W
w.bailhache
Hi All,
Thanks in advance for any advice.
My wife and I are DIYing our sitting room (repaint etc etc). I took the old rads off the wall to have them sand blasted and powder coated, thinking it would be much nicer to have the old ones used than spend money on new. While they were away the inner pin from one of the bleed valves went missing.
After much head scratching and visiting various plumbers merchants I realised that what I thought was the valve was in fact the inner pin and that I could remove the whole thing. Great! ...I thought... I can replace the whole valve. The old valve is 1/8 BSP. I have 4 new 1/8 BSP valves from B and Q, as well as a chrome one, the same size, from another plumbers merchant (the radiators are double panel and have a bleed valve for each, change one change all)!
I know that the old valve thread is in good nick as I watched a salesman screw it, one of my new ones from B and Q, and the chrome one I bought from him into a nut with a 1/8 BSP thread.
None of the valves, including the original, will successfully screw back into the radiator. We've spent (for us) a significant sum on these, what turn out to be rather cheap and not worth the money we've spent on the damn things, radiators.
Options that I have considered:
1) buy two new radiators and the various extenders to make sure they fit. The issue with this option is cost.
2) drill out the bleed valve hole, get a tap and die set, tap the new hole and buy a bolt big enough to fit it. The issue here is that a) I've never tapped a screw thread in my life and, b) getting a bolt with an at least 11mm diameter.
3) get some king of central heating cement, fill the bleed valve hole with it, tap a new hole on the back of the radiator, and screw in a standard screw with some PTFE to act as a bleed vent. The issue here, as far as I can tell, is the possibility of the cement or the new screw or both giving out, or being ineffective in the first place.
Please advise on the what you think the best option is, bearing in mind that we don't have buckets of cash lying around and have wasted a load on these things already.
Obviously, what I would really like is a solution that will last long term.
Will.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
My wife and I are DIYing our sitting room (repaint etc etc). I took the old rads off the wall to have them sand blasted and powder coated, thinking it would be much nicer to have the old ones used than spend money on new. While they were away the inner pin from one of the bleed valves went missing.
After much head scratching and visiting various plumbers merchants I realised that what I thought was the valve was in fact the inner pin and that I could remove the whole thing. Great! ...I thought... I can replace the whole valve. The old valve is 1/8 BSP. I have 4 new 1/8 BSP valves from B and Q, as well as a chrome one, the same size, from another plumbers merchant (the radiators are double panel and have a bleed valve for each, change one change all)!
I know that the old valve thread is in good nick as I watched a salesman screw it, one of my new ones from B and Q, and the chrome one I bought from him into a nut with a 1/8 BSP thread.
None of the valves, including the original, will successfully screw back into the radiator. We've spent (for us) a significant sum on these, what turn out to be rather cheap and not worth the money we've spent on the damn things, radiators.
Options that I have considered:
1) buy two new radiators and the various extenders to make sure they fit. The issue with this option is cost.
2) drill out the bleed valve hole, get a tap and die set, tap the new hole and buy a bolt big enough to fit it. The issue here is that a) I've never tapped a screw thread in my life and, b) getting a bolt with an at least 11mm diameter.
3) get some king of central heating cement, fill the bleed valve hole with it, tap a new hole on the back of the radiator, and screw in a standard screw with some PTFE to act as a bleed vent. The issue here, as far as I can tell, is the possibility of the cement or the new screw or both giving out, or being ineffective in the first place.
Please advise on the what you think the best option is, bearing in mind that we don't have buckets of cash lying around and have wasted a load on these things already.
Obviously, what I would really like is a solution that will last long term.
Will.
