Help - heated towel rail issue

[costellod]

Please could someone help me? I have had a heated towel rail fitted in my bathroom for 15 months.

It is a flat within a 1930's block so the towel rail has been fitted within the set up of the building and is part of the hot water system - in other words, hot water flows through it constantly, regardless of whether the heating is on.

Two months ago, the tenants in the flat reported rust on the weld joints, which were quickly seen to leak. The towel rail was isolated and turned off.

I have been told by the manufacturer it is 'fit for purpose' but surely it can't be, given that within a year, it has rusted from the inside out. The manufacturer has suggested it is either additives in the water (something I have ruled out as nothing is added to the block's hot water) or the pressure is too great for that model of radiator (the block runs at 1.8 bar, which I understand is perfectly normal).

Looking at previous forum threads, I gather it should be a copper lined towel rail (it is chrome in colour). Are all towel rails copper lined? Could this be the issue or is there something else I am missing. Could it be just faulty? How do I go about proving that?

Please please, any industry advice would be very gratefully appreciated.

Thank you!

PS - I should point out this is the second towel rail that's been fitted in two years as the first leaked all over the bathroom while the tenants were away, causing considerable damage. The new contractor who came in and fitted this towel rail told me the one that had been fitted was unsuitable as it was not designed to be on a non-pressured system...

 

[stevetheplumber]

you need a brass or copper towel rail suitable for use on the hot water system most towel rails now are steel and only suitable for use on heating circuits and many specify that inhibitor must be added

 

[justlead1]

Hi. As Steve suggests. It sounds like its fitted on an open hot water system, where the water is constantly changing. (may be fitted on a secondary return) The type of towel rail/rad that will be required are 100 percent copper or brass and either painted or chrome. These withstand the aggresive nature of the water, but are more expensive than steel. Good Luck

 

[unguided1]

at the end of the day which ever circuit it has been fitted, on heating or hot water, it should still last longer than 15 months, since last year i have been sending a number of radiators back to the manufacturers because they have arrived full of rust before installation.
I would suggest that any radiator that lasts less than 15 months is definatley not fit for purpose and they should send a rep out to inspect the towel rail with a view to replacing it at their expense, so that they can find out why their producy has failed.
regards
Mike

 

[migoplumber]

a towel rail designed for central heating, cant be installed on your hot water pipe due to be constantly being attacked by fresh water. as for adding inhibitor who wants that coming out your hot tap for the 5 minutes it will be in the system.

towel rails on your hot water circuit are a daft idea. (imho)

 

[costellod]

Thank you all very much for your replies.

The contractor has assured me that the rad fitted is stainless steel and that should've been good enough.

Do I take it, that although stainless steel might last, it isn't as good / worthy / robust as a brass or copper lined model?

I agree that the manufacturer should send someone out to look at it, as rusting to that degree after 15 months is shoddy, to say the least.

Many thanks again everyone. I feel empowered by your knowledge and advice!

 

[Jimbob]

I have seen towel rad's that have gone in weeks (suppied by another company). If it is stainless steel it wont rust and they would usually be used on a secondary return system. Just poor build quality from the sounds of things

 

[stevetheplumber]

Thank you all very much for your replies.

The contractor has assured me that the rad fitted is stainless steel and that should've been good enough.

Do I take it, that although stainless steel might last, it isn't as good / worthy / robust as a brass or copper lined model?

I agree that the manufacturer should send someone out to look at it, as rusting to that degree after 15 months is shoddy, to say the least.

Many thanks again everyone. I feel empowered by your knowledge and advice!

got to admit ive never come across stainless steel towel rails standard for hot water systems is brass

a towel rail designed for central heating, cant be installed on your hot water pipe due to be constantly being attacked by fresh water. as for adding inhibitor who wants that coming out your hot tap for the 5 minutes it will be in the system.

towel rails on your hot water circuit are a daft idea. (imho)

all the big blocks of flats in centarl london were like this as well as most large commercial buildings hospitals etc
the bonus is dry towels all year round and a warm bathroom even in summer when a lot of places would have no heat (heating was october 1st to may 1st regardless of the weather )

 

[NickH]

The contractor has assured me that the rad fitted is stainless steel

Surely if that were true it wouldn't have rusted.

Stainless steel can certainly oxidise and discolour but it doesn't rust.

 

[Plouasne]

But stainless steel CAN RUST, if not kept away from normal steel, and that includes tools and cutting fluid, see the links below

Rusting by Stainless Steels

Can Stainless Steel Rust ?

 

[REDSAW]

you mean by the way of 'galvanic action' 1st year c&g knowledge.
normally associated with steel to iron to copper to lead proccess.
solution is to fit a sacraficial anode the same as you would fit to a ocean going boat where differing metals such as steel bronze stainless etc exsist.
otherwise the propeller corrodes to nothing.
i expect that this could be a solution to the s/s rad in question?. try having a word with a shipwright for a diffinative answer.

 

[Plouasne]

Its a bit like that but a bit more complicated, I am afraid you really aught to read the links to get a better understanding

But to put it in a nut shell ordinary steel will contaminate stainless steel, either by placing steel on to S/S or vice a versa, cutting or shearing S/S after cutting ordinary steel, even a hacksaw used to cut steel then S/S can contaminate S/S and lead to rusting

I heard about this problem about 20 years ago by shipwright, and also a couple of weeks ago read about "knife fractures" alongside S/S welds caused by contamination from the weld

If the manufacture had been useing his plant to fabricate normal steel and then used the same plant to fabricate S/S, this could be the problem

Google has some very interesting link on the problem