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Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 7:59 pm
by Katman
I've had the mother of all Birthdays today, came down this morning to a soaking wet carpet in the conservatory, seems the valve on the rad has sprung a leak & it must have been for a couple of weeks judging by the water damage. :evil:

I've got the carpet stripped back & trying to dry everything out but it's not looking good....

Luckily I've got insurance on boiler & seems whole system is covered just gotta find out tomoz when they can come & fix it.

Question is, if I put heating on will it make the water p*ss out quicker? Temps dropping quite a bit in doors but don't want to flood house trying to stay warm :cry:
Any ideas?

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:09 pm
by Cold Snail
Johnr's your man.
Send him a PM.

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:45 pm
by chris44
I dont suppose youre lucky enough to have an inline valve for the pipe to the leaky rad you can then isolate it and get some heating back on otherwise youll have to bleed the system if its pressured maybe leave to a plumber good luck

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:59 pm
by Cat
Il txt him if you like jez to get him to answer

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 10:07 pm
by johnr
where is the water coming from? the pipe into the radiator valve? the top of the radiator valve itself? or the joint between the radiator valve and the radiator? wipe it dry with a cloth and see where it starts to leak from.

and no, putting the heating on wont make it come out faster. it may well make it leak less as it will evaporate due to the heat. i assume that you have a combi, and so need to check your boiler pressure hasnt gone too low.

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:41 pm
by Katman
The water's leaking from just above the knurled knob which allows you to unscrew the thermostatic valve or so it appears to. The valve is a Drayton TRV4 if that helps.
The boiler is a Potterton Prima 60F (what ever that is?)
How would I check the pressure? :shock:

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:20 pm
by johnr
ok, so the valve itself is leaking. turn it off, and then turn off the valve at the opposite end of the same radiator. the leak is probably from where the operating pin comes out of the valve body, meaning its after the part of the valve that shuts off the water. this is a good thing. shutting off the two valves will isolate the water in the radiator from the system, once the pressure in the rad has dissipated the leak should slow or even stop, the maximum ammount that could leak out is only the water in the radiator, not the rest of the system. you can still get trv4's but you will need to drain the system to swap the valve.

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:37 pm
by Katman
dunno if it is a valve at other end as it won't shift, it's a plastic cap with a screw holding it on??
Had a look at other rads & they all have on/off cap at other end, this rad tho' is last in system so wonder if that's why??
Ny bruv had a look last night & says that the expansion tank is filling up drop by drop as the rad leaks :shock:
Is it right that the water in the expansion tank is warm? That would explain why I get so much condensation in the loft in the winter!

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 9:54 pm
by callyboy
This help jez ? Even a girl can do it apparently !

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-rep ... ator-valve" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pete

Re: Any plumber's on here?

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 10:05 pm
by johnr
the screw on the rad valve cap at the other end of the rad will be covering a standard rad valve, take the cap off and shut the valve with a pair of grips or pliers. if you have an expansion tank then it will fill up as your rad leaks. if its getting warm this could be because the system pump is doing what is known as 'pumping over' this isnt a major problem, though it isnt ideal, but will be easy to sort when you have fixed the leak. how old is your boiler? interestingly, its listed as a combi on some sites, so shouldnt have a tank in the loft. i assume then that you have a hot water cylinder.