Radiator Fitting

I am pleased to report that the foray into the world of Plumbing Suppliers in Reading, early on a Wednesday morning, proved successful and I returned home with the required radiator, 3m of 15mm copper tube and a selection of solder ring fittings. I usually use the plain fittings and add the solder myself, but the restricted access under the floor made me play it safe.

The radiator was hung Wednesday evening, and the plumbing done Thursday morning, before a trip to Bracknell for an afternoon meeting.

The first job was to shutdown all the existing radiators to avoid draining too much water from the system. The TRV's are simply closed by hand, and the lockshield valves wound shut with a spanner, counting and recording the turns on each one in order to that the correct balance could be restored once the system was back up and running.

With the system drained, my valiant helper (thanks Dad) then painstakingly cut back the existing pipes with a hacksaw. I should explain that this radiator is a replacement for one that was already in this room before, hence the pipe runs are already just under the floor, but capped off, and in the wrong place. With residual water running down his arm, Dad finally severed the two pipes. He had to use a hacksaw because the pipes are very close to the underside of the floorboards, being previously notched into the joists. I should also explain that we are working from below here, due to the absence of the ceiling in the downstairs room.

We then cut the holes in the floor and one in a joist and ran through the new pipework. With the asbestos (?) mat tucked up against all the timberwork, the solder joints were made for the first run. Unfortunately some residual water in the old pipe meant that one of the joints simply did not make, so it had to be pulled apart and the water literally blown back down the pipe. The second attempt proved successful. Similarly pipework was connected to the other end of the radiator and the system tentatively refilled. All looked well. Unfortunately it was by now time to leave for work, so my helpers departed and I went to change. Unfortunately, on my quick check prior to departing I noticed a small weep where the lockshield valve had been screwed into the radiator, and another where a 90 degree angle connector turned the horizontal pipe run up through the floor. I was never sure whether this joint had made properly as it was very close to the floorboards, hence I was a bit tentative with the blow-torch (despite the evidence of the scorch marks), and also could not see if the solder ring had capilarried out of the junction - a good sign of success. Obviously it hadn't. I quickly drained the system once more, and left for work.

On returning in the evening, I dropped both ends of the pipework out of the rad and refitted the TRV and lockshield, this time using more turns of PTFE tape on the threads. A conversation with colleagues indicated I was being a little frugal with it, so this time I went for 4 full turns, rather than the meagre 2 I had wound on before. With the feeds disconnected, I cut through the horizontal run to the leaking 90 deg angle fitting, dropped it down out of the floorboard, and made the joint properly. A straight connector was then used to reconnect the two cut ends in a place much more accessible for the blowtorch.

Next step was to refill the system once more, and bleed the air out of the radiator, allowing it to fill. This was fine - all leaks apparently now fixed. Sparking up the boiler, however, was a little problematic. The burner would light, then immediately go out again. I figured it could only possibly be as a result of air in the system, as this was the only thing I had changed. I located the installation manual, which told of the overheat reset button, and the 4 bleed points within the boiler itself. A quick dismantling job, and air bled from the boiler and all was well. The radiator warmed up beautifully as, thankfully, did all the others, once their valves were opened. This part did worry me slightly as the old TRVs are, well, old, and we have had a few problems with them sticking in the "off" position.

There is a slight negative ending to this apparently happy story. I detected a slight weep one one of the old joints in the pipe run, which has probably broken free as a result of the abuse we have applied to it during the cutting and soldering of the new runs. It really isn't too bad, so I have decided to leave it like this until the next time the system is drained down. Temporarily I have installed a small strip of plasterboard between the joists, on which sits a little pot to catch the drips :

You can see the proximity of the pipework to the underside of the floorboards, and the consequent scorching. When (if) I do the rest of the plumbing, the pipe runs will be made through holes in the centre of the joists, hence giving much more clearance for when they turn vertically upwards.

The finished radiator looks like this :

One of the problems I thought I was going to face was not knowing which pipe was feed and which was return. When I last did central heating installation (late 80's) this was important because TRVs only worked on the feed. Fortunately most these days are bi-directional, so it doesn't matter which end of the radiator you put them.

You may also have noticed that the carpet is fitted, as is the mahogany door threshold, and that the architrave and skirting sport three coats of "Danish Oiled". Dad gave me some quality 400-grade sandpaper, which is much finer than anything I have used before, and it produces a really smooth finish between coats, without leaving scratch marks, and without stripping off the coat of oil that has just been applied. Just enough to flatten off the raised grain.

Here is the view looking the other way, which shows the window cill, now fixed in place (battens to create level fixing points, gripfill and heavy weights to do the fixing) and electrical sockets (yes, the electrician came to 2nd-fit and connect up just this room.

So, of the 6 point plan prior to carpet fit, from a couple of posts ago, I scored 4 out of 6. No curtain rails, and no door. My daughter has still moved in though.......

One final negative from the weekend - one of the pairs of double doors is letting in water when the rain is driving in from the west :

The fitters will need to be invited back. It is not clear how it is getting in, though there does seem to be a slight puddle on the cill outside.

Final finally, as I like happy endings, the crew to build the balcony should be arriving on site tomorrow.....