Leaking radiator help please - driving me mad!!!

lightspeed

Hi

I have had all of my rads off for decoratoring and came to put them back on last week. All was fine until small drips started to appear on the floor underneath the shut off valve end of one of the rads.

I drained the rad and tightened all nuts as well as the rad tailpiece (where it looked like the water was coming from), and... still no joy.

I can now confirm that the leak is definitely at the rad tailpiece (where the tailpiece enters the rad) and if i sit there and watch i can see the water slowly but surely seeping through. I have since had this same rad off the wall 3 times, each time ensuring that the tail piece is as tight as can be, the thread wrapped in ptfe tape and the usual sealing gunk spread on the thread.

Tonight i thought that it was solved, however, just checked it and although there are no drips on the floor, the tailpiece is still leaking very small amounts of water.

Firstly, is there any other sealant that i could use on the thread or around the joint where the tailpiece enters the rad?

or...

would it be better to get a new rad? This one measures at 600mm high and 1200mm wide, so would it be a straight swap, if so, how much would it cost and where is the best place to look?

It is part of a combi system by the way

Thanks in advance.

jonejayc

make sure you wrap the ptfe the same way as you turn the thread into the rad, otherwise it will undo as you turn the thread into rad. also put 10 turns of ptfe on thread and tighten nut

richyrich7

You can get a product from fernux that seals small leaks in central heating systems.
You just drain 1 rad and inject the stuff in through the bleed valve, re pressurise and run your heating and it seals all the little leaks. Bought mine from B&Q
Also some times I've found very small leaks seal themselves up after a day or so, must be limescale that does it.

silvercar

I've got a drip from the rad valve, covered the thing in fernox-LX (?? - the stuff that comes in the yellow tube) still drips when the heating is on. All started when I turned the rad on and off and loads of limescale fell off the tap.
Not upto draining the rad, so have put a little tray underneath it. Plumber due in a few weeks time, so I'll add it to the list!

lightspeed

Just spoken to a plumber who said that this is a common problem with rads and to wrap at least 20 turns of ptfe tape around the thread and press it in. Also dont be shy using some sealing compound.

Will give this a go tonight and report back

Thanks for all of the replies.