Cast Iron Radiators - What is correct way to connect them?

[davidmorrisuk]

Can someone advise on this.

I have several reclaimed cast iron rads in my house.

They are connected with the hot entering at the bottom and exiting at the top of the other end of the rad.

A plumber told me that they are on the wrong way round and that they should be connected with the hot entering at the top and exiting from the bottom at the other end.

At present only 2/3 of the rad is getting hot and he says that this is the reason.

Is this correct?

 

[Nige F]

YES

 

[davidmorrisuk]

thanks, I contacted the plumber who installed them to ask if he would be prepared to reverse the connections to them. He said he would charge for this and was not prepared to correct his work free of charge.

Should a decent plumber know which way round to connect these?

 

[JohnD]

A CH pro ought to know that, I wonder if he made a mistake identifying the flow orientation? Pretty poor if he won't come back and do the job properly. Self-employed? How did you choose him?

If they're all like that, it might be easier to reconfigure the pipes to cross over the CH feed and supply near the pump. I wouldn't throw any more money at the original person, though, unless someone else changed the pump direction after he'd seen it..

 

[chrishutt]

You could drop the return connections from the top tapping to the bottom tapping. It might be relatively simple to do, compared to the alternatives.

As for your installer, he has clearly made a major mistake and you are entitled to expect him to return to correct it FOC. Was he legit? e.g. member of IPHE, reg. with Corgi? If not, perhaps you should learn a lesson from this.

 

[Nige F]

I`m a member of nothing but The Guild of Crafty Mastermen ....and I knew the answer I also know how to take apart and extend Cast rads...cuz I`ve done that too