Rusty leaking radiator?

spaceraiders

I just noticed a small puddle of water at the bottom of one of my radiators. Looking under it, the dripping is coming from a small brown rusted patch. I don't know anything about central heating repairs. What should I do? I've turned off the water to that radiator and patched up the hole with some tap for now. I checked the 2 other radiators and one had a rusty brown patch at the bottom too.

Do I need to replace my radiators? Is that expensive to do?

System

if you can afford to i would replace them , once they start to rust /leak its only going to get worse and could burst while you are out.

spaceraiders

CHRISSYG wrote: »

if you can afford to i would replace them , once they start to rust /leak its only going to get worse and could burst while you are out.

OK, thanks. Any advice on how to do that? Do you just find one the same length, drain your current one, remove it, then fit the new one? Is it better to get someone else to do it? I really have no idea about this.

One of them has a noticeable hole developing at the bottom with rust around it. The other two have 50 pence size rust patches at the bottom but don't look like there's a hole; except there is some rust coloured drip stains against the wall of one. Argh, replacing them all sounds expensive. Am I looking at about £400 or so for 3 standard sized radiators?

By the way, is there any chance my electric boiler, the pipes etc. and anything else in my heating system will be damaged by the rust?

James_N

spaceraiders wrote: »

OK, thanks. Any advice on how to do that? Do you just find one the same length, drain your current one, remove it, then fit the new one? Is it better to get someone else to do it? I really have no idea about this.

One of them has a noticeable hole developing at the bottom with rust around it. The other two have 50 pence size rust patches at the bottom but don't look like there's a hole; except there is some rust coloured drip stains against the wall of one. Argh, replacing them all sounds expensive. Am I looking at about £400 or so for 3 standard sized radiators?

By the way, is there any chance my electric boiler, the pipes etc. and anything else in my heating system will be damaged by the rust?

Do I take it you have a wet (with water) electrically heated system?

How old is it? Radiators do rust through, but normally this takes years.

What you say about replacing them is entirely correct - you are probably best to drain the entire system and refill it with an inhibitor chemical mixed in to the new water. If you ask yourself how to do this properly then yo'd better pay for it to be done - it's quite easy so should not cost too much. B & Q or Wickes have standard radiators to buy. Check them out first - but also realise if you do want to be "designer" it's also possible to get fancy radiators that look different to standard ones.

The system will become damaged by rust - and the boiler too. That's why, on balance, it would be better to pay a reasonably able trade-person to do this work and check all is well.

DemonKittyKat

I have hijacked this thread, sorry!
Anyway, I too have a rusty, leaking radiator and am waiting for my brother to change it. However I notice the OP mentioned about turning off the water to that particular one. How do you do it? I am sick of emptying a tray full of water everyday!!

spaceraiders

DemonKittyKat wrote: »

I have hijacked this thread, sorry!
Anyway, I too have a rusty, leaking radiator and am waiting for my brother to change it. However I notice the OP mentioned about turning off the water to that particular one. How do you do it? I am sick of emptying a tray full of water everyday!!

I turned the two valve/screw things in the bottom corners clockwise on the radiators. When I put the boiler on, that radiator no longer heats up so I'm pretty sure the water won't be going through it.

Gah, is radiator rust covered by home/boiler insurance?

derrick

spaceraiders wrote: »

Gah, is radiator rust covered by home/boiler insurance?

It should be covered by your boiler insurance, if it also covers the heating system, (if that is what you have), certainly worth a phone call to them.

spaceraiders

derrick wrote: »

It should be covered by your boiler insurance, if it also covers the heating system, (if that is what you have), certainly worth a phone call to them.

I've only got boiler insurance but not full central heating insurance. I remember reading a MSE article saying that, after getting boiler insurance, you need to wait 1 month to put in a claim. Could I temporarily patch up my radiators, get insurance then fix the rust damage by an insurance claim? I don't mean I'll hide the problem from them when I sign up though.

spaceraiders

spaceraiders wrote: »

I've only got boiler insurance but not full central heating insurance. I remember reading a MSE article saying that, after getting boiler insurance, you need to wait 1 month to put in a claim. Could I temporarily patch up my radiators, get insurance then fix the rust damage by an insurance claim? I don't mean I'll hide the problem from them when I sign up though.

Found the article:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/boiler-insurance
" Is there a ‘no claims’ period?

Almost all plans include an initial no-claims period, which typically lasts thirty days. To be fair, that’s not unreasonable - otherwise people would simply sign up to plans on the day the boiler breaks down. "