Column Radiators

[MickBrown]

A customer of mine has some steel column radiators. The paint was peeling off so I removed them and the customer sent them for shot blasting and powder coating. The customer asked me to refit them and when I did so I found all the bosses that the tails fit in to were leaking. A colleague of mine says that the heating process used with the powder coating can damage the sealant they use when inserting the bosses. Has anybody had experience with powder coating these type of radiators? I assume removing the bosses and using PTFE tape or hemp and paste on them will reseal them. The only problem is it will destroy the paint around the bosses.

 

[Chalked]

The powder coating is not the problem. However, some powder coating companies who are not used to doing cast iron radiators use a very hot oven to bake off the existing paint. This destroys the paper gaskets on older rads. You may find that the joints between the sections will start to leak too.
The powder coating Company is to blame.

 

[MickBrown]

Thanks Chalked, they are not cast iron but more modern steel equivalent.

 

[oz-plumber]

Were the gaskets paper or rubber.

You might be lucky if they were paper - they may take up.
If they're rubber you could be in trouble.

Worst case - remove the bosses and have them re-powder coated and hopefully you don't chip the panel too much in removing them

 

[MickBrown]

I haven't removed the bosses yet, the customer was talking about maybe getting new rads. Waiting to hear from her.