One of the rads in my lounge has developed a leak. It's a single panel type,
seam topped and with a wavy bit of metal at the back. It measures approx 75
cms across the panel vertically, and 158 cms across the top water gallery.
What 'official' size is this for obtaining a replacement - or is it even
directly replaceable still ? About 25 years old. There seems to be a
distressingly large range of rads around those sizes, but I would like to
get a 'ringer' if possible because I would really like it to just be
'drop-in' due to current time constraints for DIY. Would there be any
advantage to replacing it with a double panel rad if someone has one ? Are
the fittings still the same sizes now ? I'd hate to get one and find that
the original couplings were some obscure imperial size, now replaced by some
equally obscure metric size.

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received ...

Arfa

On 31 Oct 2014, "Arfa Daily" grunted:

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received

I'd have thought the fittings would be the same then as now. Doesn't sound
like a standard current size to me but best to google and see what you can
find. You can buy extension pipes etc like this:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p13659 which may help.

Bear in mind though that modern radiators will be much more efficient than
what you've currently got, so if you were to fit an identically dimensioned
radiator nowm, chances are it would be over-specced for the room (though
that's not as bad as being under-specced, obviously.

A double-panelled radiator is approx twice as powerful as a the
equivalently dimensioned single rad, so that won't be the answer to your
problem.

The 'correct' way to do it is to use one of the on-line calculators to
determine how many BTUs you need for the room, and buy the appropriately
dimensioned radiator for that. Once you have the correct BTU output
needed, you'll find there are lots of differently dimensioned radiators
with more or less the same heat output that you can choose from. Screwfix
is a good starting point (try their drill-down menus for height, width,
output etc.

But you may have to bite the bullet and do a bit of pipework!


--
David

On Friday, October 31, 2014 10:15:07 AM UTC, Lobster wrote:
On 31 Oct 2014, "Arfa Daily" grunted:

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received

I'd have thought the fittings would be the same then as now. Doesn't sound
like a standard current size to me but best to google and see what you can
find. You can buy extension pipes etc like this:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p13659 which may help.

Bear in mind though that modern radiators will be much more efficient than
what you've currently got, so if you were to fit an identically dimensioned
radiator nowm, chances are it would be over-specced for the room (though
that's not as bad as being under-specced, obviously.

OTOH if you have a condensing boiler you want to run it with the return temperature as low as possible, so the radiators need to be bigger than they used to be.

Robert

On 31/10/2014 11:07, RobertL wrote:
On Friday, October 31, 2014 10:15:07 AM UTC, Lobster wrote:
On 31 Oct 2014, "Arfa Daily" grunted:

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received

I'd have thought the fittings would be the same then as now. Doesn't sound
like a standard current size to me but best to google and see what you can
find. You can buy extension pipes etc like this:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p13659 which may help.

Bear in mind though that modern radiators will be much more efficient than
what you've currently got, so if you were to fit an identically dimensioned
radiator nowm, chances are it would be over-specced for the room (though
that's not as bad as being under-specced, obviously.


Wouldn't that be 'effective' rather than 'efficient' for given dimensions?

When looking for radiators I see they're often labelled 'super
efficient' but I don't see how, energy-wise. They may provide more heat
for a certain size, but I can't see how they provide more heat per kW/hr.

OTOH if you have a condensing boiler you want to run it with the return temperature as low as possible, so the radiators need to be bigger than they used to be.


It's going to be belting out a lot of heat to achieve a low return,
isn't it? So a system that cycles frequently and hot rather than steady
and warm?


--
Cheers, Rob

In article ,
RJH writes:
On 31/10/2014 11:07, RobertL wrote:
On Friday, October 31, 2014 10:15:07 AM UTC, Lobster wrote:
On 31 Oct 2014, "Arfa Daily" grunted:

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received

I'd have thought the fittings would be the same then as now. Doesn't sound
like a standard current size to me but best to google and see what you can
find. You can buy extension pipes etc like this:
http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p13659 which may help.

Bear in mind though that modern radiators will be much more efficient than
what you've currently got, so if you were to fit an identically dimensioned
radiator nowm, chances are it would be over-specced for the room (though
that's not as bad as being under-specced, obviously.


