Very inaccessible nut on radiator

[rosemary_44]

Hi, apologies if this has been addressed somewhere else on the site.

I was wondering if anyone could offer advice on removing a radiator where the nut connecting the radiator to the valve is almost inside the radiator, if that makes sense, with the front and back of the radiator on either side of the nut so it seems impossible to get a spanner round it. Is there some specialist tool for such a thing?

Any tips very would be very gratefully received, how is it best to loosen a very tight nut?

Thank you.

 

[Rob]

Someone must have done it up initially .

Maybe with one of these?

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp;jsessionid=OUL3U3UG3AGU0CSTHZPCFEY?id=13294&ts=42497

 

[JohnD]

why do you want to take them off?

 

[horhay]

I use bahco spanners and have never came acroos a radiator i couldn;t work on. They have very slim jaws for getting in to tight ares. They are quite expensive but well worth the money

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BAHCO-9070-6-...148303172QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220148303172

 

[John M]

why do you want to take them off?

Same reason the chicken crossed the road

 

[JohnD]

not to replace them with new? Not to fit TRVs? Not to scrap then due to rust? Is it to redecorate? Are you draining down the system?

it could make a difference.

 

[rosemary_44]

We want to remove the radiator to decorate behind it, strip off wallpaper and re-plaster, we might try to just rotate it round the bottom pipes and rest it on the floor if possible, if we manage to get it off at all that is! A relative suggested that it might not be worth the hassle, just ask the plasterer to go round it, but the plasterer did say we should remove it. Last time we tried to loosen this nut we ended up slightly deforming the end pipe (before we'd realised you need to hold the valve tightly) and causing a tiny leak, luckily we've managed to fix that, but we're a bit wary about trying again.

Do you think I'd be able to buy either of those spanners at a standard DIY shop?

Thanks very much for all the replies.

 

[JohnD]

It is possible to remove the valve from the copper pipes coming into them from underneath, then you can lift the rad off. However, to do this you would have to drain the system as water will gush out. this would be OK if you were going to fit new rads or TRVs, as you could then fit more convenient valves, and not screw the tails in so far as to be inaccessible.

Probably not what you want this time

 

[ChrisR]

I have a suspicion you're trying to do something you've misunderstood - rad tails are keyed on the INSIDE.
Can you post a pic?

 

[gas4you]

OP as Chris says could need a rad spanner. Is the nut to the valve body 3/4"? If do most of these are internal.

 

[rosemary_44]

Forgive my ignorance, so the tail is the biggish nut that connects the valve horizontally to the radiator? The one I'm having difficulty loosening... What do you mean it's keyed on the inside Chris? And do you mean the horizontal length along the pipe from the nut to the valve Dave? I'll measure that when I get home. Unfortunately don't have a digital camera at the mo - will try to borrow one from a friend and post a picture.

Thanks!

 

[gas4you]

No the actual nut being 3/4".

Look inside the tube on the rad part and if it is hexagonal in shape you need a rad spanner.

 

[rosemary_44]

OK, the nut in question is about 1'' 1/8 from flat bit to flat bit or 1'' 3/8 from pointy bit to pointy bit. The pipes everywhere are cylindrical. I think possibly one of those bahco wrenches might do the trick, with the slim jaws. Still not quite sure what being keyed on the inside means though. But as rob said, this radiator must have been put in somehow in the first place! Although I have been taking more of an interest in radiators than usual in the last few days and all the others I've looked at appear so much easier to access than ours... ah well.

 

[sambotc]

even if it is a keyed in tail, the nut itself would still need to be tightened onto the valve body using a spanner

 

[rosemary_44]

Hello again. Just to let anyone know who reads this topic in the future (or who offered advice) that we were successful! Thank you so much for all the advice. Once we had the right tools, and sprayed a fair amount of WD40 on the offending nut, it came off really easily. Thanks guys!