Drayton TRV4 valves

[Softus]

Hello Nige

It's so nice to hear from you again, but I'd get my money back on that anger management course if I were you. I'm sure there's time for you to do it before the next episode of Neighbours starts.

S.

 

[grassey]

I have a mixture of Drayton TRV4 and Honeywell radiator valves on my heating system,and I have now had two TRV4 valves where the central pin that opens the valve,has come out a lot further,causing the valve to stay shut all the time(this seems to happen over the summer period when the heating is off).Anybody got any answers as to why or how to cure it or stop it happening to any more?

Am I right in thinking that you've removed the thermostatic head and can see the pin that operates the valve?

If so, and if that pin is at its maximum protrusion, then tapping the pin VERY gently with a hammer, gradually moving it, will free it off. If it got stuck because of a dirty system, then not only do you need to replace the valve but you need to flush the system and use a chemical inhibitor when you re-fill.

Thanks for your posting,but it is not the valve that has failed,but the thermostatic head.The black pin in the middle that pushes the valve pin closed,is much further out than normal,and if you gently push it back in it just springs back out,therefore as soon as you screw the thermostatic head onto the valve it just pushes the valve shut,even with the head set to MAX.
Thanks,Grassey.

 

[Agile]

Good, now we know the fault is in the head! ( Perhaps he needs a shrink? )

The operating black bit is adjusted by rotating the sensing part of the head, the top bit! The adjustment is controlled by end stops to be about 300 degrees of rotation. It sounds as if some of the inner bits have either broken or something has allowed too much rotation to occur.

You may find that you can dismantle the head and see whats happenned inside.

Tony

 

[Softus]

Good idea Agile.

Grassey - as a thought, if the head has failed in a way (or within a period) that you might consider premature, then you might get a favourable response from Drayton if you send the head off to be inspected. No clues, but exactly the same happened to a customer with another brand of TRV, and the manufacturer replaced FOC.

 

[Nige F]

Hello Nige

It's so nice to hear from you again, but I'd get my money back on that anger management course if I were you. I'm sure there's time for you to do it before the next episode of Neighbours starts.

S.

NHS VCR

 

[fatboab]

Thanks to the comments on this thread I managed to free off the brass pin on my Thermostatic Radiator Valve by removing the head and gently tapping around the pin to free it off.

I have cleaned the green/blue residue around the brass pin but was wondering if putting some lube oil on the pin would help to stop it from sticking again?

 

[Softus]

Thanks to the comments on this thread I managed to free off the brass pin on my Thermostatic Radiator Valve by removing the head and gently tapping around the pin to free it off.

Congrats!

I have cleaned the green/blue residue around the brass pin but was wondering if putting some lube oil on the pin would help to stop it from sticking again?

This sounds like a leak, or a previous leak, in which case you'll need to replace the valve to fix it. The pin isn't usually the part that sticks - it's just the part that you can see.

 

[fatboab]

[/quote]This sounds like a leak, or a previous leak, in which case you'll need to replace the valve to fix it.[/quote]

I have checked all around the valve, pipework and carpet and all is dry. May have been a previous leak as you suggest but I will keep my eye on it.

Thanks for your help - much appreciated.

 

[Agile]

Just to give due credance to this web thread, when I went to do a boiler repair recently I jently tapped around the pin of a Drayton TRV.

I advised the client that my experience was that they rarely freed but a web site had suggested they sometimes might. As usual the TRV did NOT free up so I advised he got someone else to replace the TRV.

( We do not replace a single TRV on a champagne coloured carpet, its just not good business sense! )

Tony

 

[ChrisR]

Must be Tony's timorous tapping technique - I've freed more than I can remember by tapping the side of the body of the valve, or the pin inself! Takes a lot of taps sometimes, it's true.

 

[completeamateur]

I took the TRV top off, pushed hard on the pin and it started working for me, it looks as if its leaked in the past so next time I drain the system down I will replace.

 

[eljay]

I am not sure why you are suggesting that?

These TRVs stick during the summer when they stick DOWN in the OFF position.

No end of tapping them jently with a hammer will free them!

And before anyone suggests pulling them with pliars, doing that will just pull the pin out and leave the seat still jammed firmly down!

Doesn't anyone actually work on real heating systems? Perhaps its all these new NVQ2s with no practical experience?

Tony

Hi Agile,

I used to live in a house with Giacommetti TRVs that did this every summer. So did my neighbours.

The suggestion was right. Remove the plastic head and give the pin (That is stuck down!) a sharp little tap down with a hammer. The pin will "rebound" and rise up as if by magic.
I've done this hundreds of times. It always works!

eljay

 

[Softus]

eljay, it seems that you're new to the forum and don't realise that it's bad form to post on an old topic - this one is four months old, very cold and still and even has some mould growing on it

 

[Nige F]

I am not sure why you are suggesting that?

Well, incredibly, you're giving a good impression of being unsure, but the answer is in my posting, immediately after the word "if". Did you get up too early after the hour went back?

.

..........You`ve got to get up early to catch Softus .C`mon Guys....the rest of us mortals know you both know your onions.Let`s not start a Clash of the Titans........ I`m still working my way through the rising damp threads They are beginning to feel like the mycelia(?) of Dry rot

 

[Softus]

Nige - I think you're referring to a "clash" that took place last November.