Wouldn't that be 'effective' rather than 'efficient' for given dimensions?

When looking for radiators I see they're often labelled 'super
efficient' but I don't see how, energy-wise. They may provide more heat
for a certain size, but I can't see how they provide more heat per kW/hr.

One aspect of an "efficient" radiator would be one that has low heat
capacity. This means you are not wasting energy heating up, say, a
giant lump of cast iron and loads of water before you start getting
heat out into the room, and similarly, it doesn't take ages to cool
down and stops heating the room when the room has reached the set
point without overshooting.

I replaced some radiators in my brother's place a few years ago, and
it was quite noticable that the new ones cool down very quickly when
the heating goes off, but the old ones, being thicker steel and larger
water channels, take much longer to cool down.

OTOH if you have a condensing boiler you want to run it with the return temperature as low as possible, so the radiators need to be bigger than they used to be.


It's going to be belting out a lot of heat to achieve a low return,
isn't it? So a system that cycles frequently and hot rather than steady
and warm?

No, just needs to be larger. I did that with the central heating system
I installed. It actually performed better than I had intended, and can
keep the house at normal room temperature when running at 45/40C
flow/return, with no boiler cycling. That means the boiler is running
just about as efficiently as it can, and wasted flue gas heat is only 50C.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 31/10/2014 10:15, Lobster wrote:
The 'correct' way to do it is to use one of the on-line calculators to
determine how many BTUs you need for the room, and buy the appropriately
dimensioned radiator for that.

I know this isn't you being perverse, 'tis widespread, but why do we
still use BTUs? And calories?

--
Rod

In message , polygonum
writes
On 31/10/2014 10:15, Lobster wrote:
The 'correct' way to do it is to use one of the on-line calculators to
determine how many BTUs you need for the room, and buy the appropriately
dimensioned radiator for that.

I know this isn't you being perverse, 'tis widespread, but why do we
still use BTUs? And calories?

Same reason people still use inches, feet, oz etc.


--
Chris French

On 31/10/2014 09:54, Arfa Daily wrote:
One of the rads in my lounge has developed a leak. It's a single panel
type, seam topped and with a wavy bit of metal at the back. It measures
approx 75 cms across the panel vertically, and 158 cms across the top
water gallery. What 'official' size is this for obtaining a replacement
- or is it even directly replaceable still ? About 25 years old. There
seems to be a distressingly large range of rads around those sizes, but
I would like to get a 'ringer' if possible because I would really like
it to just be 'drop-in' due to current time constraints for DIY. Would
there be any advantage to replacing it with a double panel rad if
someone has one ? Are the fittings still the same sizes now ? I'd hate
to get one and find that the original couplings were some obscure
imperial size, now replaced by some equally obscure metric size.

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received ...

Arfa

Radiator sizes used to be Imperial (although yours doesn't sound like
anything in particular!) but are now metric - so you're very unlikely to
get a new one which is exactly the same size. The good news is that the
plumbing fittings are the same - so a new one will have the same 1/2"
BSP female threads as the old one into which to screw the tails for the
valves.

Radiators seem to come in 100mm (10cm) steps for both width and height.
700mm is a fairly common height (but less common than 600mm) - but that
would be a couple of inches shorter than the existing one. Width-wise,
you'd be looking at 1500mm or 1600mm. As others have said, you can get
extra-long valve tails to compensate for the radiator being a bit
narrower, but an extra 40mm per side is quite a lot. If there's a bit of
flexibility to spread the feeder pipes, you might get away with a 1600mm
rad with standard valves and tails.

In all events, the brackets are likely to be different - so you'll have
to do some careful measuring to determine where to fix the brackets to
the wall in order to get the water connections in the right place.

Most single panel rads have fins on the back these days, which increases
their heat output size for size by about 50% (as long as you balance the
flows to suit!). Unless the current rad is seriously under-sized, I
wouldn't go for a double. They don't look very pretty and will almost
certainly have their plumbing connections a bit further out from the
wall - so you may have to adjust the pipe-work. [That may not matter if
you're having to adjust it for a different size of radiator, anyway].
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

Roger Mills wrote:

Radiator sizes used to be Imperial (although yours doesn't sound like
anything in particular!) but are now metric - so you're very unlikely to
get a new one which is exactly the same size.

