a leaky valve joint on the radiator

[johnnycondom]

hi i seem to have a leaky radiator outlet pipe under the valve
it seems that the olive is letting the water drip from it
i tried tightening it to no avail
could i coat the olive and joint components with boss white to effect a cure

 

[fitz1]

ptfe. but you will need to undo the nut.

 

[johnnycondom]

firstly its water not gas
ie a radiator feed pipe
secondly ive tried ptfe which didnt work
i think the olive has strangled the copper pipe down in diameter a bit and dont really wanna cut it and replace as there aint too much to play with
also its the joint under the valve NOT the joint into the rad
so im gonna have to do a partial draindown
luckily its upstairs

 

[fitz1]

prob overtightened and cut into pipe. looks like a freeze or drain job.

 

[johnnycondom]

so fitz, will boss white do the trick
as ive been told ?
before i buy sum 2morrow

 

[fitz1]

dought it. if ptfe hasnt done it .

 

[Softus]

As fitz1 says, to cure this permanently you have to remove the nut.

You might be able to avoid draining down if you turn off the CH, AND shut all rad valves everywhere.

If you have a vented system then also put a bung in the F&E outlet.

 

[johnnycondom]

well i managed to fix the leak after removing the rad and doing a partiakl draindown
when i released the ball cock to top up the system
there is now a hum in the tank cupboard
and the hot water is on;ly tepid
the system is an apollo thorn central heating all in one boiler not a combi
could it be there is an airlock in the system
as i have not yet put the rad back on as im still trying to finish painting the walls,having just papered and first coat paint

 

[Softus]

could it be there is an airlock in the system

It could be - did you vent the system?

The hum might be the pump running dry - you should turn it off and then vent.

 

[johnnycondom]

no i havent vented the system yet as the rad is still off
but theres no air in any of the other rads
gonna put it back on tomorro wen i have second paint coated the wall behind the rad i'll vent it then
in the mean time ive took your advice and turned the system off as i dont wanna knacker the pump
ps i take the term venting as bleeding the air out the system RIGHT?

 

[Softus]

Erm, you did a partial drain down and later topped it up. Was the water in the F&E below the outlet at any time? If so, then it's quite possible for air to have entered the system. Depending on where you drained there may be other ways too.

 

[johnnycondom]

er
wats f and e
only a doit youselfer
the drain plug is downstairs outside wall and tried to restrict it to the upstairs drain only
didnt shut all the rads off tho
wen the plumber came to do the same thing a few years back on the last rad downstairs in the run
he did the saqme as i did
the only thing i should not have done i thinkm was to keep the pump going wen the sytem was interupted and the rad flow couldnt occur
havin said that the central heating was in the off position and was only suposed to keep the water hot

 

[ChrisR]

wats f and e
The small tank in the loft/high somewhere.
Check it has water in an that it refills when you let water out from drain - if not the feed pipe's blocked.
If ok bleed everything, and look for a bleed point near side of HW cylinder.

 

[Softus]

F&E == feed and expansion cistern - in the loft.

I believe that the sticky topics etc. contain descriptions of draining down and refilling - well worth a read when you have a moment.

 

[johnnycondom]

well i put the heatng system back on full alf hour ago
and been runnin round bleeding all the rads
including the valve on top of the hot water tank
but as of yet got no warm rads