I have a tatty well cosmetically radiator in a room I'm trying to decorate
(slowly). There is a little surface rust at the bottom just a very very
little amount. On the rest of it its a little bit of enamel ? chipped here
and there and is discoloured from smoking (was a rented room to a lodger who
smoked, who should not have tsk)

I got a few quotes for radiators new ones and its around £50 for a new one
.....

But I was thinking a dab of krusts rust remover, some wet and dry to flat it
and air brush it with some radiator enamel, I think you can air brush this
stuff, will double check ?

Will that work and not stink when the rad is on ?

....Main reason for asking as I;m trying to do this project at my leisure
without high costs.

On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:13:08 -0000, "Stephen" wrote:

I have a tatty well cosmetically radiator in a room I'm trying to decorate
(slowly). There is a little surface rust at the bottom just a very very
little amount. On the rest of it its a little bit of enamel ? chipped here
and there and is discoloured from smoking (was a rented room to a lodger who
smoked, who should not have tsk)

I got a few quotes for radiators new ones and its around £50 for a new one
....

But I was thinking a dab of krusts rust remover, some wet and dry to flat it
and air brush it with some radiator enamel, I think you can air brush this
stuff, will double check ?

Will that work and not stink when the rad is on ?

...Main reason for asking as I;m trying to do this project at my leisure
without high costs.


I have done a couple with rad paint of 2 different types and one was
much better than the other but I'm damned if I can recall the name of
it . It's not a patch,of course,on a replacement radiator ...Try your
local Freecycle Group on Yahoo or Google or the Gumtree Section
Freebie Ads and you might well get a free rad .

"Usenet Nutter" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:13:08 -0000, "Stephen" wrote:

I have a tatty well cosmetically radiator in a room I'm trying to decorate
(slowly). There is a little surface rust at the bottom just a very very
little amount. On the rest of it its a little bit of enamel ? chipped here
and there and is discoloured from smoking (was a rented room to a lodger
who
smoked, who should not have tsk)

I got a few quotes for radiators new ones and its around £50 for a new one
....

But I was thinking a dab of krusts rust remover, some wet and dry to flat
it
and air brush it with some radiator enamel, I think you can air brush this
stuff, will double check ?

Will that work and not stink when the rad is on ?

...Main reason for asking as I;m trying to do this project at my leisure
without high costs.


I have done a couple with rad paint of 2 different types and one was
much better than the other but I'm damned if I can recall the name of
it . It's not a patch,of course,on a replacement radiator ...Try your
local Freecycle Group on Yahoo or Google or the Gumtree Section
Freebie Ads and you might well get a free rad .

Not sure if this applies to all areas but Freecycle are now calling
themselves Freegle where I live!

"Bren" wrote in message
...

"Usenet Nutter" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:13:08 -0000, "Stephen" wrote:

I have a tatty well cosmetically radiator in a room I'm trying to
decorate
(slowly). There is a little surface rust at the bottom just a very very
little amount. On the rest of it its a little bit of enamel ? chipped
here
and there and is discoloured from smoking (was a rented room to a lodger
who
smoked, who should not have tsk)

I got a few quotes for radiators new ones and its around £50 for a new
one
....

But I was thinking a dab of krusts rust remover, some wet and dry to flat
it
and air brush it with some radiator enamel, I think you can air brush
this
stuff, will double check ?

Will that work and not stink when the rad is on ?

...Main reason for asking as I;m trying to do this project at my leisure
without high costs.


I have done a couple with rad paint of 2 different types and one was
much better than the other but I'm damned if I can recall the name of
it . It's not a patch,of course,on a replacement radiator ...Try your
local Freecycle Group on Yahoo or Google or the Gumtree Section
Freebie Ads and you might well get a free rad .

Not sure if this applies to all areas but Freecycle are now calling
themselves Freegle where I live!


I have always used ordinary gloss paint. I remove the radiator - decorate
behind it - flush the radiator and then give it a good rub down with wet &
dry.

I paint the radiator with it laying flat to avoid runs. Let it dry for a
couple of days and then refit.

