02/15/2010 -- Here's the final outcome.

I worked on the radiator today. I tried heating the screw etc. and I still
couldn't get it to come out. After cleaning it off, I could see that it was
more like a cylindrical set screw and it was sticking out enough for me to
try using pliers to grab the part that was sticking out and try turning it
that way. That also didn't work, but that revealed that the "set screw" was
somewhat soft and was maybe made of brass.

So, that gave me the idea that maybe I could try drilling into the center of
the screw and then use one of those screw removal tools. I went to Ace
Hardware and bought the screw removal device and also bought a new bleeder
valve.

The screw removal tool worked like a charm -- I just drilled into the center
of the screw, then inserted the screw removal tool and the screw came back
out fairly easily. Then I screwed in the new bleeder valve and bled the
radiator and it's working fine.

Thanks for all of the suggestions and ideas.

"Jay-T" wrote in message
...
I bought a small used cast iron radiator about 6 months (about 12 inches
wide by 24 inches high). I finally connected it up to the hot water
heating system in an apartment that I will be renting out.

But, when I went to bleed the radiator, I noticed that the bleeder valve
is in the end of the radiator only about half way up from the floor (about
12 inches up). That means I cannot bleed the air out of the top half of
the radiator. After thinking about it, I figured out that it probably
used to be a steam radiator that had a steam valve at that height. I
guess they replaced the steam valve with a bleeder port and called it a
hot water radiator.

At the top of the radiator on one end in the corner there is a flat head
screw going into the radiator. I am guessing that I could try taking out
the flat head screw and replacing it with a bleeder valve there. Does
that sound about right?

I am hesitant to mess with the screw. I don't know how hard it will be to
get out although my first try broke a screwdriver tip before anything
happened with the screw. I am thinking about heating the screw with a
torch first before trying to get it out.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

I also thought that "there oughta be something" -- like a piece of small
tubing etc. -- that I could attach to the existing bleeder valve from the
inside that could be fed from there up to the top of the inside of the
radiator. I assume that no such thing exists, but that seems like it
would be a way to bleed the air from the top of the radiator rather than
from the middle.

P.S. I also just posted this question at
http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-cat.../THE-MAIN-WALL .