Pipe freezing machines for radiator pipes

[okeydokey]

I wish to change some radiator valves to TRV and replace a radiator.
Had first quote, £450 , the radiator is only 700 x 700 standard wickes or suchlike.
You can hire a pipe freezing machine for about £80 for a day. Anyone used one? Must be better than a £20 aerosol version when you have several pipes to freeze. Also saves an entire system drain down
Must make the job quicker for a tradesman as well. Do they use them?

 

[Bingy man]

Well in over 40 years in the heating and plumbing industry ive only ever used the aerosol type can once with disastrous results ( two flooded flats ) with no access to the ground floor flat as they were at work . A friend of mine uses freezing equipment but this is for hotels large commercial buildings with 40 + radiators and large bore pipe work. Assuming you have a combi boiler drain the whole system and then take your time to carry out your repairs etc . Open vented ( tank fed) systems can be ( bunged) but this too has its risks . IMHO drain the system completely, carry out the necessary repairs, add a litre of system inhibitor ( sentinel, fernox etc and refill system. £450 is a bit high but my old company-b-gas would charge you around £850-£1150 for that type of job -the drain down alone was £191.00 when I left 18 months ago .

 

[Sideways]

I used the arctic freeze kit a year back when I needed to cut and cap a 10mm flow and return as part of removing a radiator from my house central heating. It worked fine.
Don't skimp on the freezer. The kit that I used came with a screw valve and a spring balance, foam lined nylon sleeves that velcro around the pipe and skinny flex pipe to carry the freezer from can to point of use. You suspend the can from the balance so that you can see the weight change as the freezer is used up. Turn the gas on and let it run into the foam sleeve until you have used up the recommended amount for the size of pipe. In my case, about half a 400g can.
Not cheap but saved a lot of draining down for the sake of just two stubs which I cut and capped off with push fits. Freezer spray works out cheaper online and if you buy 2 or 3 cans at a time.

Obviously it helps to do all this when the system is cold so I just switched off the heating at the end of the day. It had all night to cool and I did the job in the morning.

 

[Fergie 307]

For a small job like sideways fair enough. I don't think it's going to be much good for what you want to do. Just drain it down, probably not a bad idea anyway if it hasn't been done for a few years. And as Bingy Man says, dont forget to put a decent inhibitor in. When I did ours I put in quarter turn ball valves with a regular push fit hose connector at the lowest points on flow and return, makes draining and refilling much easier.

 

[Sideways]

That's a good idea.
During maintenance, I've put full bore ball valves in flow and return at a couple of places so I can isolate the back or front of the house from the "core". This lets me drain part of the system without losing all of the heating.

 

[gregmcateer]

We've got one - works really well and saves time

 

[2sheds]

I recently moved the towel rail in our bathroom and used the Arctic freeze spray. The towel rail was on plastic 10mm. It took a lot of freeze spray, a 300ml or 400ml can on each pipe, but it did work and I managed to add the bits I needed to be able to extend the pipework. I wasted a can at my first attempt (didn't use enough) so it probably would have been cheaper to hire an electric freeze kit, but the arctic stuff does work well as long as you use enough of it (twice as much for plastic compared to copper) and leave it a good 10 minutes for plastic.

HTH

Steve

 

[Bingy man]

A few comments on using it for 10mm pipe but try it on a 22 or 28 mm copper pipe and it gets ugly and I’m sure expensive. Then something goes wrong and the job takes longer than expected and all this time the ice plug is thawing out . Get the timing wrong and it’s a right royal mess on your hand or should I say your floor .

 

[Fitzroy]

I’ve always just let the pressure out of my combie system and then with all vents closed worked on the system. With the system flat and ‘air locked’ I’ve found I can cope with the water that drains out with a few cloths whist I cap off the open end.

I have a range of blank ends with compression fittings on them, I install these on the open ends. Does that make sense?

Most of my floors are wooden so fairly resistant to a bit of water, wouldn’t do the same on a light carpet mind.

Fitz.

 

[Dave Moore]

I’ve always just let the pressure out of my combie system and then with all vents closed worked on the system. With the system flat and ‘air locked’ I’ve found I can cope with the water that drains out with a few cloths whist I cap off the open end.

I have a range of blank ends with compression fittings on them, I install these on the open ends. Does that make sense?

Most of my floors are wooden so fairly resistant to a bit of water, wouldn’t do the same on a light carpet mind.

Fitz.

Just use the push on cap ends is easier than compression.

 

[Bristol_Rob]

If you are on a meter I understand.

If you are not, then drain the system and work with empty pipes.