Any plumbers about? Radiator leaking

Mark A

Mark A

Mark A

Soldato
Joined
19 May 2005
Posts
18,179
Location
Lancashire
Hi,

I fit a towel radiator for my mum a few months back and its now leaking. Well it could have been leaking all along but Ive only just noticed as Ive fit some flooring and can now see small puddle forming.

Its leaking where the valve is screwed into the radiator body. I used loads of ptfe tape and screwed it in as tight as i could so i cant understand why its leaking on both sides at all.

My dad suggested using a product that you pour into the system and it fills leaks but i cant see how that would make a permanent fix?

Even if i take it off i cant see what i could do differently?

DSC_0480leak.jpg



Any advice would be appreciated.
 
Its turned off, its still leaking as its full of water. I was more after a solution to my problem. If theres a product i can add to the system that will cure the leak that will be a lot better than having to drain the system etc.

Ive just laid a new floor and its not supposed to get wet for 7 days so i need to sort it asap really.
 
There were no washers and there was no stop inside the radiator. It was just a hole that leads into the radiator.

I asked on here and a few people suggested the threads were tapered and to just use loads of ptfe tape, which i did.
 
That will mean taking the rad off again and i screwed it as tight as i could. The only way i could get it tighter would be to put a bar on the end of the allen key i used to get more leverage but I'd be frightened of it stripping the threads.
 
Fernox LSX (or whatever it's called).

Undo valve, clean off old PTFE tape, reapply PTFE tape, smear fernox around the thread, screw up (ok, don't screw up, do it up:p).

I found when I did a towel rail recently it was a PITA no stop for the tails, and it felt like I was using far too much force before it was actually tight - iirc they use a slightly tapered thread, which means that it can feel tight but still not be :/
 
Yeh what he said. Take it off clean it up and do it again, dont over tighten it, just make sure its tight.. not 'as tight as you can do it'

Dont put too much PTFE on it, i always go around 5 or 6 times.

Sometime just undoing it and tightening it again will do the trick.
 
Take it out, clean it off and put more PTFE tape round it anti-clockwise. How many times did you go round it the first place?

It's leaking because you've either not put enough tape round it or you haven't tightened it up enough.
 
PTFE alone should be sufficient. By the look of that photo youve put nowhere near enough on.

They need to be pretty thickly covered in ptfe, then any excess that shows on the chrome afterwards can easily be sliced off with a knife.

Since its christmas i would be just putting a towel down and chilling out for a bit before doing it again :D
 
and on top of that, you could probably go quite a lot tighter as there is lots of thread on show. just dont go mental as it might split the rad :)
 
Iv never used it but you can get stuff to stop small drips, suppose it works like radweld for cars. Not sure how well they work, I would go for fixing it properly.

Do as above
 
As has already been said, That valve is only scratching the surface and needs tightening loads more.

They should be on a tappered thread so use plenty off PTFE tape and screw the valves in nice and tight
 
Whatever you do don't use the rad-weld stuff. If it's a modern boiler it'll just clog the heat exchanger up.

As already said - drain it, use more PTFE and tighten it right the way up with a proper rad spanner
 
Hedge said:
PTFE alone should be sufficient. By the look of that photo youve put nowhere near enough on.
Click to expand...

That photo is with the valve unscrewed with no tape on, it was just a pic i took a while ago to show a mate what the thread was like. The thread is barely showing now its been tightened up, i also trimmed the ptfe tape off. If i took a pic now all you'd see is a load of bog roll wrapped around the valves ;).

I wrapped ptfe around the thread about 10-15 turns iirc. The thread was pretty rough, maybe its chewed the tape up as ive tightened it up?

The only reason i'm trying to sort this now is because ive spent all day laying self adhesive tiles and now they're gettin wet and i dont want them to start lifting.

Thanks for the replies, Werewolf, my dad mentioned Fernox so i think i'll give that a try and also redo the ptfe.

IMG_4158.jpg


EDIT: Just took a quick pic of the valve as it is now. Looks like its been leaking for a while as its rusting :(. Looks like its a rad off job then.
 
Last edited:
defo more ptfe, and taper it slightly up the thread. Getting thicker towards the deepest part
 
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