Is the end cap for a radiator a vital part when removing?

JustAnotherSaver

Right well i may be able to get SOMETHING done with this damn house & that's paint up the spare room. I'll need to remove the radiator though to do it proper.

Having never removed one before i do what you do ... hit YouTube.

25 seconds into this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eopRvzv2ZYE

We have those sort of radiators (if he's on about with the twisty tops where you select #1, #2 etc)

The silver thing on the left here: http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/421317

Are they absolutely vital, or could i get away with painting the wall without these?

I only ask because the previous owner never left anything like that.

EDIT: Oh & i just thought on - for anyone who says it's only £1, just buy it. It's not. Our 'nearest' Wickes is not near at all.

southcoastrgi

the wicks link is for the blank & bleed nipple that some rads have at the top not for the valves at the bottom

the cap he screws on the trv (after he's removed the head) is called a decorators cap, they come with a new trv & you can't buy them seperately, if your trv goes down to 0 then this should be shut off so just leave the head on, do support the valve so it doesn't turn when you undo the nut to the rad because it won't undo as easy as on that video

Owain_Moneysaver

See this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/742509
and note that TRVs can 'let by' and shouldn't be relied upon to prevent floods when the radiator is removed

Possibly suitable blanking cap
http://www.plumbersbase.co.uk/ourshop/prod_1635698-34-Brass-Blanking-Cap-Washer.html

southcoastrgi

Owain is correct the trv can let by but that is normally when the valve only goes to frost setting & the temp drops in that room, however his 2nd link is a good one for safety reasons the one the link goes to is for a normal rad valve with a bigger nut, the trv side will req a 1/2" one of these, these go onto the bit that connects to the rad & not on the (removed) trv head as shown in your video

Biggles

The first time I redecorated a house, I thought I had to paint behind the radiators, too! Seemed to make sense at the time.

But I didn't take them off the walls, just loosened the fittings and dropped them to the horizontal position, leaving them connected to the pipes and swiveling them on the nuts (maybe that's what the YouTube link says if I sat through it).

Nowadays, like everybody else, I just use a radiator brush to paint what you can see behind them. Life's too short!

jcb208

If it is just a case of painting behind just use a radiator roller like THIS

sk240

If its an old radiator (been there for more than a couple of years) dont even think about taking it off, if the valves dont seal you will need to drain down the whole system.
If you havent done anything like it before i would leave it and buy a long roller and just roll down the back.

JustAnotherSaver

I've no idea how old the radiators are tbh.

Anyway, thanks for the advice regards the radiator roller, however i should've gone on to explain that we actually need to remove the radiator. Not in the room that i started this thread about, but it'll need removing in the living room for treating this damp issue (plus that one seems to have a bit of a leak).

It'll also need removing in the master bedroom as we can't strip the wallpaper properly without it.

Oh & on the topic of wallpaper, the small one in the living room will need removing also for the same reason.

I'm not sure if we're all talking about the same thing? From the videos i looked at, it's not a cap for the top i need, it's a cap for the side, where the radiator connects to the pipe work itself.
I've taken photos of our radiator & arrowed the bit i mean - the side, not the top...

StuC75

With the amount of paint on the piping and the radiators you might want to replace the rads & piping after decorating so they don't look out of place... i.e. Fresh decorated and old rads will stand out a mile..

newer rads would give off more heat e.g. Double Skin & Fins? and could be more compact in size..

JustAnotherSaver

To be honest i think that is something we may do down the line. Right now we need to channel as much £ as possible into getting the damp issue & swimming pool under the floorboards sorted. The driveway is also very important as we both want/need off road parking.

Anything that can get done later & is livable as it stands will have to get done later.

One thing i noticed with how-to videos, is some put a paste on the connection joint when refitting, others didn't. I love how you get differing information, it makes it so much easier for a know-nothing such as myself

southcoastrgi

Owain_Moneysaver wrote: »

Possibly suitable blanking cap
http://www.plumbersbase.co.uk/ourshop/prod_1635698-34-Brass-Blanking-Cap-Washer.html

2x 1/2" caps for that rad screwed on the valves where your arrows are