I'm in the process of doing my bathroom up & want to remove the radiator
to tile behind. Can I simply close both valves and remove it?? I ask
this because I have read before on google searches that it may be part
of the 'regulation' for the central heating. My setup from a laymans
point of view is that I have an indirect system. Cold water tank in
loft, smaller ch expansion tank next to it, a hot water cylinder in my
airing cupboard which feeds this radiator in the bathroom. Also of note
is that when I put the hot water on, this radiator alone gets hot with
it. So with this set up am I still ok, at least for a day or two to
remove it and still have heating and being able to have hot water???

Any help from more learned personnel would be very gratefully received,

Regard, Keiron Carroll
--

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Keiron Carroll wrote:

I'm in the process of doing my bathroom up & want to remove the
radiator to tile behind. Can I simply close both valves and remove
it?? I ask this because I have read before on google searches that it
may be part of the 'regulation' for the central heating. My setup
from a laymans point of view is that I have an indirect system. Cold
water tank in loft, smaller ch expansion tank next to it, a hot water
cylinder in my airing cupboard which feeds this radiator in the
bathroom. Also of note is that when I put the hot water on, this
radiator alone gets hot with it. So with this set up am I still ok,
at least for a day or two to remove it and still have heating and
being able to have hot water???

Any help from more learned personnel would be very gratefully
received,

Regard, Keiron Carroll


I assume that this radiator is plumbed in parallel with the indirect coil in
the hot water cylinder, and not in series with it? [If it *is* in series,
removing - or even turning off - the radiator will stop the hot water from
working]. If in doubt, turn off - but don't remove - the rad and make sure
that water still flows through the heating coil in the cylinder.

Assuming that it *is* in parallel, you can safely remove the rad. I'm sure
you're aware that, when you turn off both valves, the rad is still full of
water - and needs to be drained (by cracking each union nut in turn with a
container** and some old towels underneath) before fully undoing the unions.
Take adequate precautions against spilling evil black staining gunge on any
carpets in the vicinity when you drain and remove the rad.

** I find that aluminium foil takeaway food containers are good, because
they can be bent to fit in awkwardly shaped spaces

Have you decided what to do with the radiator brackets? If you remove them,
and fit them back over the tiles, the rad will move out relative to the
orginal wall surface, and you may have to modify the pipework. [It might
also be difficult to get then back in exactly the same position]. If you
leave the brackets in place and tile round them, the rad will go back in the
same place - but the clearance between it and the wall will be reduced by
the thickness of the tiles. This is probably the best option unless this
will leave insufficient clearance.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

Set Square wrote:

** I find that aluminium foil takeaway food containers are good, because
they can be bent to fit in awkwardly shaped spaces

I use a cat litter tray (though a paint roller tray does at a pinch) and
a J-cloth draped over the radiator valve to get the water to run into
the tray. Have a bucket and a little baling container handy so you can
empty the tray out as the radiator's still emptying into it (may not be
needed for a small bathroom radiator).


Have you decided what to do with the radiator brackets? If you remove them,
and fit them back over the tiles, the rad will move out relative to the
orginal wall surface, and you may have to modify the pipework. [It might
also be difficult to get then back in exactly the same position]. If you
leave the brackets in place and tile round them, the rad will go back in the
same place - but the clearance between it and the wall will be reduced by
the thickness of the tiles. This is probably the best option unless this
will leave insufficient clearance.

Well why not check when you're removing the rad whether there's a bit of
play on the pipes so that you know you can bring the whole rad +
brackets out by the thickness of your tiles. Depending how old the
existing rad is you might consider replacing it if you can find a new
one of near enough the same width so you'll be able to get the pipework
to match up with it. Old rads on new tiles + decorations tend to look
tacky unless you do an antiques restoration job on them; a bathroom size
radiator isn't very expensive; and new rads can have better heat output
for the same size as old ones.

"Keiron Carroll" wrote in message
...
I'm in the process of doing my bathroom up & want to remove the radiator
to tile behind. Can I simply close both valves and remove it?? I ask
this because I have read before on google searches that it may be part
of the 'regulation' for the central heating.

Typically your radiator will have two valves, one can be easily turned off and
on for normal use and a lock shield valve which is used to balance the system.

When you turn off the lock shield valve count the number of turns it takes to
close the valve, when you replace the radiator turn the lock shield valve back
on with the same number of turns, that way you wont upset the balance of the
system.

Michael Chare

On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 01:07:13 +0000 (UTC), "Michael Chare"
wrote:

When you turn off the lock shield valve count the number of turns it takes to
close the valve, when you replace the radiator turn the lock shield valve back
on with the same number of turns, that way you wont upset the balance of the
system.

If the number of turns of that lock shield valve is greater than about
1.5 then the possibility exists that the radiator was not balanced
properly. At roughly 1.5 turns the water flow is starting to be
significant and unrestricted.

Just my general rule of thumb - others might disagree.

PoP

Sending email to my published email address isn't
guaranteed to reach me.

Also of note is that when I put the hot water on, this radiator alone
gets hot with it.

Hopefully, this means that the radiator is across the flow and return of the
unzoned pipework before the zone valves. Two things:

1. It could be inline from the boiler. This is very unusual, and would mean
that removing the radiator would prevent the whole system working.

2. The radiator could be acting as a permanent bypass. If you have an S-Plan
system (separate hot water/heating zone valves) with pump overrun, then this
might defeat the overrun system. You may, however, have an alternative
bypass, or the boiler may not require a bypass.

Christian.