Help: How to fix broken radiator bleed valve

deanos

The bleed valve on one of my radiators is sheered and wont turn.

I have had TRV's fitted today and this one radiator is only half warm so desperately needs bleeding

Im thinking of drilling a small hole in the front corner with a rubber washer and coach bolt, or drilling a tiny hole and when it fills up fill hole with epoxy putty

Do you think this would be a good solution ??

Heres a pic of a old radiator , as you can see its not a traditional valve key

Avoriaz

That sounds like a recipe for a damaging leak.

That radiator looks old and, if the bleed valve has corroded and sheared off, I would be wondering how much corrosion there is in the rest of the radiator. It could start leaking any time soon.

In your shoes I would replace the radiator.

That would be cheaper and preferable to possible floor, carpet and ceiling damage if the radiator does develop a leak.

My opinion, others may disagree.

deanos

The rads are about 10 years old, no sign of corrosion anywhere else , the one in the pic is an old one taken off today and replaced with a larger one, the one in question is still one the wall

I wonder if i could drill out the old valve and replace with the one in the picture ?

A new rad would be about £90 + fitting

southcoastrgi

i agree with AV new rad time & that's a barlo (quinn) rad & yes it is a normal bleed key size

deanos

typical a 10p part gonna cost me £100+ grrrr

Gloomendoom

deanos wrote: »

typical a 10p part gonna cost me £100+ grrrr

Try drilling the old one out first. What have you got to lose?

BertieUK

An unfortunate experience for you, maybe you could look for a respectable secondhand one on Ebay in your area.

Regards
Bob

deanos

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Try drilling the old one out first. What have you got to lose?

I might do, got a spare valve off an old one

Just been looking and Wickes have a same sized one on offer for £41.50 so not too bad i guess, might fit myself i i can pluck up the courage

guy999

Hi
Had the same problem, tried different radiator keys sold by b&q/wickes etc but wouldnt grip. In the end got some draper ones off ebay that for some reason are smaller and fit. Search for this
Cheers
2 X DRAPER RADIATOR BLEED- VENT KEY 24866 PLUMBING TOOL

deanos

thanks , the plumber tried with different ones, its rounded off not sheared i got a photo this morning of it , wonder if they would do the trick

espresso

deanos wrote: »

thanks , the plumber tried with different ones, its rounded off not sheared i got a photo this morning of it , wonder if they would do the trick

No need for a new rad, it's a DIY job, not the sort of job a plumber would ever attempt.

There are various way a real engineer would have that out in no time i.e. cut a slot for a screwdriver using a Dremel type multi tool cutting disc, use an Easyout extractor, or simply carefully drill it out by incrementally increasing the size or the drill and then fit a new bleed screw.