connections. It only when you take the radiator off the wall and tip it that the sludge starts moving.
Rubber sheet (bicycle/car tyre inner-tube) fastened with a cable tie? Pull the cable tie tright with a pair of pliers. Irrespective - newspaper and old towels around the pipes when you undo them.
You can get 15mm caps in Toolstation etc which would be less deep than a compression fitting. Discovered they fit my car rad, and rather nicer than the plastic ones.
Don't attemmpt it on your own. Always better to have an assistant when moving heavy rads that might leak black stuff.
Getting the rad off the wall clips, while not spilling any gunge is the tricky bit. Those black plastic cook-chill food trays are invaluable for catching spills.
you can do that if you're not preoccupied with trying to hold it up & move it, but I still wouldn't. If you bump a rad into something with your hand in the way you're not going to enjoy the outcome.
slip a bit of polythene (plastic bag etc) between the valve and the tail, then tie it around the tail with a bit of string (or cable tie if you want to be posh). Repeat at other end.
Last summer I moved some of my radiators to the garden for flushing. I don't remember them being so heavy when I fitted them when I was younger (and the system had been drained down).
Not sure I can have a finger over each end of a 1.5 x 0.5 m double panel (un-fined) radiator, lift it, turn it and then caryy it. The dolly will be ready...
Now that would be sods law as we have neither. B-)
Leaving the valves on the rad and putting stop ends on the pipes could work. The flow and return for the loop have lever ball valves so I can seal that loop. Shut the lever valves and rad valves, take the pipe out of one. There will be a bit of spillage but not much, air can't get in so water can't get out. Cap that pipe. Take pipe out of other valve and cap that one. Rad can now be moved with valves shut.
Thats what I intend to do. It's the open ends of the radiator tails that are then the problem. I *think* I've got that sorted and it's not far away from this.
10 mins after I posted I had a ferret through my 15 mm fittings box and found a compression stop end. The actual stop bit is 1/2" male and the nut on the tail screws nicely on pulling it against the olive on a tail. The stop is shaped to fit an olive so I'm hopeful one at each end and finger tight or a gentle nip up will stop the crap comimg out. If not a bit of blue roll wrapped around should contain any seepage.
In some ways the first method is better as it avoids draining the rad in stitu but without taking the valves off the rad they may get in the way of a good flushing. I wonder how much will leak/glug out whilst getting the rad nut off the valve pinging the valve out of the way and getting the stop tightend up?
We shall see tomorrow... if it's not to windy and snowy to be outside playing with cold water.
Not sure about ferrets, mice can get through 6 to 7 mm, shrews even less (they escape from mouse cages as if there was nothing there).
My idea of using the stops from 15mm stop ends didn't work. The rads are old, tails are 3/4" (yes 3/4", not 22 mm). "Drain Easy" rubber bung time and yes one did get knocked and leak fortunately onto bare concrete.
And what did I say about "not too windy or snowy"? Just as I taking the radiator out to flush up got the wind and down came the snow.
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The blurred faint white lines are snow flakes, 1/122nd exposure so going some...
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