Bathroom radiator adjustment

joeryan · 15 Jan 2021 at 11:24

Hey I’ve got a bathroom radiator that never gets that hot, I’ve ensured it’s bled etc. What I want to do is to turn the lock shield side up a little, as I think it might be closed. Looking at the radiator, it’s not your standard turntable lockshield... any ideas how this would be adjusted?

mickyflinn · 15 Jan 2021 at 11:37

When you say it never gets hot is it cold all the time, what valve is on the other side ?

bazzabear · 15 Jan 2021 at 11:40

I've got a conservatory radiator which only gets hot if practically every other radiator in the house has closed it's valve. Just because it was done as a spur and it's too long a run to get any hot water there if there's any other demand.
Might this be a similar problem?

joeryan · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:01

It’s in an extension which is the bathroom and likely the last radiator in the run I would say. It would have been added on manually after the other radiators. It doesn’t get no heat, it just doesn’t reach a point to really heat the bathroom and compared to other main radiators it’s about half the heat. The other side is a standard valve that can be turned and it’s on max.

sounds like this may be my issue also ^^

it might be a case of getting a panel heater in there or something.

Kaka · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:20

You need to either increase the CH pump speed or re-balance the system.

It could also be sludged up if only parts of the radiator are warm.

joeryan · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:37

It’s a combo boiler, I just had TRVs fitted to all other radiators in the home, and as part of that he balanced the system apparently and flushed it entirely. The bathroom radiator seems the same as before, just limited output of heat. It gets warm all around, limited total heat... Hence why I wanted to adjust the lockshield side of this radiator to increase it a little (obviously keeping note so I can revert back if it unbalanced the whole house), atm every other room has a consistent temperature.

Kaka · 15 Jan 2021 at 12:46

Are the flow and return pipes hotter than the actual bathroom radiator?

bazzabear · 15 Jan 2021 at 13:26

joeryan said:
It’s in an extension which is the bathroom and likely the last radiator in the run I would say. It would have been added on manually after the other radiators. It doesn’t get no heat, it just doesn’t reach a point to really heat the bathroom and compared to other main radiators it’s about half the heat. The other side is a standard valve that can be turned and it’s on max.

sounds like this may be my issue also ^^

it might be a case of getting a panel heater in there or something.

Yeah, I'm thinking of just removing the radiator in our conservatory altogether and replacing it with an electric heater panel.

tonys · 15 Jan 2021 at 16:43

It does look like it's broken, as said above what is the other valve like? It could just be that one of them is closed too much and only allowing a small amount of water through, just enough to get it warm and not hot.

joeryan · 15 Jan 2021 at 16:51

The other side is a standard turn valve, ie you can turn it up and down. It has an end like a standard under the bit you turn.

it’s exactly like this

tonys · 15 Jan 2021 at 17:04

Is the other valve fully open? Do you have the cap for that valve? If not try a screw driver or Allen key in the centre and see if you can turn it

joeryan · 15 Jan 2021 at 17:12

Managed to put the t30 into it and turn it, hopefully the correct way but will sure know soon if there’s no heating

tonys · 15 Jan 2021 at 17:35

It should be anti clockwise

joeryan · 15 Jan 2021 at 17:40

Seems to be steaming out heat now - god knows how much I’ve wasted on a 2k electric heater in there on an extension lead out the room.

Thank you all!

tonys · 15 Jan 2021 at 18:13

No problem, maybe you'll be able to help someday

rodders · 15 Jan 2021 at 21:31

joeryan said:
Seems to be steaming out heat now - god knows how much I’ve wasted on a 2k electric heater in there on an extension lead out the room.

Thank you all!

Well he didn't balance it clearly, so did he really flush it as well?

joeryan · 15 Jan 2021 at 22:36

He wasn’t touching this one as I didn’t want a TRV in the bathroom, heard it could cause all kinds of problems with temperature regulation. All he did on this one was to bleed it. I don’t think he could figure out how to balance this one.

I still wish it was twice the size

rodders · 16 Jan 2021 at 10:14

joeryan said:
I still wish it was twice the size

Is it a double in there, If not upgrade?

joeryan · 16 Jan 2021 at 10:20

It’s not a double - I’m concerned about taking off a radiator and causing a whole leak / problems. Don’t have the money right now to get someone else out. Is it an easy job?

BennyC · 16 Jan 2021 at 16:06

My OH has changed a few radiators in her house. Modern lockshield, or at least these ones, require large hex bits to adjust them.