Towel Radiator Help

[siross85]

Hi all,

I've recently had a new bathroom fitted and I decided to finish off by tiling and fitting all the bits and bobs (shower/bath panel etc).

The last job I have to do it fit the towel radiator and I'm struggling. The pipes are too close to the wall to fit the radiator using the supplied brackets. I've spoken to the plumber who set the pipes up and he claims that he left the correct gap and that I must have made the notch in the tile too small.

This is incorrect, the notch in the tile is the exact same size as the notch in the floorboards and there is nowhere near enough play on the copper pipes, without changing the pipes under the floor boards I'd have to put a significant amount of pressure on them to move them from the wall and I don't want to risk a leak!

My question is now, can I fit an elbow or new radiator valve to the pipes to get the radiator to fit? Taking the tiles up would be the VERY last resort!

Here's a pic:

Any help would be massively appreciated.

 

[footprints]

Apart from raising the floor and altering the pipes which you obviously don’t want to do.

The options would seem to be drain, remove the valves and solder on a couple of obtuse or 90deg elbows to offset forward and to one side, or fit a chrome compression elbow a short bit of tube and an angled valve to do the same not pretty though.

If you really don’t want to remove the valves you could try a couple of street elbows and a short bit of tube using a chrome compression nut and olive at the valve end and half a compression socket at the other end and paint the pipe white, but it will look really pants I‘m afraid! Might be a boxing in job afterwards!

Of course this will also lift the rad up higher.

Sorry no super simple answer I can think of.

Regards,
footprints

 

[chimpboy]

I would drain the system sweat those straight couplings off a pull two tight offsets with two nice new bits of copper to suit, rad might have to be moved up a bit though, hope this helps

 

[Charnwood]

What came first, plumbing or wall tiling?

View media item 58271

 

[danplumb]

Depending on your plumbing skills, if none of the above are possible you could cut the 15mm copper as low as possible, solder a 15mm coupling with 10mm reducer and go up in 10mm which you will be able to bend into an offset to connect into the rad, but again the rad will need to be fitted higher up with 10mm internal compression reducers in the valves or just buy some new 10mm chrome rad valves.

 

[siross85]

What came first, plumbing or wall tiling?

View media item 58271

The plumbing came first and then I tiled the wall.

I've tried to pull the pipe to make it fit but there's too much resistance, making it parallel wouldn't make too much difference and pulling it too far would damage the pipe I think.

Depending on your plumbing skills, if none of the above are possible you could cut the 15mm copper as low as possible, solder a 15mm coupling with 10mm reducer and go up in 10mm which you will be able to bend into an offset to connect into the rad, but again the rad will need to be fitted higher up with 10mm internal compression reducers in the valves or just buy some new 10mm chrome rad valves.

Thanks for the reply, I'm not hugely confident in either soldering or draining the central heating system to be honest. Might be a stupid question but is there any way of doing what I need without soldering or draining the central heating system.

 

[mogget]

Thanks for the reply, I'm not hugely confident in either soldering or draining the central heating system to be honest. Might be a stupid question but is there any way of doing what I need without soldering or draining the central heating system.

Alternatively to soldering you have compression fittings which would look awful to be honest.

The system will need draining to make any alterations.

 

[CBF]

those are the orginal pipes your plumber hasn't altered anything apart from changing the rad valves, if you have paid him to put the pipes ready for a towel rail then i would get him back to change them FOC

 

[footprints]

OK if you are desperate a ½” BSP male to 15mm compression elbow screwed into the rad then a short piece of tube into a 15mm compression to ½” BSP female elbow then the tailpiece from the valve into the female elbow and connect the other end of the tailpiece to the valve use chrome fittings to minimise the look of it and please don’t tell anyone that sees it that it was my idea!

Best wishes,
footprints