Help required with radiator.

[pilgrim1]

Pilgrim 1, gas ptfe is much thicker.

The method which never fails is hemp and boss white, you are allowed to use it on heating. Buy a knot of hemp and small tub of bos white. take some strands of hemp and pull them through your boss white clad fingers, make a few of these then twist them together, wrap them around the male part. As the hemp gets wet it expands to seal the leak, give it time to work, a slight drip will bed in.

Gents,
due to time restrictions I tried the LSX system yesterday evening, all went well until it started leaking ;-( Odd really, the radiator filled the whole thing was fine. 10min later it's dripping from both sides! So this evening it's time for hemp and boss white. Can I ask a couple of more questions before I begin?

1) Should I (Gas) PTFE the thread before applying the hemp?
2) The hemp came as a spool, rather thick IMHO. I tested for thickness, when soaked in the boss it's about 1.5mm thick. Should I be using this much?

Thanks once again guys.

Regards

CC.

 

[ChrisR]

Good grief, having a hard time!
1) no
2) sounds too thick - several thin turns better than one thick - others' experience may say different

Try roughening the male thread with a junior hacksaw blade so the stuff sticks to the metal and winds into the rad, without being pushed off as you screw it in.

Fear not, there's always araldite, car body filler.....

 

[pilgrim1]

Good grief, having a hard time!
1) no
2) sounds too thick - several thin turns better than one thick - others' experience may say different

Try roughening the male thread with a junior hacksaw blade so the stuff sticks to the metal and winds into the rad, without being pushed off as you screw it in.

Fear not, there's always araldite, car body filler.....

Cheers ChrisR,
I hope not to go down the araldite route! Funny part is, I've emailed Jaga tech support again today and I quote :-

Use normal PTFE, pile enough on and it won't leak!

Perhaps they mean I should mumify the rad

Clearly they make rads, but don't fit them Won't be dealing this company again me-thinks.

Tonights job, drain it all off and start again. Got any good buckets?

 

[Nige F]

As Chris said roughen-take the chrome off even. Then wind a thin strand on the correct way Hold valve tail in Left hand wind hemp clockwise round threads from back (your left hand) to front of threads...no I`m not taking theP....Think about it and how the thread screws into the fitting ...do it the other way and it will unscrew the hemp. The old ways are the best ways Put a smear of bosswhite on first then the hemp into it Coincidentally made 2 grommets today for leaking rad vent plugs. Job done no leaks at all

 

[pilgrim1]

As Chris said roughen-take the chrome off even. Then wind a thin strand on the correct way Hold valve tail in Left hand wind hemp clockwise round threads from back (your left hand) to front of threads...no I`m not taking theP....Think about it and how the thread screws into the fitting ...do it the other way and it will unscrew the hemp. The old ways are the best ways Put a smear of bosswhite on first then the hemp into it Coincidentally made 2 grommets today for leaking rad vent plugs. Job done no leaks at all

Sir, you are a star I looked at the hemp yesterday, but time was against me and I fancied having some more info before I tried. Googling for Hemp returned some interesting results
A bit of goo looked like a good option for a fast fix before I went out. Should have worked, however a pin prick of a leak on each side. Tried to patch it up, but don't trust it long term.

Looks like I'll have to try this at the weekend. My other half said something about my testicals if I turn the water off again tonight

Thanks ever so much gents, you have an "old ways" convert, or at least I hope you will

P.S. I know you are not taking the p**s, I've done the old PTFE the wrong way around before today

 

[pilgrim1]

Gents, just thought I would update you. After much messing around, getting covered in boss and random pieces of hemp everywhere, I finally have a none leaking radiator Can't thank you enough for your advice and your assistance. It has been fantastic. I'll stick with the "old ways" in future.

Only one more problem to solve now When I refilled & bled the system one of the rads stayed cold. Unusual as this is normally the first to get hot and it had worked prior to my messing with this rad. Assuming I had an air trap or some gunk in this rad, I heated the system up, turned off the pump, closed the return valve on the rad (as this one is at the bottom of the system) and let the water run through until the rad got hot. This fixed the problem and this and all the other radiators worked a treat. However a couple of days (and several bleeds) later the radiator at the top of the house is stone cold ;-( I tried the same trick again, got about half a bucket out of this rad before the feed pipe got hot, the radiator seemed to take ages to get even a bit warm but finally got to a reasonable temperature. The next day I found it stone cold again and it seems to be stuck this way. I've repeated the let the water out a couple of times on this one and still no joy. Any suggestions? (Don't know if it makes any odds, however under normal circumstances, this radiator is one that warms slightly when the heating is off but the hot water is on)