If the rust is from the inside I would recommend replacement. Does the
system have a corrosion inhibitor?

In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Bren
wrote:

Not sure if this applies to all areas but Freecycle are now calling
themselves Freegle where I live!

Sort of. The Freecycle parent organisation is American - with very strict
rules as to what overseas offshoots can and can't do. Many of the UK
(ex-)Freecycle administrators have fallen out big time with the parent
organisation, and have formed a totally independent UK organisation called
Freegle. Members of those groups which have switched have also been
switched, more or less transparently.
--
Cheers,
Roger
_______
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:38:05 -0000, "Roger Mills"
wrote:

In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Bren
wrote:

Not sure if this applies to all areas but Freecycle are now calling
themselves Freegle where I live!

Sort of. The Freecycle parent organisation is American - with very strict
rules as to what overseas offshoots can and can't do. Many of the UK
(ex-)Freecycle administrators have fallen out big time with the parent
organisation, and have formed a totally independent UK organisation called
Freegle. Members of those groups which have switched have also been
switched, more or less transparently.

Any indication where they fell out?

On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:09:03 GMT, wrote:

On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:38:05 -0000, "Roger Mills"
wrote:

In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Bren
wrote:

Not sure if this applies to all areas but Freecycle are now calling
themselves Freegle where I live!

Sort of. The Freecycle parent organisation is American - with very strict
rules as to what overseas offshoots can and can't do. Many of the UK
(ex-)Freecycle administrators have fallen out big time with the parent
organisation, and have formed a totally independent UK organisation called
Freegle. Members of those groups which have switched have also been
switched, more or less transparently.

Any indication where they fell out?


I think the fallout started a long time ago but I don't know what
caused it .

On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:09:03 GMT wrote :
Sort of. The Freecycle parent organisation is American - with very strict
rules as to what overseas offshoots can and can't do. Many of the UK
(ex-)Freecycle administrators have fallen out big time with the parent
organisation, and have formed a totally independent UK organisation called
Freegle. Members of those groups which have switched have also been
switched, more or less transparently.

Any indication where they fell out?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...cle-us-network

--
Tony Bryer, Greentram: 'Software to build on' Melbourne, Australia
www.superbeam.co.uk www.superbeam.com www.greentram.com

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
wrote:
On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 22:38:05 -0000, "Roger Mills"
wrote:

In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Bren
wrote:

Not sure if this applies to all areas but Freecycle are now calling
themselves Freegle where I live!

Sort of. The Freecycle parent organisation is American - with very
strict rules as to what overseas offshoots can and can't do. Many of
the UK (ex-)Freecycle administrators have fallen out big time with
the parent organisation, and have formed a totally independent UK
organisation called Freegle. Members of those groups which have
switched have also been switched, more or less transparently.

Any indication where they fell out?

I'm only involved on the fringe as an ordinary member, but I get the
impression that a lot of UK administrators wanted to customise the way it
works a bit to suit the British culture, and the Yanks weren't having any -
and immediately pulled the plug on any Admin who argued with them.
--
Cheers,
Roger
_______
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

John wrote:
"Bren" wrote in message
...

"Usenet Nutter" wrote in
message news
On Tue, 9 Feb 2010 21:13:08 -0000, "Stephen" wrote:

I have a tatty well cosmetically radiator in a room I'm trying to
decorate
(slowly). There is a little surface rust at the bottom just a very
very little amount. On the rest of it its a little bit of enamel ?
chipped here
and there and is discoloured from smoking (was a rented room to a
lodger who
smoked, who should not have tsk)

I got a few quotes for radiators new ones and its around £50 for a
new one
....

But I was thinking a dab of krusts rust remover, some wet and dry
to flat it
and air brush it with some radiator enamel, I think you can air
brush this
stuff, will double check ?

Will that work and not stink when the rad is on ?

...Main reason for asking as I;m trying to do this project at my
leisure without high costs.


