As my upstairs bathroom was having a towel rail fitted and the radiator removed, the central heating was drained to the appropriate level from a radiator in the kitchen. This is a Quinn roundtop radiator, fitted in 1997.
When the system was refilled, there was a whole load of air trapped in the top of this radiator. The bleed valve is on the back and is seized solid. The fitter took off the radiator, we carried it outside for better access but still it wouldn't budge. The two radiator keys he tried looked as if they were going to round off the corners of the peg, long-nosed pliers did nothing, so we stopped there and then and put the radiator back. The bleed valve has never needed to be used in the radiator's 13 year existence, explaining why it's seized.
If I could get an identical radiator [I've downloaded the Quinn catalogue but they don't seem to do a 590mm long one any more--that's what it says on the spec sheet I got with the radiator-- only a 600mm one!], I could install that as a replacement but is the bleed valve arrangement a weakness of this design? Would it be wiser to get a similar (but probably slightly shorter or longer) one from B&Q, say, and get that adapted to fit?
Or is it worth taking the radiator off in the summer (when the heating's not one), soaking the valve with WD40 or penetrating oil and then trying to free the valve? (I could try that anyway but is it likely to succeed?)
Thanks guys!
When the system was refilled, there was a whole load of air trapped in the top of this radiator. The bleed valve is on the back and is seized solid. The fitter took off the radiator, we carried it outside for better access but still it wouldn't budge. The two radiator keys he tried looked as if they were going to round off the corners of the peg, long-nosed pliers did nothing, so we stopped there and then and put the radiator back. The bleed valve has never needed to be used in the radiator's 13 year existence, explaining why it's seized.
If I could get an identical radiator [I've downloaded the Quinn catalogue but they don't seem to do a 590mm long one any more--that's what it says on the spec sheet I got with the radiator-- only a 600mm one!], I could install that as a replacement but is the bleed valve arrangement a weakness of this design? Would it be wiser to get a similar (but probably slightly shorter or longer) one from B&Q, say, and get that adapted to fit?
Or is it worth taking the radiator off in the summer (when the heating's not one), soaking the valve with WD40 or penetrating oil and then trying to free the valve? (I could try that anyway but is it likely to succeed?)
Thanks guys!
