Brackets shearing on Electric Towel Radiator - normal?

[stevechtrs]

Hello,

Two years ago, I had a large electric towel radiator installed in my bathroom by a certified plumber. The chrome radiator is fastened to our (plaster) wall by 4 brackets, and is hooked up to the central heating. The radiator can therefore become warm either through the central heating or by switching only it on via the mains.

The radiator performed well for 2 years, but a short while ago we noticed that the the 2 lefthand brackets have sheared (broken) and the radiator was being held up by only the 2 right hand brackets. Neither the wall, nor the radiator itself has suffered any structural damage.

The plumber that installed the radiator says that (in his 16 years of experience) he has never seen this happen. He is of the opinion that we have hung unusually heavy objects off the left side of the radiator. This is completely untrue - unless you consider towels to be unusually heavy objects as that is all that we have hung off the radiator.

Has this happened to anyone else? If so, what caused it to happen?

Regards,
Stevechtrs

 

[seco services]

well i wouldn't say it was a plumber/install problem if thats what your getting at.

 

[JohnD]

unusually heavy objects

including children?

Or if the brackets are broken but the screws are not pulling out of the wall, the brackets must have been strangely weak. Usually the screws will pull out under excessive load.

Sometimes people climb on things e.g. to change lightbulbs or get at high shelves. They don't always admit it.

 

[seco services]

i would be inclined to say its been stood on being both on one side.

 

[stevechtrs]

well i wouldn't say it was a plumber/install problem if thats what your getting at.

I dont know what to think to be honest. If we had hung something stupidly heavy off the towel rack, there would be damage to either the rack or the wall - and there isn't. On the other hand, I can't think how an installation mistake could have caused this. I am hoping that someone can shed some light on this.

As for children, we have a 2 year old who is unable to reach the top of the radiator, so that can be ruled out.....

The top of the radiator is about 2-3 feet from the ceiling, its not possible to stand on it.....

 

[JohnD]

we have a 2 year old who is unable to reach the top of the radiator

I once knew a child who climbed on something. He started at the bottom.

 

[seco services]

have you got a pic of the damage etc.

surely the installer knows where he got it or what make it is and phone them.

 

[stevechtrs]

we have a 2 year old who is unable to reach the top of the radiator

I once knew a child who climbed on something. He started at the bottom.

Its possible our child climbed the radiator, but I would say very unlikely. She is quite cautious and would only have made the attempt if she saw something interesting to reach. She doesnt find towels to be very interesting, does not have easy access to this bathroom, and in any event is unlikely to have climbed simply for the challenge.

The plumber has ordered replacement brackets from the manufacturer. If the problem really was faulty brackets, then this should resolve the problem - though it seems unlikely that the 2 on the left side would both be faulty. I have started this chat to see if anyone else had a different explanation, or whether this was a common problem - and that does not appear to be the case. That is good to know, so thanks for the input.