How long is it 'safe' to leave a system drained?

I drained the sealed 12 radiator combi system down completely yesterday,
isolating only the boiler, meaning to add a radiator and replace a
couple of others. However, the job has taken longer than I planned, and
work/drinking commitments mean I've not got that much time. I could lash
it all back together this evening, but that wouldn't get the jobs
finished how I'd like.

Would leaving it until Friday present a high risk of corrosion etc?

--
Cheers, Rob

No.
It would need to be some very fast corrosion if that were to occur I'd
imagine, of course whether it will all actually work is a whole other
question. Strange stuff pipework.
I steer clear when i can!
Brian

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"RJH" wrote in message
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How long is it 'safe' to leave a system drained?

I drained the sealed 12 radiator combi system down completely yesterday,
isolating only the boiler, meaning to add a radiator and replace a couple
of others. However, the job has taken longer than I planned, and
work/drinking commitments mean I've not got that much time. I could lash
it all back together this evening, but that wouldn't get the jobs finished
how I'd like.

Would leaving it until Friday present a high risk of corrosion etc?

--
Cheers, Rob

On 13/03/2018 08:04, RJH wrote:
How long is it 'safe' to leave a system drained?

I drained the sealed 12 radiator combi system down completely yesterday,
isolating only the boiler, meaning to add a radiator and replace a
couple of others. However, the job has taken longer than I planned, and
work/drinking commitments mean I've not got that much time. I could lash
it all back together this evening, but that wouldn't get the jobs
finished how I'd like.

Would leaving it until Friday present a high risk of corrosion etc?

A few days will be fine. Weeks or months might cause more of a problem.


--
Cheers,

John.

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On Tuesday, 13 March 2018 08:04:45 UTC, RJH wrote:
How long is it 'safe' to leave a system drained?

I drained the sealed 12 radiator combi system down completely yesterday,
isolating only the boiler, meaning to add a radiator and replace a
couple of others. However, the job has taken longer than I planned, and
work/drinking commitments mean I've not got that much time. I could lash
it all back together this evening, but that wouldn't get the jobs
finished how I'd like.

Would leaving it until Friday present a high risk of corrosion etc?

If you leave it till your great grandkid works on it, the risk of corrosion is high. Otherwise it's just metals with a bit of corrosion inhibitor.


NT

On 13/03/2018 09:51, John Rumm wrote:
On 13/03/2018 08:04, RJH wrote:
How long is it 'safe' to leave a system drained?

I drained the sealed 12 radiator combi system down completely yesterday,
isolating only the boiler, meaning to add a radiator and replace a
couple of others. However, the job has taken longer than I planned, and
work/drinking commitments mean I've not got that much time. I could lash
it all back together this evening, but that wouldn't get the jobs
finished how I'd like.

Would leaving it until Friday present a high risk of corrosion etc?

A few days will be fine. Weeks or months might cause more of a problem.


Problem for what ?. The copper pipework or the steel rads ?.

If the house is warm and dry anyway surely it wont be a problem.

If there are no thermostatic rad valves then the OP could always
remove all of them, and flush outside in the garden to get rid of
any crud, then just leave upright inside the house.

when I took all mine off I used my Wickes wet-n-dry vac in
blow mode to force-dry them with 'hot' air. After a few minutes
of operation the heat from the motor gives a nice blast of
warm air for drying things.

If you stick them in a work mate at a 30 degree angle you can
them add extra heat with a hot air gun. Once they are dry
plugging them temporarily should allow almost infinite storage
inside a dry property - surely ?.

Do empty copper pipes 'corrode' ??.

On 13/03/2018 15:37, Andrew wrote:
On 13/03/2018 09:51, John Rumm wrote:
On 13/03/2018 08:04, RJH wrote:
How long is it 'safe' to leave a system drained?

I drained the sealed 12 radiator combi system down completely yesterday,
isolating only the boiler, meaning to add a radiator and replace a
couple of others. However, the job has taken longer than I planned, and
work/drinking commitments mean I've not got that much time. I could lash
it all back together this evening, but that wouldn't get the jobs
finished how I'd like.

Would leaving it until Friday present a high risk of corrosion etc?

A few days will be fine. Weeks or months might cause more of a problem.


Problem for what ?. The copper pipework or the steel rads ?.


I was thinking more the rads - but thanks for the replies, all set for
Friday then, I can set to it and get it done properly. Just in time for
summer ;-)

--
Cheers, Rob

On 13/03/2018 15:37, Andrew wrote:
On 13/03/2018 09:51, John Rumm wrote:
On 13/03/2018 08:04, RJH wrote:
How long is it 'safe' to leave a system drained?

I drained the sealed 12 radiator combi system down completely yesterday,
isolating only the boiler, meaning to add a radiator and replace a
couple of others. However, the job has taken longer than I planned, and
work/drinking commitments mean I've not got that much time. I could lash
it all back together this evening, but that wouldn't get the jobs
finished how I'd like.

Would leaving it until Friday present a high risk of corrosion etc?

A few days will be fine. Weeks or months might cause more of a problem.


Problem for what ?. The copper pipework or the steel rads ?.

The steel mostly...

If the house is warm and dry anyway surely it wont be a problem.

The interior of the rads will stay wet for some time. With lots of extra
oxygen about they will rust somewhat given time.

Which also means more free particulates to circulate about once re-filled.

If there are no thermostatic rad valves then the OP could always
remove all of them, and flush outside in the garden to get rid of
any crud, then just leave upright inside the house.

when I took all mine off I used my Wickes wet-n-dry vac in
blow mode to force-dry them with 'hot' air. After a few minutes
of operation the heat from the motor gives a nice blast of
warm air for drying things.

Overkill for a couple of days I would have thought?


If you stick them in a work mate at a 30 degree angle you can
them add extra heat with a hot air gun. Once they are dry
plugging them temporarily should allow almost infinite storage
inside a dry property - surely ?.

Do empty copper pipes 'corrode' ??.

You tend to get more galvanic corrosion on copper (plus a bit of
verdigris) - so its more likely to happen when there is an electrolyte
in them. Air is probably less of a problem unless there is also lots of
sludge that might get a chance to "set" in place.


--
Cheers,

John.

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

On 13/03/2018 08:04, RJH wrote:
How long is it 'safe' to leave a system drained?

I drained the sealed 12 radiator combi system down completely yesterday,
isolating only the boiler, meaning to add a radiator and replace a
couple of others. However, the job has taken longer than I planned, and
work/drinking commitments mean I've not got that much time. I could lash
it all back together this evening, but that wouldn't get the jobs
finished how I'd like.

Would leaving it until Friday present a high risk of corrosion etc?

The fresh air in steel rads may cause some corrosion, but it will be a
miniscule amount - the surface area of the steel is big, the amount of
available oxygen is small, and even if it were all used up, won't
readily be replaced, even with the bleed valve open.

Cheers
--
Clive