I was planning on removing a radiator to do some decorating, and after some discussion with my Dad, this seemed fairly straightforward.
What I didn't count on, was both the valve caps on my radiator being absent, and them both looking identical. I've no idea which is the one you use to turn up the radiator and which is the lock valve'; although I'm assuming the thermostat one was on the right. Turned both of them off as far as they went, but it turned out that one of them -the one I think is the lock valve- was actually opened as far as it could go, and I didn't realise this until I checked there was no leakage from the central heating system this morning. Obviously water gushed from the valve and now my central heating pressure is reading zero.
I've no idea how you let new water into the system, but given enough time I can have a look round.
In the meantime:
1) I've switched the central heating system off at the boiler. Is it still safe to use the hot water from the combi boiler? The valve I assume to be the lock valve is still leaking, and I can't get hold of any blank ends.
2) Given that I've no previous central heating experience, is there anything important to know about adding new water into the system?
3) We're not using the central heating at the moment, so I'm thinking of just replacing the valves with no markings for proper ones. Would it be better just to leave alone, wait until the decorating is finished and then drain the system to replace the valves?
What I didn't count on, was both the valve caps on my radiator being absent, and them both looking identical. I've no idea which is the one you use to turn up the radiator and which is the lock valve'; although I'm assuming the thermostat one was on the right. Turned both of them off as far as they went, but it turned out that one of them -the one I think is the lock valve- was actually opened as far as it could go, and I didn't realise this until I checked there was no leakage from the central heating system this morning. Obviously water gushed from the valve and now my central heating pressure is reading zero.
I've no idea how you let new water into the system, but given enough time I can have a look round.
In the meantime:
1) I've switched the central heating system off at the boiler. Is it still safe to use the hot water from the combi boiler? The valve I assume to be the lock valve is still leaking, and I can't get hold of any blank ends.
2) Given that I've no previous central heating experience, is there anything important to know about adding new water into the system?
3) We're not using the central heating at the moment, so I'm thinking of just replacing the valves with no markings for proper ones. Would it be better just to leave alone, wait until the decorating is finished and then drain the system to replace the valves?