worn out rad bleed screws, help please

happyhero

[FONT=&quot]Hi, I had a plumber in for another job the other day but asked him about some rads I had in our bedrooms. The rads are twins with no fins and have a bleed screw on each inner face at opposite ends. To me these have got to be the worst bleed screws ever, you need them tight so they dont weep yet they are getting rounded even though I am as careful as possible to put the key on properly and only turn them the least I can get away with.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]They are a little pointed screw thing that go straight into the radiator, i.e. there is no bigger bit like you get on some radiators with the bleed screw in it, so basically nothing is replaceable apart from the bleed screw itself, that is the only removeable part.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The plumber unfortunately had no spare screws for me or could tell me any clever way to get them out; one I have I cannot get it to turn as it is quite rounded.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The plumber said these are old Myson rads.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]So 2 questions, [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Does anyone know a clever way or clever tool that will grip these type of bleed screw, I'd love to be able to get some small grips on one but the area is too awkward?[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Are all these bleed screw the same thread size/same total size so that if I see them on Ebay or somehwere, I could just order 10 and replace my old ones and survive like that renewing them from time to time, or are there different sizes?[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]It would be lovely if they stuck out a bit as you could grab hold of them with grips but they dont for beauty sake so that you can put in the little white cap to hide them.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I would never buy a radiator again with this type of bleed screw, its just too full of problems.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Any info/help appreciated[/FONT]

Owain_Moneysaver

These were possibly made by Myson for Plumb Center.

Myson says

If your radiator is a Myson Premier two tapping radiator, manufactured before June 2003, the air vent is in line with the rounded top of the radiator. This vent may be re-tapped with a No.10 32UNF tap (4.1mm drill size). For all other radiators, please contact the Myson Customer Services Office who can supply a new vent assembly that simply screws into the radiator.

You can get a mixed pack here which will cost you about £10 if you return the unused ones.

Kiran

I've Bharat the same problem before. I managed to free them up using a pair of cranked needle nose pliers. Not ideal and it does round the bleed screws a bit more so you need replacements. I did also toy with the idea of sacrificing a bleed key and epoxying the key to the plug. This has obvious issues if you get it leaking out.

phil24_7

I had a similar problem with some of my rads. I found there were 2 different styles of key. The most common one being a circle hole with pointed corners (if that makes any sense...sort of like a circle and a square all in one...s**t, that makes even less sense!) and I found another (after a lot of searching) that just had a square hole. I have had no problems since using these keys.

Regards
Phil