Another "Any heating engineers here" question

[cambsno]

I have a three and a half year old house. One of my radiators leaks. At the top at one end there is a nut type thing, on the other end there seems to be something similar with a small screw in the middle. The leak is from the non screw end.

I try to tighten it up with pliers but cant really do it as well as I could if I had the right tool. There appears to be rust marks around the nut, not much. It only drips a little when its off.

I did think about unscrewing it but when i started the amount of water coming out increased, I had thought of unscrewing and then using ptfe tape. If I undo will it chuck out loads of water or just a little? Or should I just use some sealant round it.

 

[lawrie29]

Pictures?? may help us?

 

[alpina]

You need to turn off both valves at the bottom first. Make sure you warm up the thermostat or the room first though.

After you turn them off bleed of any pressure and then you can whip it off and wrap on some ptfe tape, apply in the direction of thread so it doesn't fall off when you tighten it.

Turn on the valves and then bleed.

 

[MisterE]

Before you rush in and close off both of the bottom valves as above take note. The valve not normally used to shut off the radiator is used to balance the whole system. It might be cracked open just a tiny bit, wide open, or be somewhere in between.

If it's open just a tiny bit and you then open it wide when you've finished you will probably find one or more of your other radiators won't get hot. I have a friend you spent countless hours bleeding radiators, changing pump etc and was about to get a new boiler before I pointed this out to him and told him how to set the radiators up using this second valve. A very grateful friend. So put the second valve back in the position you found it.