Radiator advice required

[Anonymous]

HI all

I have just been given two lovely radiators by a neighbour and both will sit in my garage/workshop pretty soon.

I have a downstairs loo next to the garage with a radiator on the adjoining wall.

My question is this. Would it be possible to pipe through the wall by freezing the pipes rather than draining the whole system? I am thinking of freezing the pipes, cutting, fitting a compression type of 'T' joint and then a small valve just inside the garage to isolate the system - I can then pipe up the rads at my leisure

Ta

 

[Philly]

Tony
I've done this a couple of times in the past-only thing to remember is to not have the water hot in the pipes, or you'll have a disaster on your hands! :lol:
I have also cut and capped a pipe with a push-fit connector without freezing the pipe (granted, that was an emergency-I got soaked :wink: )
Go for it feller-beats draining down anyday!
Philly

 

[dedee]

Tony, there is another way.

Switch off the central heating, block the outfeed of your header tank and the expansion pipe that is above the header tank. This effectively stops the water in the heating system.

I have done this a number times when replacing radiators. You can even buy a kit in the sheds that consist of a conical rubber bung to fit the pipes. I use cork, a rag and a wax candle.

Would welcome thoughts of other before you attempt this I would not want to be responsible for a flooded workshop!!

Andy

 

[Les Mahon]

Tony,

I've used all three of the above sugestions at various times, but as philly says the 'cut it and jam on a fitting' solution does involve getting wet!

Deedee's solution works on open systems, but not on closed loop systems.

The only other thing to watch is that the boiler gives out enough BTU's for the two additional rad's

If I was doing it I'd go with what you suggested given that you obviously have the kit to do it!

Les

 

[andrewm]

Tony,

Builders Merchants sell a freezing kit for just this application. You might also want to take a look at some of the newer push-fit connectors and even plastic piping if it is going to make piping up the garage easier. I only use copper in the house but many people use plastic so it should be fine in a garage. Only thing that occurs to me about putting a valve in the system is to make sure that it is of the type that does not constrict the flow otherwise you might get less heat than you expected. The water would probably take an easier route. From memory gate valves open fully.

Andrew

 

[RogerS]

I hear plastic pipe is OK to use

 

[gav]

The only other thing to watch is that the boiler gives out enough BTU's for the two additional rad's

If its an open system I believe there are recommendations for the size of piping you should have upstream as well. Can't find the reference, its a long time since I've done a lot of plumbing, but there is a limit to the number of BTU's 15mm and 22 mm Cu pipe can service.

Gav

 

[RogerS]

Google gives

15mm > max load 6000 watts > at 0.145 l/s > max length 24 m
22mm > 13400 > 0.32 > 36m

 

[Anonymous]

thanks guys

I have 15mm copper pipe at the moment and have done a fair bit of plumbing over the years, so copper will be use in the grarge with sweated elbows etc.

Just need to get the freezing spray and check out some valves to make sure they fully open :lol:

Not sure if the boiler will be up to the job as the house is large and we have loads of rads already :?
If there is a problem, I can always restrict the rads in the workshop more than the others using the return valve on the rad as I only want the garage to be warmish, not neccesarily as hot as the rest of the house - especially when swinging that #7 around <phew, wipes dripping brow>

 

[RogerS]

Some people recommend compression joints? I don;t know which ones are best as I'm not a plumber.

 

[Signal]

A good tip I picked up for emergency plumbing, if you dont have a capping piece but have a compresion joint you can wack that on an a 5 pence piece seals the hole other end perfectly.

Found this out when deocrating the bath room, had a loose floor board and while fixing I saw a length of cable under teh floor. Grabed it and it was live, droped and it arced out on the feed for the rad. Stuck me finger over the hole to stop the spray which resulted in getting both burnt and shocked cos the cable was now sitting in a pool of water :twisted:

Screamed to the missus to turn the electrickery off and to call my dad. He turned up with his tools from work, part of which was an emergency repair kit.

Basically its a long strip of thick rubber tape, you wind it very tightly round the pipe and it self amalgamates and seals the hole giving you time to get get over the burns, electrocution and to mop up. It also has some chemical gunk to repair the pipe but we just went for a proper fix by replacing the damage section.

When we drained the system down to make the fix we couldnt get all the water out no matter what we tryed. So out came the compression joint, in pops the 5 pence piece and away we went. Job done

So glad we have moved now cos gawd knows what other delights that house held and more importantly so glad my dad was about.

Mind you I wished Id of thought about unscrewing the globe light fitting in the ensuite below and emptying it. Would of save the fuse and bang when I put the power back on :lol:

Signal

 

[Philly]

Great story,Sig! :shock:
Electricity AND water-a great combo :lol:
Cheers
Philly