I have done a couple with rad paint of 2 different types and one was
much better than the other but I'm damned if I can recall the name
of it . It's not a patch,of course,on a replacement radiator ...Try
your local Freecycle Group on Yahoo or Google or the Gumtree
Section Freebie Ads and you might well get a free rad .

Not sure if this applies to all areas but Freecycle are now calling
themselves Freegle where I live!


I have always used ordinary gloss paint. I remove the radiator -
decorate behind it - flush the radiator and then give it a good rub
down with wet & dry.

I paint the radiator with it laying flat to avoid runs. Let it dry
for a couple of days and then refit.

If the rust is from the inside I would recommend replacement. Does the
system have a corrosion inhibitor?

Never even bothered isolating or removing the rads. Always thought that the
use of a "specialist product" was excellent marketing. First house, mid 20s
with central heating installed in the 60s, I purchased in the early 70s.
Slight corrosion from abusive (clumbsy) use of the key when bleeding. With
no CH on, I manually sanded and then used normal gloss paint. Allowed
several days or could have been weeks before I blasted the system with heat
to set and remove odour (during the summer).

Second house, bought new in the late 70s, where some of the rads. had some
minor rust marks quite soon after installation. Process as house No. 1. No
problem.

Third house, bought new in early 80s, where experience and treatment as
above.

Been in the house now 27/28 years. Some of the rads I have had to rub down
and repaint up to 3 times always manually in summer and repainted with
normal gloss and then blasted with heat after a couple of days. The driver
to repaint has been because of physical damage to the paint mostly due to
kids and also the peddle bin in the kitchen that the silly SWMBO'd will
place so that it smashes into the radiator! In all cases I have had no
problem using regular gloss and have never bothered treating the rust patch.

I have always used ordinary gloss paint. I remove the radiator -
decorate behind it - flush the radiator and then give it a good rub
down with wet & dry.

I paint the radiator with it laying flat to avoid runs. Let it dry
for a couple of days and then refit.

If the rust is from the inside I would recommend replacement. Does the
system have a corrosion inhibitor?

Never even bothered isolating or removing the rads. Always thought that
the use of a "specialist product" was excellent marketing. First house,
mid 20s with central heating installed in the 60s, I purchased in the
early 70s. Slight corrosion from abusive (clumbsy) use of the key when
bleeding. With no CH on, I manually sanded and then used normal gloss
paint. Allowed several days or could have been weeks before I blasted the
system with heat to set and remove odour (during the summer).

Second house, bought new in the late 70s, where some of the rads. had some
minor rust marks quite soon after installation. Process as house No. 1. No
problem.

Third house, bought new in early 80s, where experience and treatment as
above.

Been in the house now 27/28 years. Some of the rads I have had to rub down
and repaint up to 3 times always manually in summer and repainted with
normal gloss and then blasted with heat after a couple of days. The driver
to repaint has been because of physical damage to the paint mostly due to
kids and also the peddle bin in the kitchen that the silly SWMBO'd will
place so that it smashes into the radiator! In all cases I have had no
problem using regular gloss and have never bothered treating the rust
patch.


Removing the radiator kills two birds with one stone - it avoids the
question in a few months - "what can I do about my radiator? - it has a cold
patch at the bottom". It seems to me a good phased way of checking for
sludge and cleaning them out - surely a good practice. At the same time the
wall at the back can be properly decorated. I was also amazed how much dust
can gather in the fins at the back.

John wrote:
I have always used ordinary gloss paint. I remove the radiator -
decorate behind it - flush the radiator and then give it a good rub
down with wet & dry.

I paint the radiator with it laying flat to avoid runs. Let it dry
for a couple of days and then refit.

If the rust is from the inside I would recommend replacement. Does
the system have a corrosion inhibitor?

Never even bothered isolating or removing the rads. Always thought
that the use of a "specialist product" was excellent marketing.
First house, mid 20s with central heating installed in the 60s, I
purchased in the early 70s. Slight corrosion from abusive (clumbsy)
use of the key when bleeding. With no CH on, I manually sanded and
then used normal gloss paint. Allowed several days or could have
been weeks before I blasted the system with heat to set and remove
odour (during the summer). Second house, bought new in the late 70s,
where some of the rads.
had some minor rust marks quite soon after installation. Process as
house No. 1. No problem.

