Bramble wrote:

When he came to do the work he said he couldnt work out how to drain
the system so couldnt do the radiator thermostats.

Bit of a cop out since he could have added a self cutting tap to a
suitable pipe to provide a drain point.

Could you give me some advice.

1. Is it ok to use 3 brass connectors in a row - will this be prone

It may look a little clunky, but it is OK in the sense it ought to work.

to leaking? Should he have moved teh vertical pipe that the radiator
connects to instead?

Ideally

Could he have done this without draining hte
system?

Not easily. It is possible to work on a live system in some limited
circumstances, but it is a pain to do and tends to make a fair amount of
mess.

2. SHould the plug pipe have silicon around the screw end to stop
water leaking or should it be water tight by itself. It didnt leak
for the last 20 years, but started the day after the plumber had been.

It should be ok by itself. It may just want tightening a bit. Chances
are it got moved slightly when the work was being done.

3. Is it possible to fit radiator thermostats without draining hte
system?

Again, it can be done (I have done it) but it is not the sort of thing
that you do out of choice usually. It may not even be possible at all if
the thermostatic valves require a different pipe spacing from the
original ones. Then you need pipework changes again which really require
a drain down.

I am trying to get this plumber to come back and mend the leaks. After
more than a month of trying I have had no success. What should the
next course of action be - trading standards?

Write a letter to the plumber explaining why you are not happy and
stating that if he does not fix it within the next n days (where n is
a "reasonable" time - say three weeks), then you will employ another
plumber to rectify his faulty work and seek to recover the costs from him.

--
Cheers,

John.

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