Removal Of 60's Radiator Fittings

[novaf4]

Well, this hasn't been much fun but it has a happy ending. Thanks to Dilalio I bought this today as luck would have it for a discounted price at my local store...

The second step up on the tool was the correct fit but it needed whacking in with a hammer to get it all the way on.

Using all my strength it started to turn slightly but then part of one of the lugs snapped. Fortunately the rest held and I managed to get the fitting off. One down and one to go.

Unfortunately on the second rad one of the lugs snapped off completely just as the thing was starting to turn, so the tool became useless. Darn. Thinking...

So I took it into the garden and on my work bench I first ground through the loose nut on opposite sides with the dremel...

... So I could get space to grip with the mole grips...

Result!... and the large white nut didn't move at all, otherwise it would have been impossible to have held a spanner on that whilst turning the mole grips and holding the radiator down with all my weight.

Don't you just love Mole Grips?

There was still a lot of rust in there even thought I thought I'd got it all out before the powercoating job (flushing and shacking and basically putting my back out), so I shook it some more and used my trusty extendable magnet. This does make you wonder if it's worth using old 60's radiators. Or in my case 'keeping them'. For me there are lots of reasons why I wanted to keep them...

Hopefully I'm done with this thread now, unless I have any questions about fitting the new stuff, which I might well do. Until then, thanks to everyone for your help.

 

[Madrab]

Well done @novaf4, you are right though, you cant get away from the rust inside, hopefully you won't have any issues with the radiators pinholing later on, just have plenty of inhibitor, flush the rads well again before filling and keep any eye on the system water for a while as it may go orange and you'll need to flush that all out until it settles down.

I have 2 pair of mole (vice) grips in my box, invaluable, use them daily. I have the CV ones from Irwin, you can't get better IMO.

 

[novaf4]

... just have plenty of inhibitor, flush the rads well again before filling and keep any eye on the system water for a while as it may go orange and you'll need to flush that all out until it settles down.

I don’t know anything about how to go about using inhibitors or flushing (other than what I did for ages in the garden with a hose pipe). If you don’t mind I’m keen to learn what to do if you could provide a step by step guide for idiots? What to buy, how to do it etc. Unless you feel this is a job for a pro and I will after all have to dip my hands in my pockets.

It’s probably worth mentioning that there are 8 rads in the flat and these two rads are in the furthest away room from the water source and boiler, and the furthest away rad (8th) was the one full of rusty flakes, whereas the other rad (7th) wasn’t anywhere near as bad. This makes me think that rust build up from all of the property’s other 7 rads has found its way into this last (8th) rad. This may influence your answer.

The job I have remaining is to plumb in the new fancy lockshield and thermostat fittings onto both radiators. Is this an ideal time for inhibitor / flushing?

Also worth mentioning that in the 17 years I’ve lived here the rads have never had inhibitor or pro flushing. I replaced the boiler about 13 years ago.

Cheers

 

[Madrab]

In a well looked after, copper piped and all metal constructed system gravity system, inhibitor was rarely needed. The system would eventually regulate itself once the dissolved O2 was used up, with just a small amount of magnetite collecting at the bottom of the rads. With newer systems with mixed metals, plastics, etc then all sorts of different reactions can occur, therefore chemical control is needed in the guise of inhibiting chemicals to stop the corrosion.

If you have the rads off and are happy to re-valve and refit then adding inhibitor wouldn't be an issue for you. I'd recommend you add a good quality magnetic filter (Spiro MB3/I-Mag/Fernox TF1/ Magnaclean/etc) and use a good quality inhibitor, 500ml usually does 100L (approx 10 Rads). I use inhibitor from Scalemaster but there's Fernox & Sentinel etc. You can use the filter to introduce the inhibitor to the system once fitted and filled.

Once the filter is on and the system is filled and bled then I'd run a cleaner through it and run for a hour or two just to flush the system again and get rid of any internal corrosion that's around then drain and flush.

Then use the mag filter, drain it and the fill with inhibitor, re-seal and then run system till all rads are hot and then run for another 30mins to circulate and dilute the fluid. Run the system for the next few days for at least 30mins each day to make sure the inhibitor is well distributed.

Regularly check the filter, once a month say for a couple of months when the CH is being used just to keep an eye on the system health. Look for turbidity and system water colour, anything found then clean and flush and re-do inhibitor. The system should settle down eventually hopefully before the rads cause any issues.

 

[novaf4]

Thank you for your wisdom. However it all sounds very complex and not very idiot proof. I don’t even know where to put the inhibitor or what a filter looks like or where it should go. It also sounds terribly time consuming over a period of some time. I appreciate the reasons why but to be honest once this room is finished I will want to concentrate on other less demanding things for a while i.e no DIY. It’s been such a headache that I’ve actually escaped to the countryside for the weekend! It sounds very much to me that I should consult an expert like yourself, show them your suggestions and pay for the work to be done. I’m not quite sure how I can ‘book’ a plumber to do these jobs over a period of time but I can try. I don’t want to find myself in the situation where the job is half done and the plumber has gone AWOL as has recently happened with a fire alarm ‘expert’! (Another story).

 

[CBW]

I understand your concerns, so it might be beneficial if you were to state your location and maybe someone on here can pm you?

 

[Ihavenojob]

A bit late, but a trick I use for taking out stubborn rad tails is to put the valve on and tighten it up, then keep tightening it and the tail should come out.

 

[novaf4]

I’m located in Guildford,Surrey