Short version of long story:
We live in a house built in 2000 and all the CH (including increasingly cranky boiler) dates from then.
Over the winter we had cause to bleed the radiators and all seemed well. One of our rooms is over a public passageway. One day a neighbour came and said, "You do know there's water dripping from your floor onto the passage, don't you?" We didn't - it was the spare room and the leak was on the radiator behind the bed and the spread of damp along the carpet, under the storage boxes had gone unnoticed.
Result: ruined carpet, damp chipboard floors, mould on walls etc etc. Insurance claim necessary.
The very first thing we did was to check the radiator valve, which still appeared to be tight. Called in plumber who said, "Probably grit in valve." - he bled it again, waited a couple of minutes and pronounced it sound.
Months later, after delay whilst we took the opportunity to change the DG, we had re-decorated the room and expected the carpet-fitter next am. Home help, just before she left said, "You do know there's water coming out of that radiator, don't you?
Cancelled carpet, called plumber, who said, "No problem." He isolated radiator, removed leaky valve and wrapped PTFE tape round the screw thread and declared the valve mended. That was a week ago and there's still no sign of leakage and the small spot of damp on the chipboard has dried out. But that was just one week - the last time it took the valve nearly 6 months before it gave way again.
I can't wait another 6 months to get that room up and running - I need it for long-stay visitors by July, which means getting the carpets down etc asap.
BUT I don't want to have the new carpets down only to have the radiator go again. One suggestion has been that I get a new radiator. I'm fairly sure that the one I've got is a Myson Type 22 - still listed on their product sheet.
So, should I play safe and get a new radiator, or would that bring its own problems?
Can the PTFE be trusted to do its job?
Does 2 leaks in one valve suggest that the others may be unreliable?
How long should I expect a radiator to last?
This is another post from someone who does NOT do DIY, but doesn't even know what to tell the professionals to do.
We live in a house built in 2000 and all the CH (including increasingly cranky boiler) dates from then.
Over the winter we had cause to bleed the radiators and all seemed well. One of our rooms is over a public passageway. One day a neighbour came and said, "You do know there's water dripping from your floor onto the passage, don't you?" We didn't - it was the spare room and the leak was on the radiator behind the bed and the spread of damp along the carpet, under the storage boxes had gone unnoticed.
Result: ruined carpet, damp chipboard floors, mould on walls etc etc. Insurance claim necessary.
The very first thing we did was to check the radiator valve, which still appeared to be tight. Called in plumber who said, "Probably grit in valve." - he bled it again, waited a couple of minutes and pronounced it sound.
Months later, after delay whilst we took the opportunity to change the DG, we had re-decorated the room and expected the carpet-fitter next am. Home help, just before she left said, "You do know there's water coming out of that radiator, don't you?
Cancelled carpet, called plumber, who said, "No problem." He isolated radiator, removed leaky valve and wrapped PTFE tape round the screw thread and declared the valve mended. That was a week ago and there's still no sign of leakage and the small spot of damp on the chipboard has dried out. But that was just one week - the last time it took the valve nearly 6 months before it gave way again.
I can't wait another 6 months to get that room up and running - I need it for long-stay visitors by July, which means getting the carpets down etc asap.
BUT I don't want to have the new carpets down only to have the radiator go again. One suggestion has been that I get a new radiator. I'm fairly sure that the one I've got is a Myson Type 22 - still listed on their product sheet.
So, should I play safe and get a new radiator, or would that bring its own problems?
Can the PTFE be trusted to do its job?
Does 2 leaks in one valve suggest that the others may be unreliable?
How long should I expect a radiator to last?
This is another post from someone who does NOT do DIY, but doesn't even know what to tell the professionals to do.
