Removing Radiators

[kimbers]

A fairly easy task to most on here.

We're currently decorating and i need to remove our living room radiators so we can paint & fit new skirting boards ( eventually the plumber will be refitting new radiators).

I assume it's fairly straightforward, i.e. closing off the return on one side and closing the valve on the other.

We have thermostatic valves on our radiators. Our plumber said that some thermostatic valves do not shut off fully so i shouldn't necessarily expect that to be able to close off the in-pipe. If this is the case, i'll need to remove the thermo valve in its entirity and cap the pipe with a stop end.

Has anyone else come across this with thermostatic valves?

 

[linkyplumb]

Most trvs come supplied with a cap that allows you to isolate the valve, when needed.The head of the trv is unscrewed, and the cap replaces the head, screwing the pin down, and thus stopping the flow.
Not sure if you can buy them as an individual item, as the ones I have had have come from trvs that I have fitted.

What trvs are they?
Does the number display show a zero or just a frost sign?

Hope this helps

Graham

 

[kimbers]

Thanks Graham, thats helpful.

Not sure what make of valves they are. I do have the valve boxes in the garage which were left after we had our new boiler fitted last year. I noticed when i looked in the boxes last year there were some leftover bits in there, possibly the caps so i'll take a look.

I'm pretty sure the valves go down to the frost symbol, i don't think there's an off setting as such.

 

[kimbers]

These are Boss Supreme TRVs.

They come with a plastic cap which screws on instead of the thermostatic top and push down the valve down (i think).

However it also appears these have a 0 'shutoff' setting. Which should do the trick.

 

[linkyplumb]

If there is a zero on there then they should shut off fully.There might bhe a little palstic pin, inserted into the side of the trv head, near the bottom.It is there to stop the valve being turned off altogether.

Graham

 

[vulcancontinental]

Be wary of the '0' - I've known valves marked this way which will open below this number. Honeywell are the only ones I've been told are off when at '0' but I still use the manual cap having seen what happens when things go wrong. Use the manual cap if you can find it.

 

[Red_Man]

Make sure when you're emptying the radiators to open the bleed at the top left/right to allow air in, makes it much easier.

Once it's empty, close the bleed, flip the rad upside down to stop dirty water dribbels on your floor.