Myson still do Imperial sizes

http://www.myson.co.uk/products/premier_he.asp

27x61" = 690x1556mm sounds the closest, but not close enough to simply
drop in, so you might as well fit a metric replacement if you've got to
adjust the pipework ...

In article ,
Roger Mills wrote:
Radiator sizes used to be Imperial (although yours doesn't sound like
anything in particular!) but are now metric - so you're very unlikely to
get a new one which is exactly the same size. The good news is that the
plumbing fittings are the same - so a new one will have the same 1/2"
BSP female threads as the old one into which to screw the tails for the
valves.

If it's only 25 years old (1990 ish) would it be imperial? Plumbing
fittings went metric long before that.

--
*The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 31/10/2014 09:54, Arfa Daily wrote:

One of the rads in my lounge has developed a leak. It's a single panel
type, seam topped and with a wavy bit of metal at the back. It measures
approx 75 cms across the panel vertically, and 158 cms across the top
water gallery. What 'official' size is this for obtaining a replacement
- or is it even directly replaceable still ? About 25 years old. There

Sounds like an unusual size... 700x1600 would be easy enough to get though.

seems to be a distressingly large range of rads around those sizes, but
I would like to get a 'ringer' if possible because I would really like
it to just be 'drop-in' due to current time constraints for DIY. Would
there be any advantage to replacing it with a double panel rad if
someone has one ?

If you have difficulty getting the room warm enough, then yes.

Are the fittings still the same sizes now ? I'd hate
to get one and find that the original couplings were some obscure
imperial size, now replaced by some equally obscure metric size.

The rad normally just has 1/2" BSP sockets, and the actual coupling come
with the valve. So you can remove the tails from the old rad and install
them in the new - then it will march the valves perfectly (if they reach!)

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received ...

Be prepared to have to move at least one tail.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 31/10/2014 09:54, Arfa Daily wrote:

One of the rads in my lounge has developed a leak. It's a single panel
type, seam topped and with a wavy bit of metal at the back. It measures
approx 75 cms across the panel vertically, and 158 cms across the top
water gallery. What 'official' size is this for obtaining a replacement
- or is it even directly replaceable still ? About 25 years old. There

Sounds like an unusual size... 700x1600 would be easy enough to get
though.

seems to be a distressingly large range of rads around those sizes, but
I would like to get a 'ringer' if possible because I would really like
it to just be 'drop-in' due to current time constraints for DIY. Would
there be any advantage to replacing it with a double panel rad if
someone has one ?

If you have difficulty getting the room warm enough, then yes.

Are the fittings still the same sizes now ? I'd hate
to get one and find that the original couplings were some obscure
imperial size, now replaced by some equally obscure metric size.

The rad normally just has 1/2" BSP sockets, and the actual coupling come
with the valve. So you can remove the tails from the old rad and install
them in the new - then it will march the valves perfectly (if they reach!)

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received ...

Be prepared to have to move at least one tail.

--
Cheers,

John.


Thanks all for the useful thoughts and advice. I'm beginning to think that
this will not be quite the straightforward job that I had hoped. I have seen
some 'telescopic' tails in Screwfix's catalogue after someone suggested this
earlier in the thread, so that might be one way of doing it. There a re two
rads in the room, and having the room warm enough has never been a problem,
so I guess I'll just stick with a type 11.

I'll try and find the time to get it off the wall tomorrow, and see if I can
see where it's leaking from. It's only a drip, so I'm guessing a pinhole
failure. If it's not behind one of the fins where you can't get at it, I
might just 'plug' it for now with some epoxy resin, until I get the time,
money and inclination to do a replacement ... :-)

Arfa

On 31/10/2014 09:54, Arfa Daily wrote:
One of the rads in my lounge has developed a leak. It's a single panel
type, seam topped and with a wavy bit of metal at the back. It measures
approx 75 cms across the panel vertically, and 158 cms across the top
water gallery. What 'official' size is this for obtaining a replacement
- or is it even directly replaceable still ? About 25 years old. There
seems to be a distressingly large range of rads around those sizes, but
I would like to get a 'ringer' if possible because I would really like
it to just be 'drop-in' due to current time constraints for DIY. Would
there be any advantage to replacing it with a double panel rad if
someone has one ? Are the fittings still the same sizes now ? I'd hate
to get one and find that the original couplings were some obscure
imperial size, now replaced by some equally obscure metric size.

