Hello all.

I posted a while back regarding a problematic drain cock that was
dripping - I eventually stopped it by tightening it up. I finally got
round to draining the system down to flush it out, and I managed to get
a look - sadly it is worse than I thought. I have soldered "in line"
(i.e not connected to the radiator fitting) drain cocks.

I have 3 drain cocks in the house.

I took the screw in component from the original one out, the washer is
still in tacked, but has a little bit missing.

The second one the washer has become disconnected from the screw /
inner, and is well and truely stuck within the drain pipe. I was able
to drain this point down.

The third is the worse. the screw component has a shaft, and the
washer and the shaft are stuck in the drain hole. I can unscrew the
screw part, but I can't get the shaft and washer out - I am concerned
if I yank it out it would just tear the washer.


So....

I have refilled the system as it was getting toward the end of the day,
but I need a plan of action.

I guess that the answer is to replace all 3, but this job concerns me
as I have not worked with the soldering fittings before, and have
certainly not ever attempted to remove an existing fitting and replace
it.


the only other thing that I could think of was to leave the existing
fittings (they are not leaking) and replace the radiator fittings with
those that have drain cocks integral to the fitting?


Any advice here would be great, draining and filling takes a good while
and it is not something that I want to do on a regular basis!


Kind regards


Jon

Jon wrote:

the only other thing that I could think of was to leave the existing
fittings (they are not leaking) and replace the radiator fittings with
those that have drain cocks integral to the fitting?

You could do that.

You could desolder them if you can move the pipework enough to pull it
appart an inch (just heat it with a blowtorch and use a pair of quick
grips to waggle it - once the solder has reflowed you should be able to
work them loose.

You may be able to get a small pipe cutter in to cut the pipe close to
them instead - this is much simpler than desoldering.

Any advice here would be great, draining and filling takes a good while
and it is not something that I want to do on a regular basis!

Costs a bit in new corrosion inhibitor as well!

My trick is to find a CH pipe on an outside wall that is adjacent to a
drain gully. Drill a hole through the wall above the gully, cut into the
pipe and fit a tee. Now pipe this to a service valve and then out
through the wall and direct down to the gully. That way to drain down
you simply open the service valve and drain straight into the gully with
no mess on the carpet and no need to find a bit of hose.


--
Cheers,

John.

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