Radiator valve mystery

I think the screw is so that the valve can be either the lock-shield valve that it is now or a normal, non-thermostatic, radiator valve if you attach a hand turnable know to the shaft using the screw.

I think the thing that would shut off the valve is the screw you can see inside what you have shown - and it's presumably currently set to be open a bit to let just the right amount of water through the radiator.

The big hexagonal nut you refer to should already be turned fully clockwise - if you were to turn it anticlockwise it would start to leak and eventually, if turned far enough, the valve mechanism would come apart

Thinking of the other end of the radiator, beware of just turning the therm ostatic valve to the off position and taking the radiator off - if it gets really cold in the room the valve could open and let water out. You need to take the head off the valve and put on a cap in its place which will push down the pin in the valve mechanism to fully seal the valve.

Be aware that once you have isolated both ends of the radiator, it'll be ve ry heavy and full of water, which will need to be drained out - and that th e water will probably be horribly dirty and capable of staining your carpet s etc

You would think, by now some bright spark would have designed swivelable pipe connectiors so the radiator could be made horizontal while decorating. Brian

That'd be your plastic pipe, elbow at the valve pipe connectors, and pipe round the back of the skirting, down and under the floor.

The connections on any value allow it to be positioned horizontal.

This is effectively what this youtube demonstration shows - but then it goes on to to show removing the radiator without first draining it.

Yes, indeed. The big nut is what holds the valve together, and is not adjustable. So turn it off by turning the screw clockwise. Just in case the system has been balanced, and the valve has been set in a particular partly open position, note how many turns (and fraction of a turn) it takes to close it, so that you can put it back to the same state.

The problem is not the pipe connectors, but the brackets that take the weight of the radiator. The radiator needs to be lifted off those.

Is the thing even connected? it looks suspiciously like a break in the pipe going through the floor.