need adviced on changing bathroom radiator

spaceboy

It's an upstairs bathroom. There's a cold water tank in the attic. The boiler and hot water cylinder are in the kitchen. There is a header tank above the hot water cylinder.

Here is a link to some photos of the hot water cylinder, header, boiler and radiator: http://imgur.com/a/tEUQN

Do we need to drain all the water from the system before changing the radiator? If so does it drain though the nozzle thing on the pipework in the second last photo?

Le_Kirk

If your new radiator is the same size, close the valves at each end of the radiator, place a container under one end and loosen the unions, draining the water from the radiator only. Remove radiator and replace with new. If your radiator is going to be significantly bigger or you need to move the pipes you will need to drain the whole system or at least drain the water below the level of the pipes in bathroom.

spaceboy

It is a bigger radiator as it's one of those towel hanger radiators 150cm high. I'm guessing it will take more water.

spaceboy

How do we drain the water, though? Is it that pipe in the second bottom photo?

TheCyclingProgrammer

Your photos are too small and low quality as I can't see what you're referring to but I'm guessing the valve had a drain outlet on it - you can attach a hose to this to drain the system.

You don't need these to drain a radiator. You simply need to close the valves and ideally remove the TRV head and fit the decorator cap that came with it (unless it has a positive shutoff), have some towels and a bucket and a small container handy, then crack the union valve on one side and let the water slowly drain out into your container, emptying it into be bucket occasionally (you might want two containers and an assistant). As the flow slows, open the bleed valve on the radiator to let the air out and more water will come out. Once it's down to a trickle, fully unscrew both valves, carefully remove the pipes from the tails, lift the radiator off the brackets and tip the remaining water into the bucket. Then turn it upside down and plug the valves with paper towel.

If the new radiator is the same width and the valves are the same size then you can fit the new one easily enough. You'll need to measure out and fix the new brackets, hang it, connect the tails to the radiator pipes, screw up the union connectors and tighten (you'll need another wrench to hold the pipes in place so you don't twist the valves on the pipes), then refill.

If all of these sounds too much then I'd get a plumber in but you should at least be able to remove the old one yourself.

Le_Kirk

spaceboy wrote: »

It is a bigger radiator as it's one of those towel hanger radiators 150cm high. I'm guessing it will take more water.

The important factor is the width across the base. Is it the same or near enough so that you can connect the new rad to the old tails. The fact that it will need more water will be taken care of when you fill it.

nofoollikeold

1. The drain point in your penultimate photograph is for the hot water, not for the heating.
2. How to drain and remove a radiator is covered in the other replies above.
3. The width across the base is important, but so is the distance which the centre of the valve will be from the wall when fitted. If your new radiator is deeper front to back than the old one, then most likely the pipe centres will be a different distance from the wall.
4. Flexi pipes should not be used for radiators, mostly they can't take the heat.
5. If the new radiator is narrower than the old, you can get spacers (radiator extension pieces) to take up the gap.
6. If the pipe centre to wall distance is different, you will have to adjust the pipework.

spaceboy

TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »

Your photos are too small and low quality as I can't see what you're referring to but I'm guessing the valve had a drain outlet on it - you can attach a hose to this to drain the system.

You don't need these to drain a radiator. You simply need to close the valves and ideally remove the TRV head and fit the decorator cap that came with it (unless it has a positive shutoff), have some towels and a bucket and a small container handy, then crack the union valve on one side and let the water slowly drain out into your container, emptying it into be bucket occasionally (you might want two containers and an assistant). As the flow slows, open the bleed valve on the radiator to let the air out and more water will come out. Once it's down to a trickle, fully unscrew both valves, carefully remove the pipes from the tails, lift the radiator off the brackets and tip the remaining water into the bucket. Then turn it upside down and plug the valves with paper towel.

If the new radiator is the same width and the valves are the same size then you can fit the new one easily enough. You'll need to measure out and fix the new brackets, hang it, connect the tails to the radiator pipes, screw up the union connectors and tighten (you'll need another wrench to hold the pipes in place so you don't twist the valves on the pipes), then refill.

If all of these sounds too much then I'd get a plumber in but you should at least be able to remove the old one yourself.

ok so are you saying the heating system doesnt need drained down to 1st floor void level?

TheCyclingProgrammer

spaceboy wrote: »

ok so are you saying the heating system doesnt need drained down to 1st floor void level?

Not if you just need to drain and remove the existing and fitting a new one that requires no pipe modification (either due to different width that can't be taken up by tail extensions or distance from wall to pipe centres). Yes, if you need to modify the pipe work.

spaceboy

The pipes will need to be altered slightly. Need to know how to drain water from the system. None of the radiators have a drainage valve. It is an open vented system. The drainage valve in the second last picture is the only we can find.

Here are two more photos: http://imgur.com/a/SG8Nj

Ruski

You've indicated that you will be installing a towel radiator - this will need different valves and piping up in a 'vertical' fashion to do the job properly - so yes the modifications will mean draining the system - at least to first floor level.

You may find a drainoffcock elsewhere on the heating system - check the pipework in the ground floor - probably near a convenient doorway or such.

HTH

Russ