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received ...


If it's mounted on a stud partition wall, brace yourself for a world of
pain if the bracket positions of any replacement don't match the studs.


--
Cheers, Rob

"RJH" wrote in message
...
On 31/10/2014 09:54, Arfa Daily wrote:
One of the rads in my lounge has developed a leak. It's a single panel
type, seam topped and with a wavy bit of metal at the back. It measures
approx 75 cms across the panel vertically, and 158 cms across the top
water gallery. What 'official' size is this for obtaining a replacement
- or is it even directly replaceable still ? About 25 years old. There
seems to be a distressingly large range of rads around those sizes, but
I would like to get a 'ringer' if possible because I would really like
it to just be 'drop-in' due to current time constraints for DIY. Would
there be any advantage to replacing it with a double panel rad if
someone has one ? Are the fittings still the same sizes now ? I'd hate
to get one and find that the original couplings were some obscure
imperial size, now replaced by some equally obscure metric size.

Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received ...


If it's mounted on a stud partition wall, brace yourself for a world of
pain if the bracket positions of any replacement don't match the studs.


--
Cheers, Rob


Wash your mouth out Rob ! Studs ?! In my lounge ?! Certainly not sir !

Actually, it was built about 25 years ago by a really traditional village
builder. Every wall in the house, downstairs and up is brick and blockwork.
Floorboards not sheets throughout. Suspended floors, honeycomb walls
downstairs. No probs securing anything to walls anywhere ... :-)

Arfa

So. Sighed deeply, fetched the wet plumbing tools, got a cushion to kneel
on, and made a start. Bleed valve open, valves at either end closed. Union
slackened at one tail, and large jug to catch the water. Six jug-fulls later
....

It finally stopped so tail union completely undone, and plastic bag
elastic-banded over the end. Same the other end. With help from the
brother-in-law, who's staying with us at the moment, lifted it off the
brackets, and carted it out to the garden. Boy, it's heavy ...

Once in the garden, I had a really detailed look at the back, and there was
absolutely no evidence at all of any pinholes, or water trails. I'm now
pretty sure that the drip was coming from the union, and running along the
bottom of the rad a few inches.. Anyways, set it up in the garden and got
the pressure washer out. Half an hour of intense blasting later, I finally
had water flowing nicely out of both ends, and nice and clear. I pressure
washed the back of it while I was at it. I'm going to leave it outside for
the rest of the day, and then bring it in to the conservatory tonight, and
hopefully refit tomorrow.

Now, the questions. There was no signs of there ever having been any PTFE
tape on either tail union. I'm assuming that it would not be a bad idea to
put some on before reassembling ? Also, why does a fitting like this not
have a fibre washer seal ? I would have thought that would have guaranteed a
good seal, given that the system is operating at fairly high temperatures,
and under a little pressure ?

Arfa

In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
Now, the questions. There was no signs of there ever having been any
PTFE tape on either tail union. I'm assuming that it would not be a bad
idea to put some on before reassembling ? Also, why does a fitting like
this not have a fibre washer seal ? I would have thought that would
have guaranteed a good seal, given that the system is operating at
fairly high temperatures, and under a little pressure ?

Is this the valve to tail fitting? Normally a taper, so a washer wouldn't
help. By all means use some PTFE if it makes you happy - but it shouldn't
really be needed.

If it's the tail into the rad, I'd certainly use PTFE.

--
*IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Arfa Daily wrote:
Now, the questions. There was no signs of there ever having been any
PTFE tape on either tail union. I'm assuming that it would not be a bad
idea to put some on before reassembling ? Also, why does a fitting like
this not have a fibre washer seal ? I would have thought that would
have guaranteed a good seal, given that the system is operating at
fairly high temperatures, and under a little pressure ?

Is this the valve to tail fitting? Normally a taper, so a washer wouldn't
help. By all means use some PTFE if it makes you happy - but it shouldn't
really be needed.

If it's the tail into the rad, I'd certainly use PTFE.

