Replacing very old rads

[kiloalpha]

Hi

I am planning to replace all the rads in my home but all are of weird sizes, most of them are 620mm high and width is 710mm or 1120mm.

They are either 10 or 20mm bigger or smaller than the standard sizes available now. The height is not that big an issue as I hope to put the rads in a way that they can get to the pipework, problem I would guess is the width.

Can someone please advise.

Also as I had mentioned in a thread earlier, I have an old potterton puma 80 boiler which has lately started giving me a lot of trouble, the pilot ignition keeps switching off and I am having to manually start it again and again, I have called about 15 people and no one is ready to fix it, They say its too old and needs replacing, is there anything I could do with it or is it better just to get it replaced.

Lastly if i do replace the boiler, should I do the changing of rads before or after the boiler installation.

The CH AND HW works fine if the pilot light stays on.

Thanks a lot.

 

[oldbuffer]

1. Why not try Potterton (Baxi) to get the boiler repaired.
2. If you are changing the radiators, then:
i) The pipes can be moved / bent to suit the new radiator widths.
ii) And / or you can fit extenders (I wouldn't use the adjustable ones) to ones narrower than old.
iii) It is likely that the distance from valve centres to walls will be different from the current ones, not just width.
3. If replacing the boiler, system should be flushed, either chemically, or (my preference) power flushed. Assuming you are not going to install new pipework, the existing pipes need to be flushed, either by leaving the existing radiators on, or by capping the pipes to all but the last radiator, where the flow and return should be temporarily joined. Do the flush before changing the boiler so it can be done hot without risking the new boiler.

 

[Whitespirit66]

, I have called about 15 people and no one is ready to fix it, They say its too old and needs replacing, is there anything I could do with it or is it better just to get it replaced.

If you give your location, there may be someone on here who can help.

These extensions will help with rad that are slightly shorter.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p37352

 

[kiloalpha]

I am in West london

 

[kiloalpha]

, I have called about 15 people and no one is ready to fix it, They say its too old and needs replacing, is there anything I could do with it or is it better just to get it replaced.

If you give your location, there may be someone on here who can help.

These extensions will help with rad that are slightly shorter.

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p37352

Thanks for the info but what if they are 10mm on the larger side? Would I need to cut the pipe and redo the pipework from under the floorboard?

 

[oldbuffer]

To fit longer radiators you have two options:

a. Floorboards up, cut flow and return pipes, probably remove old "Tee" connectors, measure, insert new tees, probably a small new bit of pipe, and solder up.

b. Bend / make up offsets to bring old pipes at just above floor level out to meet new valves.

a. is the best way if you can do it without too much disruption. Things like parquet / laminate / tiled floors suggest b. but you have to be prepared to live with little "wiggly" bits of pipe under each end of the radiators. Personally I think it looks fine if done symmetrically but many people don't like it.

If you end up going for b. be aware that small offsets are more difficult to achieve than larger ones, and the higher the radiators are above the floor the easier it is as you have more length to play with.

 

[kiloalpha]

Thanks a lot for the info, well i have measured up all the rads, they are all about 600mm tall and width is 3 are 1300mm and 2 are 700
I am getting 700mm easily but 1300mm's are slightly pricier may be due to the fact that they are an odd size?
In that case should I go 1200 or 1400 and extend the pipes with compression elbow.
The pipes on the ground floor are just along the skirting board so I could cut easily but on the first floor it is under the floor and I definitely dont want to open it all up, I might as well either pay a bit extra to get 1300 or go smaller with some union valves.
Any good place to buy the rads from or the one's from wickes are ok, I got one from screwfix last time a year ago and it has already started rusting at the bottom.