HELP! - radiator has come off the wall!!!

[dazp1970]

I really hope someone can help ... my 7yr old son was in the bathroom and trying to get the flannel off the hook for our daughter. He couldn't reach, so he climbed on the towel rail (like a radiator), using it like a ladder, to get to it.

The brackets that hold it to the wall broke and the whole thing came off the wall!

The towel rail flopped on the floor, held on by nothing other than bent, flattened, pipes. My wife lifted it back in place, only then realising the brackets were broken, and then lowered it to the floor again.

At the moment the pipes aren't leaking; despite being bent down, then up, then back down again.

I'm wondering though, the pipes are copper microbore heating pipes, will they survive another move back into position? Or are they likely to crack?

If it's fairly safe to rotate it back into position I can get new brackets myself. If not, I fear an expensive call out to a plumber!

Thanks in advance for any help,

Darrell.[/b]

 

[sooey]

If the pipes are flattened the radiator won't work anyway, sounds like you need a plumber.

 

[dazp1970]

Thanks for the reply.

Despite the pipes being flattened, the radiator still warmed up, so I guess there is water getting through. Which gives me some hope that flipping it back up might just do the trick - but only if the pipe doesn't crack! That's my real concern - I just don't know how flexible copper microbore pipes are.

 

[sooey]

They're classed as soft copper so they probably won't crack, doesn't sound like they'll look very good though.

 

[Agile]

I am very surprised that the brackets apparently broke.

Its usually the fixings into the wall which fail!

Presumably its a pressurised system. If so the reduce the pressure while moving it if you must bend the pipes yet again.

Tony

 

[Charnwood]

I am very surprised that the brackets apparently broke.
Its usually the fixings into the wall which fail!

I've seen HTRs with plastic brackets that look barely capable of surviving the week.

 

[dazp1970]

Thanks for all the replies folks.

The brackets are the plastic type, not the metal 'blade' type ones. As it's a towel rail (chrome ladder type) I guess they use those instead to make it look a bit better.

So, it looks like soft copper, so I might be ok. Point taken about them being a bit flat - I'm wondering if I could re-shape them a bit with pliers once it's on?

 

[Agile]

Good quality metal brackets are chrome plated to look good!

So unless you can replace the 7 y.o. you would be better getting metal brackets!

Tony