Third house, bought new in early 80s, where experience and treatment
as above.

Been in the house now 27/28 years. Some of the rads I have had to
rub down and repaint up to 3 times always manually in summer and
repainted with normal gloss and then blasted with heat after a
couple of days. The driver to repaint has been because of physical
damage to the paint mostly due to kids and also the peddle bin in
the kitchen that the silly SWMBO'd will place so that it smashes
into the radiator! In all cases I have had no problem using regular
gloss and have never bothered treating the rust patch.


Removing the radiator kills two birds with one stone - it avoids the
question in a few months - "what can I do about my radiator? - it has
a cold patch at the bottom". It seems to me a good phased way of
checking for sludge and cleaning them out - surely a good practice.
At the same time the wall at the back can be properly decorated. I
was also amazed how much dust can gather in the fins at the back.

I'm not a perfectionist! However, I do agree that it is an opportunity to
desludge. I tend to do that as a separate exercise, i.e. every two to three
years - drain the system, fill and run for a couple of hours, drain again,
refill and run for a week or two, redrain and then refill including
inhibitor. So far so good.

On 9 Feb, 22:34, "John" wrote:

I have always used ordinary gloss paint.

Ordinary gloss will discolour, although not by much these days.

So if they're white, I'd go with heat resistant. If they're not even
trying to be white, something cheaper will be fine. Who cares if it
changes a bit?

Stephen wrote:
I have a tatty well cosmetically radiator in a room I'm trying to decorate
(slowly). There is a little surface rust at the bottom just a very very
little amount. On the rest of it its a little bit of enamel ? chipped here
and there and is discoloured from smoking (was a rented room to a lodger who
smoked, who should not have tsk)

I got a few quotes for radiators new ones and its around £50 for a new one
....

I have done this in the past with a view to changing to a more efficient
radiator. Over the years it should save you money on your heating bills.
Just my thoughts.

Dave

In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Dave
wrote:

I have done this in the past with a view to changing to a more
efficient radiator. Over the years it should save you money on your
heating bills. Just my thoughts.

Dave

What's a more efficient radiator? How does it save money?
--
Cheers,
Roger
_______
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

Roger Mills wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Dave
wrote:
I have done this in the past with a view to changing to a more
efficient radiator. Over the years it should save you money on your
heating bills. Just my thoughts.

Dave

What's a more efficient radiator? How does it save money?

Most of our radiators are double pressed types and all the new ones have
been similar, but with lots of fins between the pressings. I find the
room is much warmer after they have been added because the heat transfer
is much beter.

An efficient rad will get the room up to temp quicker and if you have
the right insulation will hold that heat much longer without demanding more.

Dave

On Wed, 10 Feb 2010 11:01:02 +1100, Tony Bryer
wrote:

On Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:09:03 GMT wrote :
Sort of. The Freecycle parent organisation is American - with very strict
rules as to what overseas offshoots can and can't do. Many of the UK
(ex-)Freecycle administrators have fallen out big time with the parent
organisation, and have formed a totally independent UK organisation called
Freegle. Members of those groups which have switched have also been
switched, more or less transparently.

Any indication where they fell out?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...cle-us-network

I joined the Paisley-Freegle group yesterday as it was the nearest to
Glasgow whwre I stay but when I got the confirmation e-mail it had
links to Freecycle at the foot of it ..I thought Freegle had been
created because of issues with Freecycle so thought it odd that they
had links back to it .I have asked them at Freegle and await a reply.

In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Dave
wrote:
Roger Mills wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Dave
wrote:
I have done this in the past with a view to changing to a more
efficient radiator. Over the years it should save you money on your
heating bills. Just my thoughts.

Dave

What's a more efficient radiator? How does it save money?

Most of our radiators are double pressed types and all the new ones
have been similar, but with lots of fins between the pressings. I
find the room is much warmer after they have been added because the heat
transfer is much beter.

