Removing central heating pipes to radiator temporarily

[ollieman]

I'm Doing a loft conversion and I'm at the stage of doubling joists. Theres and existing radiator in the loft space from a previous conversion which didn't receive a building warrant. I need to remove the radiator and the pipes connected to them as they are in the way and prevent me from doubling the joists. My question is what is the easiest way of doing this? A radiator will be installed in roughly the same place and annother will be installed on the other side of the room. The existing radiator has two pipes coming from it, I'm assuming a flow and a return pipe. I'm thinking that if the radiator is removed an the flow valve closed, then logic tells me that it would be the same as cutting the flow and return pipes and capping them until I need to reconnect them after all the structural changes/ plasterboarding has been completed. Given that I'm doing the loft in my spare time the radiators will not be installed until the end of the summer or there abouts. Is this okay to cap the pipes without this effecting the heating system/ circulation? Also are there any issues with air getting into the system when doing this? Should I drain the system? Someone told me that air can get into the boiler and damage it, but the boiler is new (1 year old) and should have an automatic air release valve, is this right?

Advice please.

Many thanks,

Ollieman.

 

[Burnerman]

Just cut your pipes to the length you want and cap them (a plastic stop end will do nicely) until you need them again. Its just the same as turning the rad off in the summer.
If you have a combi boiler then release the pressure in the boiler first - if its a vented system then you'll need to partially drain down.
John

 

[ollieman]

Is there a risk that air will get into the system when the pipes are cut? and if so can this cause damage to the system?

What do you mean by partial drain?

Thanks,

Ollieman

 

[Burnerman]

If you have a combi boiler, the system has to be depressurised first by bleeding water out of a rad valve until the pressure gauge is zero.
Boiler off, turn the old rad off, then cut the pipes and cap the ends. Repressurise your system again before turning the boiler back on.
With a vented system, preferably plug the header tank outlet, then disconnect one of the rad valves, collecting the water in a shallow tray until no more comes out. Then cut the pipes - but expect a bit more water loss. If you are quick then this shouldn't be an issue as your rad is in the loft. Unplug the tank outlet and normal service should resume.
Any air in the system can be easily bled out again, and the boiler should have an automatic vent to deal with small air ingress.
John

 

[ollieman]

I did what you said, it sounded logical to me anyway and was a quick task and all went smoothly, Thanks again,

Ollieman