blocked bay window radiator

georgem

I have a bay radiator which appears to be blocked, cold at the bottom and hot at the top. We have called a number of plumbers to give us a quote on the removal and flushing out of the radiator. Simple so far? well not exaclty, as none of them want to do the job, they all made their excuses and said that they would get back to me. why is this so? is it because its a very old radiator and that the removal could cause problems? i am confused?

debbie42

georgem wrote: »

I have a bay radiator which appears to be blocked, cold at the bottom and hot at the top. We have called a number of plumbers to give us a quote on the removal and flushing out of the radiator. Simple so far? well not exaclty, as none of them want to do the job, they all made their excuses and said that they would get back to me. why is this so? is it because its a very old radiator and that the removal could cause problems? i am confused?

I've an old curved radiator in my bay, which I removed, painted, and refitted. No problem, apart from the fact it was very, very heavy, and took two of us to rehang it. One was me, mind, and I'm not exactly muscle bound!

I've had similar experiences with all sorts of tradesmen coming to give quotes then never getting back to me. The business sense of that is lost on me, I confess.

silvercar

tradesmen also run away from my bay window. If for any reason they damaged it, cleaning gunk out can reveal small holes, they are irreplacable nowadays. Even British Gas refuse to supply or fit!

gps_2

this could be a sign of air in the system.

are you sure it dosen't just need bleeding? which you can do with a radiator key. you can easily do it yourself.

glen

Poppycat

Glen you should really change your username as they are not allowed email address or domain names as usernames, mainly its to protect you from spam and or advertising in the case of domain names

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Avoriaz

glenpaulswift@yahoo.co.uk wrote: »

this could be a sign of air in the system.

are you sure it dosen't just need bleeding? which you can do with a radiator key. you can easily do it yourself..glen

Cold at the bottom and hot at the top usually means a sludge build up.

Trapped gas or air would result in hot at the bottom and cold at the top.

George, it should be a fairly easy DIY job. Get a mate to help. Lay plenty of old newspapers, towels etc in case of spillage. Turn off the valves at both sides. Start to unscrew one valve from the radiator very slowly and catch the water that comes out. When fully drained, remove the radiator. Take it outside and use a hose pipe to clean it out thoroughly. Then replace and open the valves again.

With care and luck you could do that in a hour or so and save yourself a fistful of money.

georgem

Thank you for this advice, one problem here is that i only have one valve on the inlet side so i am unbale to effectively isolate the radiator??

Avoriaz

You should still be able to DIY it.

Wait a few weeks until you are certain you will no longer need the heating.

Then fully drain the system. Sort out the radiator as above, maybe updating the valves. Do any other necessary work too while the system is empty.

Refill carefully checking for leaks.

When satisfied that there are no leaks, drain a little water off and add corrosion inhibitor.

Another option is a Powerflush, though this is pricey. At least £250 and maybe more.

Canucklehead

silvercar wrote: »

tradesmen also run away from my bay window. If for any reason they damaged it, cleaning gunk out can reveal small holes, they are irreplacable nowadays. Even British Gas refuse to supply or fit!

Hi

It's a long time since I had a radiator curved but it seems it is still available.http://www.radiatorfactory.net/radiatorcurving.php
Can be quite expensive for a double convector .
HTH.
Corgi Guy.

gps_2

thanks, it was the username they sent me i think.

have emailed them.

thanks for the advice

glen

georgem

Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated. I still dont feel up to doing this on my own so if there are any competent plumbers in the Birstall, leicestershire area that would help me out please give me a shout!