Leaking electric only towel rail

[paul_round]

There is a slight leak coming from the bottom of my electric only towel rail. I have tried tightening the nut, but its not loose, it looks like the seal has gone.
Is it replaceable? or should I just use some of that 2 pack plumbing sealant on it.
It's about 10 years old.

 

[blup]

Can you wrap some ptfe round the thread, then re tighten?

Blup

 

[paul_round]

I could try that, obviously I'd have to remove the towel rail and turn it upside down.
Also, should I worry about any water that's leaked out?

 

[JohnD]

I think you will have to take it off the wall, and position it with the leaking joint uppermost, before you undo and reseal it, or the fluid will run out.

Are you sure the fluid is water, not oil? If so it ought to have corrosion inhibitor added.

 

[Rodders53]

Water lost may not be much?

I'd certainly not fill one that is stand-alone electric only, but leave an air gap.

The one I 'made' I left an air pocket to be compressed when heated up and water expands... and IIRC I vented some of that air when it was warm/hot from the air vent on top (no water escaped during that operation). That allows the air to be compressed or even under vacuum when cold (probably). Never given me any issues in many years of operation and it all gets hot when in use (whether by metallic or water conduction I can't tell

I didn't bother with any inhibitor... it's sealed and has a limited amount of oxygen to cause oxidation of any of the metals involved. But then I'm a very bad boy.

Some retail units come pre-filled though https://www.screwfix.com/p/flomasta-flat-electric-towel-radiator-700-x-400mm-chrome-512btu/5707d for example. So what this one is filled with may depend on the exact radiator and who installed it originally.

 

[paul_round]

So it looks like there is some water missing, the top three bars don't heat up.
How much air gap should I leave when I top it up?

 

[stem]

I had a bad experience with a chrome towel warmer that I suspect didn't have corrosion inhibitor added. The element had failed and in order to replace it I started to unscrew a blanked off port that would have been one of the pipe connections in order to drain it. The resulting escaping pressure blew off the flanged plug and covered me, the walls, ceiling etc. in black sludge. I can only assume gasses given off by oxidation had built up the pressure inside it. I fixed the element in 30 minutes then spent the rest of the day fixing the bathroom!

 

[Rodders53]

IIRC I filled the towel rail with water via the top air vent bung (removed) and had the thing on a tilt... I think you could tell from the temperature feel where the water level was (cold water filled metal vs metal alone). I ensured the 'other vertical' was full of water and at a guess I left around a 6-8 inch 'diagonal' of air in the air vent vertical and first couple of rails.

That air was partly expelled when the rail heated up.

Trial and error to get it right. Add more water a bit at a time.

 

[paul_round]

"The resulting escaping pressure blew off the flanged plug and covered me, the walls, ceiling etc. in black sludge."
Not sure I want to do this now!

 

[JohnD]

"The resulting escaping pressure blew off the flanged plug and covered me, the walls, ceiling etc. in black sludge."
Not sure I want to do this now!

Open the top first to release pressure.

 

[ianmcd]

The resulting escaping pressure blew off the flanged plug and covered me, the walls, ceiling etc. in black sludge."
Not sure I want to do this now!

Just open the air vent at the top of the rad