Drain Valve?

[msa666]

Hi All,

I have a Halstead Buckingham 4 boiler that has what appears to be a drain valve on the side (viewable when the front panel is removed). I need to drain the system but i cannot find any other drain, no drain valve on any of the rads or at any low points in the pipework.

So am i right in thinking that this is the drain point for the system?

Thanks

 

[Agile]

To some extent you can probably use it.

What is right is that your system was fitted by a cowboy who saved himself £1 by not fitting a drain off cock.

Have you checked outside though? A better location is on the outside just below floor level.

Tony

 

[msa666]

Thanks,

Yeah have checked outside, no joy. Have inherited the system from an old lady who paid a fortune for it, say no more! Planning to put a drain cock on the lowest rad whilst i have it drained down.

Thanks again,

Tony.

 

[AlanE]

Tony (Agile) I agree I always like to see drain off valves but to be honest I do have major doubts as to their worth. How many jobs have you gone to where the washer is perished where it fits onto the operating sxrew part?

Open valve and no water, washer stuck and muck built up behind a very small hole left.

 

[Agile]

Tony (Agile) I agree I always like to see drain off valves but to be honest I do have major doubts as to their worth. How many jobs have you gone to where the washer is perished where it fits onto the operating sxrew part?

I agree that they usually dont work but thats because the plunger and washer were not removed when they were soldered into place!

Its simple little things which differentiate the cowboy from the careful installer. The cowboys on here say that its permissible to solder them in. Our local college teaches students to remove them!

Tony

 

[msa666]

Thanks for the help guys, looking at the design of the system today whilst working on it i'm assuming that the drain on the boiler was intended to be the drain point. There is only actually one rad on the same (ground) floor as the boiler and that rad is actually fed from the first floor. The boiler is in the same room as the only internal drain on the same floor and is nearer to the external drains than the rad on the same floor, so it makes sense to use this as the drain rather than having a dedicated drain cock on a rad.

Thanks again.

 

[Agile]

Thats wishful thinking!

If that was the case then how did the designer expect the lowest rad to be drained?

Far more likely a total cowboy installer who never considered making anything easy to drain!

Tony

 

[nortimax]

Drain off point you have found is designed to drain the boiler with the flow and return isolators shut. If you have no obvious drain try to find a pipe under the floor and chop it to let the system drain down. If your not capable of doing this, repairing your chop, get a plumber in.

 

[msa666]

Drain off point you have found is designed to drain the boiler with the flow and return isolators shut. If you have no obvious drain try to find a pipe under the floor and chop it to let the system drain down. If your not capable of doing this, repairing your chop, get a plumber in.

I don't profess to be a plumber, thats why i come on here in an attempt to illicit helpful advice and i question everything before doing it in order to make sure that i don't bite off more than i can chew. I do however live in a town that like many others has a shortfall on plumbers and upon inquiry found no one that could even look at my system for at least 2 months, not helpful when you have no hot water!

Your comment is not helpful in anyway, if you read the posts properly you would note that i've already worked on the system, i.e. i used this drain to empty the system and it worked a treat. When it is so simple to do it this way why in gods name would i lift carpets and floorboards to chop into a pipe full of water and then have to repair it afterwards? Madness!! If the worst came to the worst and i damaged the drain or it did not reseal it would still be easier and far less messy to replace it than to cut up perfectly good pipe work!

 

[Softus]

Moderator 11, you are being a pratt. You've deleted an entire post that contained one solitary disparouging word. Meanwhile, on the other side of the site, one user is being given carte blanche to insult anyone who disagrees with him.

Its simple little things which differentiate the cowboy from the careful installer. The cowboys on here say that its permissible to solder them in.

Please justify that statement by naming one single user who has said such a thing.

Our local college teaches students to remove them!

It would be far better if they taught students to think for themselves.

If that was the case then how did the designer expect the lowest rad to be drained?

Far more likely a total cowboy installer who never considered making anything easy to drain!

There's no substance to that wild slur on the designer and installer. It's as likely that a radio engineer came along and removed a rad valve that had incorporated a drain off.

msa666, your alternative is to drain the system from the lowest rad, as long as both valves work. Shut off the valves, get some paint trays, small pots, and buckets, and drain water from the rad by carefully undoing one of the valve connections. You can control the flow by opening and closing the rad vent.

Once the rad is empty you can connect a hose onto a valve and drain by opening it.