Swapping radiator for heated towel rail sanity check

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Just looking for a sanity check here please.

Been given a large towel rail and want to do a direct swap with the radiator in the bathroom, which will require lifting floorboards and adjusting pipes so they come out of the floor at the right location / fit some chrome pipe covers etc.

Central heating is a combi boiler, downstairs. Bathroom is upstairs.

1) Turn all radiators off, using the temp control on one side and locknut on the other. Make a note of how many turns to unlock to previous position.

2) Turn off combi boiler.

3) Drain systwm from the refil loop attachment. I'm guessing I only need to drain upstairs pipes and not entire thing.

Question: how will I know I've drained enough if only wanting to drain upstairs? Or should I let it drain completely to be sure?

Question: is it OK to use the refill loop fitting to drain from as I only need to drain upstairs? I can use the drain attachment on the lowest radiator but hassle re: proximity to actual drain.

4) Remove old rad / cut pipes / install towel rail. Have towels, bowls etc on standby for water left in pipes.

5) refill system until pressure is as it was. Go upstairs, bleed towel rail, go downstairs and refill system if desired pressure isn't met. Keep doing until it is.

6) turn on boiler and check heating works.

7) restore the other radiator settings to before I started

Sound OK? Missing anything? Advice?

Thank you!

Nb: I know a towel rail isn't a radiator. The rad I'm replacing is tiny and on its lowest setting and warm in winter with the window open, it's a warm room. The towel rail is 2m tall and happy with it giving minimal heat to the room as its not needed
 
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You don't have to touch any lockshield valves on rads you are not working on. Just turn off electrics to boiler and drain down from radiator on ground floor ,opening the air bleed valves on upstairs rads ( one at a time) will allow air into the system and aid water to drain. This will empty upstairs rads .you can then proceed to ammend pipework and fit the towel rad. Don't forget to add inhibitor before filling system .after filling system you bleed air from all rads ,and cold fill pressure should be circa 1 bar when you have achieved this.put electric supply back on to boiler and run heating checking for leaks
 
Depending on your filling loop arrangement, it may not be possible to drain from there as it could (should) include an NRV which would prevent backflow, and thus, draining from that point. Easiest thing would be to drain the lot and give it a blast through with the filling loop to help clear your pipes out... Not a guarantee to get all the shiit out but it won't hurt... Add inhibitor on your final fill.
 
You don't have to touch any lockshield valves on rads you are not working on.

Edit: sorry, I was confused when I wrote this. Please ignore.



Terry, he’s previously been advised that turning off all rads at both ends means less water to drain and less dilution of inhibitor when re-filling.

See (multiple?) other threads about this job.
 
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Thanks endecotp. I have not seen any previous posts by the OP on this subject. I personally would not advise a diy er to alter lockshield settings on rads he is not even working on. As we have no idea of the concentration of inhibitor in their system ,or indeed if there is any , I would take the view that advising a full drain down and introducing inhibitor would be his best course of action. Regards Terry.
 
Thanks endecotp. I have not seen any previous posts by the OP on this subject.

Ooops, SORRY, I have confused Bubbbbb with another recent poster! I think it was the style of the post with numbered steps that got me. Apologies everyone.
 
Edit: sorry, I was confused when I wrote this. Please ignore.



Terry, he’s previously been advised that turning off all rads at both ends means less water to drain and less dilution of inhibitor when re-filling.

See (multiple?) other threads about this job.

I took the numbering style from the similar post ad I thought it was a nice format and had some good advice


I'm now now confused, is the consensus drain the entire system and don't touch the locknuts?

Cheers
 
Consensus? Hmmm. You have a choice. Do you think your system would benefit from being fully drained and refilled with clean water (and new inhibitor)? Or do you know that the water is reasonably clean and has a good dose of inhibitor in it?
 
When I brought the house, a new radiator has been added in the extension, so it was drained in the last 3 yrs, as its the lowest rad on the house and has a drain on it. Whether the guy who did it added inhibitor is unknown. Inhibitor looks cheap.
Can't hurt I guess.
Cheers
 
As a tradesman, I would advise customer that I was going to drain down and eyeball the condition of the system water as it drained... Usually collecting some in a bucket so I could show them if it was bad.
If I deemed it poor, I'd attempt to get as much clean water as poss, through the system, using the filling loop, even closing down and opening rads to concentrate the mains flow. I'd then fit the new rad and add some cleaner before refilling the system. I'd run the heating for about half hour and (depending on cleaner used) tell the customer to do same each day for about a week before returning to drain down again and refill with inhibitor. I'd then rebalance the rads as this may well be necessary anyway having changed a small rad to a large towel warmer.
 

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