Radiators with fins certainly have a greater heat output for a given size -
but that doesn't make them more *efficient* in absolute terms. The boiler
just has to work harder in order to supply them with heat at the rate at
which they are dissipating it into the room - and uses more fuel in the
process. The effect of using a larger radiator without fins would be exactly
the same.

An efficient rad will get the room up to temp quicker and if you have
the right insulation will hold that heat much longer without
demanding more.
Dave

A radiator with a higher heat *output* will heat the room more quickly. Heat
retention is purely down to the standard of insulation. Neither has anything
to do with the "efficiency" of the radator!
--
Cheers,
Roger
_______
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

Roger Mills wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Dave
wrote:
Roger Mills wrote:
In an earlier contribution to this discussion, Dave
wrote:
I have done this in the past with a view to changing to a more
efficient radiator. Over the years it should save you money on your
heating bills. Just my thoughts.

Dave
What's a more efficient radiator? How does it save money?
Most of our radiators are double pressed types and all the new ones
have been similar, but with lots of fins between the pressings. I
find the room is much warmer after they have been added because the heat
transfer is much beter.

Radiators with fins certainly have a greater heat output for a given size -
but that doesn't make them more *efficient* in absolute terms. The boiler
just has to work harder in order to supply them with heat at the rate at
which they are dissipating it into the room - and uses more fuel in the
process. The effect of using a larger radiator without fins would be exactly
the same.

An efficient rad will get the room up to temp quicker and if you have
the right insulation will hold that heat much longer without
demanding more.
Dave

A radiator with a higher heat *output* will heat the room more quickly. Heat
retention is purely down to the standard of insulation. Neither has anything
to do with the "efficiency" of the radator!

I stand corrected then. Thanks

Dave

"John" wrote in message
...




I have always used ordinary gloss paint. I remove the radiator -
decorate behind it - flush the radiator and then give it a good rub
down with wet & dry.

I paint the radiator with it laying flat to avoid runs. Let it dry
for a couple of days and then refit.

If the rust is from the inside I would recommend replacement. Does the
system have a corrosion inhibitor?

Never even bothered isolating or removing the rads. Always thought that
the use of a "specialist product" was excellent marketing. First house,
mid 20s with central heating installed in the 60s, I purchased in the
early 70s. Slight corrosion from abusive (clumbsy) use of the key when
bleeding. With no CH on, I manually sanded and then used normal gloss
paint. Allowed several days or could have been weeks before I blasted the
system with heat to set and remove odour (during the summer).

Second house, bought new in the late 70s, where some of the rads. had
some minor rust marks quite soon after installation. Process as house No.
1. No problem.

Third house, bought new in early 80s, where experience and treatment as
above.

Been in the house now 27/28 years. Some of the rads I have had to rub
down and repaint up to 3 times always manually in summer and repainted
with normal gloss and then blasted with heat after a couple of days. The
driver to repaint has been because of physical damage to the paint mostly
due to kids and also the peddle bin in the kitchen that the silly SWMBO'd
will place so that it smashes into the radiator! In all cases I have had
no problem using regular gloss and have never bothered treating the rust
patch.


Removing the radiator kills two birds with one stone - it avoids the
question in a few months - "what can I do about my radiator? - it has a
cold patch at the bottom". It seems to me a good phased way of checking
for sludge and cleaning them out - surely a good practice. At the same
time the wall at the back can be properly decorated. I was also amazed how
much dust can gather in the fins at the back.
Black goo can make a terrible mess if not v careful when actually removing
rads.
Depending on the situation and how much 'lift' you may have in the
connecting pipes, you can often get away with just loosening the connector
nuts a little then lifting the rad off its crutches and laying it down
forward - onto say a chair for support. Then you can temporarily tighten
the nuts while you clean etc behind. You can also stir up the sludge a bit
more by laying the rad right down forward, so that bottom becomes top,
before turning the pump up full.

Of course if your rad is old, it is quite likely to be leaking from the
bottom before long anyway...

S