seized radiator bleed screws

[ewansdad]

Hi.

A couple of my rads have seized bleed screws. The square heads seem to have been rounded off. To make things worse they are facing the wall so access is limited.

I would like to be able to free them up so i can replace them. Any ideas without taking the rad off?

Thanks stu.

 

[bengasman]

Sounds like the Barlo rads, with the bleeder tapped directly into the rad. Horrible things. Chances are you need new rads.

 

[ewansdad]

Thanks for your reply ben.

I was hoping i could get them out somehow without taking the rads off. Maybe i'll take them off, drill and use a stud extractor to try get them out. Or maybe i'll just replace all 8 rads as they are all the same!

I'll take one off in summer and see.

cheers stu

 

[Elkato531]

Does your rad key have the square hole recessed slightly. If it does you can try filing the end down so that the square hole comes flush to the end. This may give extra purchase on the nipple. Hope that makes sense.

 

[Axel]

I used a very small hex socket set and found that a particular size would grip onto my rounded square bleed screws.

 

[ewansdad]

cheers everyone. i will give your ideas a try

stu