Help with fitting a towel rail

[budest]

Hey guys,

I am replacing a standard radiator for a towel rail and have hit a snag. The towel rail is 600mm wide but the pipework is 700mm wide. The radiator that came off was also 600mm wide but because it used angled valves they have taken up the additional 10mm.

In the picture that I have suppled the lock shield valve is new and is obviously straight. The right angled TRV valve is what was on the original. Reason I changed the lock shield was because the open/close nip broke on me on the old one so I quickly changed it over before taking this picture.

My guess is that the easiest and cheapest solution is to use angled valves on both sides and then elbow them off into the bottom of the towel rail? Or would that look like a dog's dinner? In time when I get the wet room properly decorated I would like to burry the pipes into the wall, but for now this is a tidy-up job that I still want to look respectable. If possible.

Thanks again in advance.

 

[terryplumb]

Have you also considered how far out from the wall the towel rad will sit ,compared to how far from the wall the pipework is ? Will they line up ?

 

[budest]

Have you also considered how far out from the wall the towel rad will sit ,compared to how far from the wall the pipework is ? Will they line up ?

In short mate, no I haven't. But I now will. Thanks for that.

 

[terryplumb]

In short ,nothing is going to look as good as the pipes in the correct place ,but two angled valves, chrome plated copper pipe ,and chrome plated compression elbows is probably the neatest short term solution.

 

[budest]

OK so one step forward, one step back.

So I bought 2 female to male elbows thinking they'd do the trick but I'm still 50mm shy of the valves.

To clarify,

Distance between centre of valves = 700mm
Distance between centre of elbows = 600mm
Distance between inlets of rad = 550mm

I would have no issues getting a plumber in to sort this right but it's proving quite hard at this time of the year so I need to make it right temporally so I can get the bathroom painted and put back into some workable order.

Given with what I have to work with, how can I sort this pipework out to fit into the towel rail? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[terryplumb]

You need 2 compression elbows 15mm to 15 mm.
Not female to compression like you have .
Some 15 mm copper pipe (chrome plated if you wish)
A few 15 mm olives ,and a couple of 15 compression nuts ,if you don't have any.
You fit a short length of copper ( length to be determined)into the angled valve with olive and nut That takes you the distance towards the rad inlet. Then fit the compression elbow with another short length of pipe going vertically upto the straight rad valve.

 

[budest]

You need 2 compression elbows 15mm to 15 mm.
Not female to compression like you have .
Some 15 mm copper pipe (chrome plated if you wish)
A few 15 mm olives ,and a couple of 15 compression nuts ,if you don't have any.
You fit a short length of copper ( length to be determined)into the angled valve with olive and nut That takes you the distance towards the rad inlet. Then fit the compression elbow with another short length of pipe going vertically upto the straight rad valve.

Smashing info Terry!

I've olives & compression nuts so tomorrow I'll pick with the proper elbows and some chrome pipe.

My fear was that given the short distance to cover that I couldn't get enough pipe to hold between the valve and the elbow. I'll dummy run it tomorrow before putting it all together and will update you if successful. If you don't hear back the rad will be in the bin and I will be in the pub

Thanks mate

 

[terryplumb]

By my reckoning you need around 35 mm of pipe between angled valve and elbow.....depending on how far out from the wall the rad sits.
Good luck.

 

[budest]

Terry, you're a champ mate! All sorted, and perfectly square on the wall to boot.

I used some jointing compound to satisfy my OCD and not a leak to be found. In the end it required 45mm of pipe each side between the valve and the elbow. Grand job all round and I really appreciate your valuable input.

Now just to take it back off the wall and get the decorating done but at least now I have the main issue sorted. I also have some chrome tails and pipe collars to put on at the end to cover up those white pipes. I'll do that once the painting is done though.

Thanks again.

 

[terryplumb]

Jobs a good Un !
Merry Xmas and happy new Rad

 

[budest]

Jobs a good Un !
Merry Xmas and happy new Rad

Same to you and yours