Hi, I am fairly new to plumbing, but are willing to try! I have 2
questions:


I have recently moved into a house, and as the person before me was
less than DIY competant, I have been flushing out the radiators. I
have never before had to completely drain the system down, but using
the drain cock placed in the utility room I have successfully done
this and refilled with inhibitor also.


The drain cock had not been used for some time, and dripped slightly
when I had tightened it up. - Nicessitating me to nip it up again a
bit more. Does a drain cock have a washer, or is it just metal on
metal? Should I need to tighten it up quite tight (more than the ends
of the radiators anyway?)


Question 2

I was looking on how to replace it (if it is faulty). Draining down
again obviously, but the drain is fitted to a T- juction that is
soldered on. Would I be able to heat the junction up and remove it /
replace it without cutting pipes? If I cut the pipe, then obviously I
will have a short connection that will no longer reach the radiator
:-)


Any suggestions greatly recieved.


Kind regards


Jon

In article ,
(Jon) writes:

The drain cock had not been used for some time, and dripped slightly
when I had tightened it up. - Nicessitating me to nip it up again a
bit more. Does a drain cock have a washer, or is it just metal on
metal? Should I need to tighten it up quite tight (more than the ends
of the radiators anyway?)

They do have a small rubber washer. Sounds like it's gone hard.
Maybe the installer didn't unscrew the insert and soldered it
up with the washer in place?

Question 2

I was looking on how to replace it (if it is faulty). Draining down
again obviously, but the drain is fitted to a T- juction that is
soldered on. Would I be able to heat the junction up and remove it /
replace it without cutting pipes?

Yes. You will need to get all the water out -- you won't be able to
solder it if there's still water trickling through. A simpler fix
would be to replace the insert if you can find an identical one
(there are a few different designs). Even if the insert doesn't
match, you might be able to transplant a washer.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Hi
as above its not a big job to replace the old drain cock ,drain down an take the "guts"/insert out an go too your local plumb shop with it they will sell you a replacement
I found a replacement here
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...24305&id=11421
as you can see they are not expensive
Mr Jingles

I've got the same problem, in spades. For some reason, I've developed 3
leaks at the control valve to the rad which has the drain fitting.
Being a complete novice, I thought "it cannot be rocket science". I see the
point about the drain valve, which will not seal no matter how no matter how
tight I screw it in, and will attempt to fix that.

However, the question is - how tight is tight? The setup has an extension
between the rad and the valve. The joint seems simple enough - the inner
and outer slice of of a ball and socket - should work even if they are not
aligned exactly. I can hold them together by hand - BUT they will not seal
no matter how tightly I screw it up! In fact, it gets worse the tighter I
screw it. Would PTFE tape in some arrangement work? Getting fed up
draining and refilling the system, I can tell you. Or, are different makes
incompatible with eachother - my new B&Q valve and the original extension,
say?

And my new £1.98 B&Q valve seems reluctant to seal to the feed pipe. Should
I be brutal?

Help.

--
GPG



"Mr Jingles" wrote in message
...

Andrew Gabriel Wrote:
In article ,
(Jon) writes:-

The drain cock had not been used for some time, and dripped slightly
when I had tightened it up. - Nicessitating me to nip it up again a
bit more. Does a drain cock have a washer, or is it just metal on
metal? Should I need to tighten it up quite tight (more than the
ends
of the radiators anyway?)-

They do have a small rubber washer. Sounds like it's gone hard.
Maybe the installer didn't unscrew the insert and soldered it
up with the washer in place?
-
Question 2

I was looking on how to replace it (if it is faulty). Draining down
again obviously, but the drain is fitted to a T- juction that is
soldered on. Would I be able to heat the junction up and remove it /
replace it without cutting pipes?-

Yes. You will need to get all the water out -- you won't be able to
solder it if there's still water trickling through. A simpler fix
would be to replace the insert if you can find an identical one
(there are a few different designs). Even if the insert doesn't
match, you might be able to transplant a washer.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Hi
as above its not a big job to replace the old drain cock ,drain down an
take the "guts"/insert out an go too your local plumb shop with it they
will sell you a replacement
I found a replacement here
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...24305&id=11421
as you can see they are not expensive
Mr Jingles


--
Mr Jingles

I was fortunate enough to find a packet of two washers, described as "MT
Draw-Off Cock Washer". Please do not make obvious and puerile jokes about
this as it uses up bandwidth, and we've all thought of it already s. I
have no idea what MT signifies.

Made by Robimatic plc, code WB536Q, price 88 new pence.

Worked a treat. I only wish that I had waited until the wife came home
before draining the system down. It could all have been achieved by two
people wth at least one finger on each of two hands (sorry if this offends
people with only one hand, or insufficient fingers, or no wife) to hold the
waters back while the other person slips the washer into position and
quickly pushes the assembly back in and screws it up. A copy of the Sunday
Times would probably have absorbed escaping water.

--
GPG



"Mr Jingles" wrote in message
...

Andrew Gabriel Wrote:
In article ,
(Jon) writes:-

The drain cock had not been used for some time, and dripped slightly
when I had tightened it up. - Nicessitating me to nip it up again a
bit more. Does a drain cock have a washer, or is it just metal on
metal? Should I need to tighten it up quite tight (more than the
ends
of the radiators anyway?)-

They do have a small rubber washer. Sounds like it's gone hard.
Maybe the installer didn't unscrew the insert and soldered it
up with the washer in place?
-
Question 2

I was looking on how to replace it (if it is faulty). Draining down
again obviously, but the drain is fitted to a T- juction that is
soldered on. Would I be able to heat the junction up and remove it /
replace it without cutting pipes?-

Yes. You will need to get all the water out -- you won't be able to
solder it if there's still water trickling through. A simpler fix
would be to replace the insert if you can find an identical one
(there are a few different designs). Even if the insert doesn't
match, you might be able to transplant a washer.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Hi
as above its not a big job to replace the old drain cock ,drain down an
take the "guts"/insert out an go too your local plumb shop with it they
will sell you a replacement
I found a replacement here
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...24305&id=11421
as you can see they are not expensive
Mr Jingles


--
Mr Jingles