"hzatph" wrote:
I am trying to drain down the water heating loop on the Aga - it is just
the same as an open vented central heating system in concept. I am trying
to decommission this now that water is heated by the much more effiecient
central heating boiler.

Anyway, I faound the drain point no problem - access is limited beacause
it is at arms length between the Aga and the next kitchen cupboard. It
looks like it has not been used for 20 years.

My problem is that I am unable to turn the valve head to open it. It is a
normal conventional drain cock with a square head of between 7mm and 8mm.
I have tried everything - 8mm spanner is just to big, can't get mole frips
onto it etc. Is there a special spanner made for this duty that I should
get?

There appears to be another drain point much higher up which I can
access - it would leave the Aga itself and some pipework (say 5m) full of
water that I guess would eventually boil away.

Any and all thoughts welcome (but lets not start a thread about Aga's v
other types of cooker).

Thanks

I assume that this drain cock hasn't got a handle on it, if so, can you put
a handle on from another drain cock then turn the handle using an adjustable
spanner with its jaws opened to the width of the handle? If necessary, you
could fix the spanner to a short length of wood if reach is a problem. Or
find someone with a longer arm than yours.