SadKate*** wrote in message
news
On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 20:16:25 +0100, "Roger Mills"
wrote:


SadKate*** wrote in message
news

Do I have to drain the system then?

Yes!

Can I just be quick and have
something ready to stick in the hole?


You're very unlikely to be quick *enough* if you haven't done it before
(and
even if you have) - with the result that you will cover your carpet with
evil black gunge which never comes off!

Is it a lot of black gunge? - like, is it the whole system worth -
because I'm doing it on a tiled floor, so I'm not too worried.

The problem is that, cutting a pipe in situ is not easy to do - because you
probably can't get a pipe cutter in, and will have to resort to a hacksaw.
This being the case, you will have to clean up the cut end of the pipe -
removing burrs with a file etc. - before being able to fit a blanking
fitting. While you are doing all that, the system is busy emptying itself
all over your floor!

You could try the following: [not sure whether you have already removed the
radiator, so will assume you haven't]
* turn off both radiator valves
* drain the radiator by undoing each union (between valve and rad) in turn,
opening the bleed screw to let air in, and catching the water in a small
bowl placed under the union
* once the radiator is virtually empty, lift it off its brackets and upend
it into an old bowl to catch the black gunge which collects in the bottom
* stuff kitchen roll into its open ends to stop anything else coming out
while you carry it out of the house

You now need to be able to shorten the pipes which still have valves on the
end, with the minimum of spillage:
* find the header tank which feeds the heating system
* it should have a feed pipe at the bottom, below the water level. Bung a co
rk in it.
* it should have an expansion pipe looping over the top of the tank. Bung a
cork in the end of that
* turn off both valves of all other radiators in the house - counting and
recording the nunber of turns on each lockshield valve so that you can put
it back to the same postion
* open each radiator valve in turn (from the removed radiator) and catch any
water which comes out - shouldn't be too much if you have sealed the tank
properly
* NOW you can cut the pipes off and fit blanking fittings

Finally, don't forget to remove the corks, and to turn the other rads back
on - resetting the lockshields to their original positions - and make sure
that the ball valve is working to enable to system to refill properly.

HTH,
Roger