On Sun, 15 Oct 2006 08:46:26 -0700, Barnsey wrote:

I need to drain the system down to do some pipe work to move an
upstairs radiator but i have not got any draining points. I'm told a
quick way is to remove a downstairs radiator screw on some kind of
valve to the radiator feed pipe and fix a hose to the other end.
Despite looking i have never seen such a valve, can anyone tell me if
they exist and where to get one.

Occasionally one comes across systems with no drain points - or
defective drain points.

The procedure is to firstly drain the lowest radiator: turn it off both
ends and empty its contents by opening the union between the radiator and
one of the valve. The the radiator is removed.

What you do next will depend on the type of radiator valve you have.
The two most likely cases are you have something which you can connect
15mm pipe to - in which case you supply one back nut and olive.
The 15mm pipe will be good to attach to a hose in some way.

Or you will have a coupling there are two ways you could go about joining
to to this:
Either a 3/4" female threaded fitting or extract the other end of the
coupling out of the radiator and then you will a 1/2" threaded connector
which a 1/2 female fitting to 15mm compression (say) will let you attach a
15mm pipe and a hose.

If you have something of a height drop on the hose you may be able to get
the hose 'syphon' or 'draw' much of the water out of the pipe work this
should make the installation of a drain point easier.

--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html
Gas Fitting Standards Docs he http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFittingStandards