Radiator advice (any plumbers here?)

bris

The second picture clearly shows the valve has been turnd off. get an allen key and open it.

JenJam111

Thanks for the responses - I’ve found an old photo of the room and can see that there was an anthracite cap on the end so something is definitely missing. I’ve attached a photo of inside the end valve as requested….

JenJam111

Thanks to everyone suggesting I call them back: I have a very long snagging list that they are SLOWLY getting on with and I’m cold and figured if it was something I could do easily myself I’d crack on with it and dock the costs of replacement parts off of the snagging retention….

JenJam111

https://www.bestheating.com/milano-aruba-anthracite-horizontal-designer-radiator-635mm-tall-choice-of-width-78654

This is the radiator - I had a look to see if I could buy spares on their website but it looked like I’d need to buy the full valve set again so was wondering whether that is unnecessary….

JenJam111

Thanks everyone: I’ve sorted it - opened with an Allen key and have a nice warm radiator. The missing end cap must just be cosmetic…..

JenJam111

I actually asked the kitchen fitter about it and he said it’d defo need a plumber to come and sort it and started talking about having to drain the whole system. 🤦🏼‍♀️ Amusing me quite a bit that a quick message in MSE and my bike tools have sorted it 😊

Ben1989

Check if the top of it gets hot. If not, you'll need to bleed it. Super easy to do.

Bendy_House

Good job, JJ - nicely done.
All you need to do now is 'balance' it
That valve is called a lockshield, and is used to control how much hot water that rad gets relative to the others. The LS valve is usually only open a small amount, one or two turns. Enjoy the warmth, whilst also noting how QUICKLY that rad heats up compared to the others. If it's obviously much faster, then close that valve a half-turn. Keep noting its performance. 

JenJam111

Thanks @Bendy_House will do….

Bendy_House

If you actually opened that LS fully, then that will be quite a few turns? In which case you'll spend days closing it a half-turn each day  

So, if that rad heats up obviously faster than the other rads, then it might be best to first shut the LS off fully, and then open it 2 full turns from that 'closed' position - use that as your starting point.

Keep on tweaking it closed a further quarter/half-turn each day if it still heats up at a near similar rate as the rest of the house.

(Bear in mind, of course, that if the TRV is partially closed, that will affect it too. For 'balancing', the TRVs should be open. Start from 'cold', turn on the CH, and then check that rad compared to others - that's the basic idea.)