Radiator Valve Fitting Identification

[phykell]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what the following radiator valve fitting is?



It's located between the radiator and the lock shield valve - it seems to have a screw in the top but I've no idea what it's for as I've never seen one before.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[John D v2.0]

Looks like a drain off tail for the radiator itself, so you can attach a house to the bottom, and open the valve on the top.

 

[Hot&Cold]

Can anyone tell me what the following radiator valve fitting is?

To the left is a drain off fitting.These can be fitted as an option to the standard radiator nut/connection.

Why do you ask ? some numpty has damaged the plastic top cover and started to paint the chrome lockshield valve.

If you want to replace the damaged plastic top cover,you can but the manufacture name is stamped around the top screw (thou it looks like a pegler terrier product).

 

[phykell]

Thanks for the replies

I did suspect it was something like that but assumed it wasn’t as it doesn’t look like there’s much to attach a hose to. I wouldn’t like to drain more than the one radiator with it.

Unfortunately, it’s an upstairs radiator and there doesn’t seem to be any drain-off for any of the downstairs radiators. Two were removed at some point so I’m guessing one of them may have originally had a drain-off.

I need to drain the system due to an issue with a towel radiator valve so I’ll fit a proper drain-off then.

 

[dilalio]

Thanks for the replies

I did suspect it was something like that but assumed it wasn’t as it doesn’t look like there’s much to attach a hose to. I wouldn’t like to drain more than the one radiator with it.

Unfortunately, it’s an upstairs radiator and there doesn’t seem to be any drain-off for any of the downstairs radiators. Two were removed at some point so I’m guessing one of them may have originally had a drain-off.

I need to drain the system due to an issue with a towel radiator valve so I’ll fit a proper drain-off then.

Is it a sealed or open vented system?
If former then vacuum in pipework may allow you to change valve without full drain down. If latter then you could put a bung in the feed pipe from the F&E and one in the vent pipe to seal the system and create a vacuum - but don’t forget to remove the bungs after.

 

[John D v2.0]

I need to drain the system due to an issue with a towel radiator valve so I’ll fit a proper drain-off then.

You can get self tapping drain off cocks. Just screw into the pipe then drain and it seals reasonably well round the pipe.
Theoretically you can leave them when you refill, but I just cut out that part of the pipe and fitted a normal drain off afterwards.

 

[John D v2.0]

https://www.screwfix.com/p/self-cutting-drain-cock-type-a-15mm/9543R

 

[phykell]

Thanks - I've bought one of those and there's a YouTube video of a guy demonstrating how to use one. It's a bit ugly though so I agree that replacing it with something a bit nicer is the way to go.

 

[dilalio]

Thanks - I've bought one of those and there's a YouTube video of a guy demonstrating how to use one. It's a bit ugly though so I agree that replacing it with something a bit nicer is the way to go.

Better still... get under the floor and run a drain off pipe from a rad feed to outside and fit a drain cock there. If floors are solid then just tee off through wall to outside.

 

[phykell]

Is it a sealed or open vented system?
If former then vacuum in pipework may allow you to change valve without full drain down. If latter then you could put a bung in the feed pipe from the F&E and one in the vent pipe to seal the system and create a vacuum - but don’t forget to remove the bungs after.

It's an open vented system (cylinder in the bathroom and two tanks in the loft) but I don't feel confident (experienced enough) about relying on a vacuum - the worse case scenario always applies when I'm doing anything

The system hasn't had any maintenance for at least ten years so I think I need to bite the bullet and drain the whole thing if only to run some cleanser through before refilling again and adding inhibitor.

 

[phykell]

Better still... get under the floor and run a drain off pipe from a rad feed to outside and fit a drain cock there. If floors are solid then just tee off through wall to outside.

They are solid floors but that's interesting - how would I tee off through the wall? The house is a really odd example with two rooms having a lower floor than the rest of the house. Unfortunately, none of them are near a door so it's difficult to decide where to place the drain cock - but your suggestion to go through the wall hadn't occurred to me. Is there some kind of fitting I could place on the outside wall as a drain cock for the CH system that wouldn't freeze or fail?

The other thing is that the house has a septic tank so it's a bit awkward deciding how to get rid of the water - if it has got any chemicals in it, it can't be simply dumped into the drain.

 

[dilalio]

Just drill through the wall where the return pipe goes to a lower rad, stick a 15mm copper stub through it and solder a drain cock onto the end of it, tee the other end onto the rad return. It shouldn’t freeze as there is hot water nearby and also room for it to freeze/thaw backwards if it did - not had any problems with this myself but you could always insulate the drain cock with some lagging. As for contaminated water disposal you’d have to look into that further and read the label on the treatments you will be using.

 

[John D v2.0]

In our case I just ran the hose from under the floor out the front door. That drained 95% of the water as the hose never went above the base of the radiators. The last bit from the pipes I needed to drain, but if you didn't that would be enough.
To get the rest I just lifted the hose up and down, then ran the last couple of pints into a bucket.
There's always a way wherever the cock is, making sure it's the lowest point is more important than near a wall.

 

[John D v2.0]

Ps no reason you can't have two, apart from slight cost and slight chance of a leak