Leaking Radiator

southcoastrgi

Plumbers mait won't work it's rubbish stuff 

hopperdennis

southcoastrgi said:

Plumbers mait won't work it's rubbish stuff 

Oh don’t say that, I’ve already purchased and pinning my hopes on it! Any tips on how to apply it to the small hole?

neilmcl

hopperdennis said:

Hmmm, is the other valve simply the heat dial? I can only see one at the opposite end, which has been shut down, and the heat dial of ‘off’, and yes it still leaks as soon as the boiler is on until it drains away. It would be good to use it to be fair, until being replaced. Hopefully the putty I’ve ordered does the job but yes now I’m very worried re. this hole being the tip of the iceberg.

You have a valve at each end of your radiator, one is the TRV which you use to set the temperature and at the other side is the lockshield valve which you will need to remove the white cap and turn the spindle fully clockwise to the off position.

hopperdennis

neilmcl said:

hopperdennis said:

Hmmm, is the other valve simply the heat dial? I can only see one at the opposite end, which has been shut down, and the heat dial of ‘off’, and yes it still leaks as soon as the boiler is on until it drains away. It would be good to use it to be fair, until being replaced. Hopefully the putty I’ve ordered does the job but yes now I’m very worried re. this hole being the tip of the iceberg.

You have a valve at each end of your radiator, one is the TRV which you use to set the temperature and at the other side is the lockshield valve which you will need to remove the white cap and turn the spindle fully clockwise to the off position.

Yup both done, and yet it still ‘fills’ and leaks water when the boiler is on. Let’s hope this plumbers mait putty offers me some temporary relief 

Homer_home

What heating system do you have vented or sealed?

hopperdennis

Homer_home said:

What heating system do you have vented or sealed?

Gosh I don’t even know the answer to that, rather embarrassingly! It’s a glow-worm water gas boiler. Does that make any difference as to the radiator ‘temporary’ repair methods?

Apodemus

If you have fully shut down the lockshield end of the radiator and the temperature control end, but the radiator is still showing a greater leak when the pump is running, then one of the two valves is not properly shutting.  Most likely cause would be a stuck TRV valve pin.  Have you tried taking the TRV valve head off and seeing if the pin moves?  If you can't easily move it up and down with a pare of pliers, then tap it (gently!) with a hammer to free it up.  Plenty of Youtube videos to show you how to do this (Google:  "Youtube TRV valve pin").

Quite seriously, you want to be able to isolate this radiator just in case the leak suddenly gets worse.  So I would see sorting the valves out as a higher priority than the pin-hole leak itself. 

hopperdennis

Apodemus said:

If you have fully shut down the lockshield end of the radiator and the temperature control end, but the radiator is still showing a greater leak when the pump is running, then one of the two valves is not properly shutting.  Most likely cause would be a stuck TRV valve pin.  Have you tried taking the TRV valve head off and seeing if the pin moves?  If you can't easily move it up and down with a pare of pliers, then tap it (gently!) with a hammer to free it up.  Plenty of Youtube videos to show you how to do this (Google:  "Youtube TRV valve pin").

Quite seriously, you want to be able to isolate this radiator just in case the leak suddenly gets worse.  So I would see sorting the valves out as a higher priority than the pin-hole leak itself. 

Thanks. So once I’ve prayed open the TRV head (tried but it didn’t seem easy to do), what exactly do I do to ‘lock it off’? I would prefer to use the radiator for a few more weeks before being replaced if this plumbers putty stuff arriving tomorrow does the job. It is a very small pin sized hole. However I won’t be in the property much so maybe it’s not worth taking that chance....

Apodemus

Watch one of the Youtube videos!  There should be a ring below the head that unscrews to let the head lift off.  Then you will see the pin.  Once the pin is freely moving, replace the head and you should be able to close it properly by shutting it right down.

I'm not saying don't use the rad or don't try and fix it, I would just want to know that if the worst happens I am able to isolate it at a moment's notice.

hopperdennis

Apodemus said:

Watch one of the Youtube videos!  There should be a ring below the head that unscrews to let the head lift off.  Then you will see the pin.  Once the pin is freely moving, replace the head and you should be able to close it properly by shutting it right down.

I'm not saying don't use the rad or don't try and fix it, I would just want to know that if the worst happens I am able to isolate it at a moment's notice.

Thanks, very helpful. So a case of tapping the pin gently in if it freely moves?