Leaky Towel Radiator

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

Soldato
Joined
20 Feb 2004
Posts
23,112
Location
Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
We got a big 6ft towel style radiator fitted to our Utility room about 3 years ago.

In that times its been a bit temperamental and seems to drip from the valves at the bottom. So every now and then i have a play and it seems to stop.

It started again the other day and won't stop. I've tried tightening the nut which connects the radiator to the wall pipe but its as tight as it'll go. Any more and its started to bend the pipe from the wall.

My next thought was to check that it had PTFE tape on the threads which i assumed would fix the issue. So i got a pan to catch any water and undid the nut. Water started pouring out the radiator and with only 2 hands i struggled to wrap the thread in tape. So i tightened the nut again to stop water pouring out but it's still dripping.

I then figured that the best option would be to drain the radiator to enable me to sort it. Then connect it up and re-fill. My only concern is the location of the radiator and the effect it'd have on the rest of the system.

The boiler is in a cupboard in the utility room and the pipes then dissappear into the wall. How can i work out whether the radiator in question is first in the loop or last?

When i disconnected the bottom left valve, no water seemed to come out of the wall pipe (i didnt shut off the water), only coming out of the radiator. Does that suggest that it comes from the right valve in the radiator, through the radiator and back out again from the left? If thats the case then should i just be able to shut off the valve on the right to stop more water coming in and then drain the radiator?

As you can probably tell i don't really know what i'm doing! But it doesnt seem like a big enough job to get a plumber out for!
 
If you over tighten the compression fitting, you probably crushed the brass olive ring that part of the fitting & damaged the pipe, just enough for it to weep.

Better to drain down system completely, remove radiator, then remove both valves, cut off old olive, (usually removed with a olive puller), but it can be done with junior hacksaw, being very,very careful not to cut in to copper pipe & replace with new olives in each valve, making sure pipe is fully seated in fitting before tightening, only need to be hand tighten then about a 1/8 turn or maybe slightly more, just enough to compress olive, but not kill it.

If your NOT confident, then get a plumber to sort it, about a hours work, if I was doing the job, would just freeze the pipes, saves draining down & replace olives, about 30 minutes.
 
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Hmm sounds like you might be right in that case then. I'll try and get a picture tonight of where its leaving just to make sure it is leaking where i've suggested it was.

From what i can tell its just the nut connecting 2 sets of pipe so i didnt think there was much else to it.
 
First you could try some leak sealer paste on the olives, like Fernox LSX. If you don't have any, or cant get hold of it then wrap some PTFE tape around the olives and that should do it, but the LSX is better.
 
Op, ptfe tape on the threads is pointless, it needs to be on the olives as said above. I use ptfe all the time and have started to use it on all compression joints as a matter of course, weepy or not. It's just easier to do so on all of them than have to revisit the one in ten that might weep.

Not sure there's any point paying extra for compound that's suitable for potable supply when you're working on a heating system.
 
Participant said:
Op, ptfe tape on the threads is pointless, it needs to be on the olives as said above. I use ptfe all the time and have started to use it on all compression joints as a matter of course, weepy or not. It's just easier to do so on all of them than have to revisit the one in ten that might weep.

Not sure there's any point paying extra for compound that's suitable for potable supply when you're working on a heating system.
Click to expand...

Advantages are you only need one jointing compound, save you buying a seperate compound if you ever need to replace a bath tap for example.

But, you can always use 'Boss White' instead for non-potable duties.

I have always use a jointing compound on compression fitting, especially old ones, which have been over tighten, olive has been crushed.

And new compression fittings that might eventually become inaccessible , say under floorboards.

Use that method for 30 years now, never had a leak.
 
Just as mentioned this seems to be the bit thats leaking. I thought this just connected 2 bits of pipe?

4Fhwgqo.jpg
 
It connects the tail to the valve. On my towel rad, that part has a rubber seal, so it might be that there is some debris trapped in there, or it could need a new seal. You could try cleaning it up and putting some vaseline or silicone grease on the rubber seal.

Or if its a copper/brass olive then try the above suggestions of ptfe or leak sealer.

You should be able to shut off both the valves and then just drain the radiator, instead of the whole system.
 
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Ah! The part that screws in towel rail, it's leaking where the ptfe tape is, or the gland nut?

Just need to turn both lockshield off/ Radiator Valve, remove towel rail, will need a large allen key to remove the tail, ptfe tape should solve it, just wrap it anti clockwise around the the thread, then screw in & tighten, not excessively.
But, you might find Boss Green will work better.

If it the actual lockshield/radiator valve, then replace it with a new one, can save a lot of hassle.
 
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I thought he had circled the nut that connects the tail to the valve and not the tapered thread going into the rad.
 
Mark A said:
I thought he had circled the nut that connects the tail to the valve and not the tapered thread going into the rad.
Click to expand...

It's a large circle.:D

If it's the gland nut leaking, then it's better to replace the radiator valve/ lockshield, than trying to repair it in my opinion.

In the past I fitted new O rings, sealed them with joint sealant, all tickety boo for a while, then they start weeping again.:(, so it's easier just replace with a new one.

A lot of the problems are caused by over tightening the gland nut, looking at the photo, the gland nut has had a hard life.

I've seen gland nuts actually split, where there have been over tighten.
 
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Just thinking it might be better for OP not having to drain whole system and have to replace inhibitor etc.
 
Christ these Valvey things are pricey!

Just to be sure, if i'm replacing each valve do i need to drain the entire system? I'm sure the answer is as long as a piece of string but how much water roughly would be in the system of a 3 bed terraced house?
 
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