Radiator removal issues......??

[BillyWilson]

Hello - Removed 2 radiators last night from my hallway closing off both the control and lockshield valves, our central heating was on last night and there were no leakages, so far so good - got up this morning just after 7 and water was coming out of the control valve end of the one of the radiators, eventually it stopped and I thought that maybe it was just a faulty valve - until about 2 minutes later when the 2nd radiator began to do the exact same thing! Our central heating is programed to come on around 6.30am and my missus was having a shower around that time also (if this means anything)

Could someone please explain to me what has happened and what I should of done?

Thanks in advance

 

[rebuke]

Is the control valve a TRV?

If so, then be aware that even at the off position these normally have a frost setting, so they will come on below a certain temperature. Given the current temperatures, it's not unreasonable to imagine these would kick in opening a little bit, and then when the pump fires up you get water appearing...

 

[BillyWilson]

ahhh so if I'd just capped them off everything would of been fine

If I were to leave them uncapped would they continue to leak or is there a limit to amount of water that can come out?

Thanks for the speedy response mate its been bugging me all day

 

[rebuke]

In theory the TRVs would ahve come with decorators caps, which you can use to close the valve properly (you take the TRV head off, then use the decorators cap to push down the pin and close the valve). The problem is given the radiators are now off, taking off the TRV head will cause water to start pouring out, so your best bet is probably to cap off the TRV ends if you have the appropriate bits.

I don't know about limit of water coming out - basically if your room heats up (e.g. if the sun comes out a bit like it has here) then the valves will close again, but there's nothing to stop them opening again overnight etc...

There's also the chance if it gets very cold they might open even further, and rather than a small trickle you might get a fair amount of water coming out, so I'd recommend capping them tonight.

Note however I'm not an expert, just a DIYer that's done a few bits and pieces, I don't know exactly what the valves could do...

 

[BillyWilson]

Well you certainly know a lot me than me, I'm just a simple bricky/plasterer - as far as plumbing goes, I just learn from my mistakes (of which there's been plenty) - at the rate I'm going I'll know enough to be a fully qualified plumber in a few months