Valve to tail, yes

Arfa

On 01/11/2014 15:23, Arfa Daily wrote:

Now, the questions. There was no signs of there ever having been any
PTFE tape on either tail union. I'm assuming that it would not be a bad
idea to put some on before reassembling ? Also, why does a fitting like
this not have a fibre washer seal ? I would have thought that would have
guaranteed a good seal, given that the system is operating at fairly
high temperatures, and under a little pressure ?

Depends on which end of the tail you are talking about - the bit that
screws into the rad itself, or the end that mates with the rad valve.

The connection to the rad uses a tapered thread, and you need to achieve
a seal on the thread. The modern way is to stick a significant number of
turns of PTFE round the threads of the fitting and then wind it into the
rad until its tight. Older systems would have used sealants like boss
white and possibly some hemp as well.

The end that connects to the valve may do so in several ways.
Traditionally they made use of a metal to metal cone joint - two soft
ish (i.e brass) machined surfaces clamped with a backnut. They make a
seal rather like a compression joint does.

More modern rad valves often simply have a length of 15mm pipe that
sticks out of the free end of the rad tail. The valve itself being a
normal 15mm compression fitting. With these you simply make a normal
compression fitting between valve and rad tail. As with any compression
fitting its a metal to metal fitting that will seal with no need for
washers or 'o' rings etc.

(for avoidance of doubt, rad tail pipe tail. rad tail is the bit that
connects the rad to the valve. Pipe tail is the visible bit of pipe that
connects the valve to the heating primary circuit).

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

The end that connects to the valve may do so in several ways.
Traditionally they made use of a metal to metal cone joint - two soft ish
(i.e brass) machined surfaces clamped with a backnut. They make a seal
rather like a compression joint does.


That's the sort we are talking here. I've never had a problem with one
sealing before. Anyway, today, I hung the rad back on the wall, cleaned up
all the fitting mating surfaces with wire wool, put some PTFE tape on the
threads, just for good measure, and put some liquid PTFE that I had to hand
on the mating surfaces. Whacked it all back up, and turned on the valve at
one end a bit, with the bleed screw open. All ok initially, so quite
pleased. Then I noticed a slight bulge in the paint on the bottom water
gallery, about 3 inches from the tail entry. With sinking heart, I poked it.
Water squished out ... :-(

Forlornly, I hoped that this might be because some water had gotten under
the paint when I had the pressure washer blasting away down there, so I cut
the layers of paint away, and carefully dried it all. One minute ... drip
.... Right where it was originally dripping from, so it must have
previously been running under the paint to the bottom gallery seam, and then
dripping off to the floor. Got a cup brush on the Dremel and cleaned back to
bare metal, and there it was. A tiny pin-prick in the metal that was just
weeping (with the reduced weight of water behind it as the rad was only a
few inches filled.

Shutting the bleed screw was enough to stop it weeping, so I dried it all
again, and had a good poke and a really close examination. Whilst obviously
the integrity of the metal is compromised, and I can't tell the state of it
inside, it did appear to be still solid steel all around. So for the moment,
I have 'gone for it', and done an epoxy resin 'patch'. It's a bodge, I know,
but I haven't got the time (or money) to start replacing rads right now,
particularly if pipe-work mods have to be done to accommodate a modern size.

Just as a matter of interest, before everyone starts screaming that epoxy
resin won't hold, if we were talking Araldite, I might well agree. I use a
lot of two part epoxy in my day to day work, and have been singularly
unimpressed with Araldite Rapid's cure time, and tendency to stay a bit
soft. Recently, I got some generic stuff in a two-part syringe from a local
pound shop of all places. And it is the best I have ever used. It sets
glass-clear in about 5 minutes. After a couple of hours, it is like rock. I
have experimented with trying to get it back off of materials that I have
stuck it to, and it is virtually impossible. I had always doubted the
stories of modern aircraft being largely held together by epoxy resins, but
if this stuff is anything to go by, I've had my mind changed. I'll keep the
group posted on the success (or failure ...!) of my 'repair' ... d;-)

Arfa


(for avoidance of doubt, rad tail pipe tail. rad tail is the bit that
connects the rad to the valve. Pipe tail is the visible bit of pipe that
connects the valve to the heating primary circuit).

