Combi drain down and refill

[deckerd]

Can anyone give me some pointers on the following problem. I am replacing the radiator in my bathroom and through the course of taking the old one off the wall etc I have found one of the pipe elbows under the floor is leaking so I have no easy way of swapping the radiator over using the old connections and avoiding draining down the system.

I have a Gloworm Swiftflow 80 and I am going to have to drain it down to fix the leak and fit the new pipes, rad etc.

How do I do this? and more importantly how do I re-fill the system once it is all repaired without shelling out for a plumber.

I am pretty sure I just turn the boiler off and drain the rads using the draincock on the downstairs radiator, work on the pipes upstairs and then refill the system using the filling loop to about 1 bar also bleeding the air out the rads as well.

Is there anything else I need to consider when refilling/restarting the boiler etc?

Thanks

 

[ij56long]

I've drained down and refilled my system several times to fit new radiators etc and have used your method. I normally close off all the radiators i can with both valves either side (so the water stays in the radiator to save time) then drain the pipes down.

When i'm done i refill using the filling loop upto about 1 bar, go and open up all the valves again, bleeding the radiators as i go, and just keep topping up the water to about 1 bar until it's completely refilled and you've bled all the air our of the system.

Then i kick the boiler back in, let it run for a few minutes while it autovents air out of the boiler itself and just top it up to about 1.5 bar once its settled itself.

 

[ChrisR]

Wouldn't argue with that. Keeping the water in the rads keep your inhibitor too, though putting more in - say through a bung at the top of a rad or towel rail, would be a good idea.

If I've got a few rads to bleed I fill to 2.4bar or so - it's much quicker! If you're left with too much pressure when all's done , you know where the drain cock is.

 

[deckerd]

thanks for your advice today, I am going to give it a go tonight as my house is getting cold without heating

Cheers[/list]