Bathroom Towel Radiator only gets luke warm but inlet pipe is VERY hot?

I've got a problem towel rail in the house and I've been scratching my head what the problem might be.

The towel rail only gets luke warm at best and there are no colder or warmer patches on the rail itself.

All of the other radiators in the house are roasting.

I've checked for an air lock by using the bleed valve, no air came out, just water. I've removed the towel rail and flushed it out, first with a hose, then with my pressure washer for good measure. A fair bit of black sludge came out, which I thought would have solved the problem.

After I re-fitted the rail and connected everything back up, the rail still only gets luke warm.
What I did notice then though, was the inlet valve was VERY hot to touch, so it would seem the water isn't being allowed to flow through the rail as it should. The outlet valve is only luke warm to touch. (Both inlet and outlet valves are fully open).

There is an electric heating element fitted on the inlet side - could this be the problem and causing restricted flow?

The towel rail is 13 years old.

Any help appreciated! Thanks

The outlet side that's lukewarm, appears to be restricted, sort that and you should have fully working towel rail

I'd be very surprised if those flexible hoses are designed for central heating temperatures, and those isolation valves are almost certainly not designed for central heating.

oldbuffer said:

I'd be very surprised if those flexible hoses are designed for central heating temperatures, and those isolation valves are almost certainly not designed for central heating.

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Fitted by a general builder who did the bathroom refit!
What pipes and isolation valves would you recommend?

The Novice said:

The outlet side that's lukewarm, appears to be restricted, sort that and you should have fully working towel rail

Click to expand...

Yes there is a slight kink on closer inspection. I'll see if I can fix that.

RainbowWrighty said:

Fitted by a general builder who did the bathroom refit!
What pipes and isolation valves would you recommend?

Click to expand...

Copper and no valves needed

Those flexi`s have a rubber hose inside which is not designed for heating temp`s. They could burst at any time and being small bores the water isn`t flowing through the system as it should.

Thanks for the replies.

Oh dear, that's why builders should build and leave it at that.

Neither the flexi pipes nor the ISO valves are designed for CH chemicals/corrosion. They need to come out and be replaced with normal pipe ASAP.

Update:
I replaced the flexi pipes and ISO valves at the weekend with copper pipe work and the towel radiator now gets roasting hot. The wife is happy - no more cold bathroom.

Thanks for the replies!