--
Cheers,

John.

On 31/10/2014 09:54, Arfa Daily wrote:


Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received ...

Arfa

On my 20 year old radiator I had to use a reducing adapter to match the
new valve I needed to fit. The tail on your older valves may be a larger
diameter than the (threaded) hole in the new radiator that it needs to
fit into.

--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

In article ,
alan_m wrote:
On my 20 year old radiator I had to use a reducing adapter to match the
new valve I needed to fit. The tail on your older valves may be a larger
diameter than the (threaded) hole in the new radiator that it needs to
fit into.

I'm really surprised at that if it's a normal domestic rad. Mine are more
like 40 years old and use exactly the same tails as today's ones. I fitted
all new thermostatic valves recently, and since they were a different make
had to change the tails too.

--
*Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 01/11/2014 23:58, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In ,
wrote:
On my 20 year old radiator I had to use a reducing adapter to match the
new valve I needed to fit. The tail on your older valves may be a larger
diameter than the (threaded) hole in the new radiator that it needs to
fit into.

I'm really surprised at that if it's a normal domestic rad. Mine are more
like 40 years old and use exactly the same tails as today's ones. I fitted
all new thermostatic valves recently, and since they were a different make
had to change the tails too.


Me too, if it's only 20 years old. It was more common to have larger
threads (3/4" or 1" BSP) 40 years or so ago because maybe not all
systems were pumped in those days. When I moved in to this house nearly
40 years ago, a couple of the radiators had 3/4" BSP (I think) threads
with reducing bushes in them to enable normal 1/2" BSP tails to be used.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

In article ,
Roger Mills wrote:
I'm really surprised at that if it's a normal domestic rad. Mine are
more like 40 years old and use exactly the same tails as today's ones.
I fitted all new thermostatic valves recently, and since they were a
different make had to change the tails too.


Me too, if it's only 20 years old. It was more common to have larger
threads (3/4" or 1" BSP) 40 years or so ago because maybe not all
systems were pumped in those days. When I moved in to this house nearly
40 years ago, a couple of the radiators had 3/4" BSP (I think) threads
with reducing bushes in them to enable normal 1/2" BSP tails to be used.

Pumped was the norm in the '70s. Microbore was also in vogue then. You'd
have to go back a decade or more before that for gravity circulation to be
common.

--
*I like cats, too. Let's exchange recipes.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Roger Mills wrote:
I'm really surprised at that if it's a normal domestic rad. Mine are
more like 40 years old and use exactly the same tails as today's ones.
I fitted all new thermostatic valves recently, and since they were a
different make had to change the tails too.


Me too, if it's only 20 years old. It was more common to have larger
threads (3/4" or 1" BSP) 40 years or so ago because maybe not all
systems were pumped in those days. When I moved in to this house nearly
40 years ago, a couple of the radiators had 3/4" BSP (I think) threads
with reducing bushes in them to enable normal 1/2" BSP tails to be used.

Pumped was the norm in the '70s. Microbore was also in vogue then. You'd
have to go back a decade or more before that for gravity circulation to be
common.


My brother-in-law is just in the process of buying a new-build that he went
to inspect last week. It's at first fix right now, and he says that all of
the water pipe-work is in plastic, and that it looks as though the central
heating is in a very small bore as well. I was really quite surprised at
both of those. He also discussed fitting a loft ladder with them, but they
said it was not recommended as the roof structure was not really intended to
support the weight of stored items, nor a person up there. He reckons that
the roof trusses are made from the thinnest wood he has ever seen. He
estimates that they are about half the thickness of the ones that you can
see in my garage roof. Based on that, you would have to say that this is one
of those 'calculated to just adequate' situations, so it makes you wonder
just how much over-spec is allowed. I guess that it must be enough to cope
with snow load, but what about adding solar panels to that as well ?

Arfa

"alan_m" wrote in message
...
On 31/10/2014 09:54, Arfa Daily wrote:


Any advice and general thoughts on the job, most gratefully received ...

Arfa

On my 20 year old radiator I had to use a reducing adapter to match the
new valve I needed to fit. The tail on your older valves may be a larger
diameter than the (threaded) hole in the new radiator that it needs to fit
into.



Still working with the existing rad at the moment ...

Arfa