New towel rad without draining system?

[Tony]

I'm modernizing my bathroom at the moment and wish to change the old towel rad for a newer one.

The old one only has a single valve in the water path and is massive handwheel type.

Is it possible to somehow change the rad without fully draining the entire system, I have to put new valves onto the pipework from the CH feed to the new rad.

thanks

Any suggestions welcome..

.. Tony

[Lobster]

Unless you're in a single-story flat, and if you have an upstairs bathroom, you'd only need to drain off enough water until it's below the level of the first floor.

Otherwise, the only way is to use a pipe-freezing kit to freeze the incoming and outgoing pipes to the towel rail, which gives you a very finite time to remove the old valves and fit new ones - not a trick for the faint-hearted or novice plumber.

David

[Christian McArdle]

You only have to drain down as far as the pipework. However, draining down and refilling really isn't a massive chore. It gives you the opportunity to de-sludge and reinhibit the system, too.

Christian.