Be Excellent To Each Other

I just saw that the boiler pressure was too high, so I bled a bit from the radiator.

I the bit you loosen to bleed the radiator fell out.

I can't find it.

water is coming out.

What do I do?!?!?!?

Tea towel against the radiator hole right now. Several more on standby

Organise teams to find the bit what fell out.

Bleed radiators from the top down.

Standing facing the radiator, the bit what fell out will be by your right foot about 4 inches away, by the skirting board.

Amazingly, I found what looks like a broken hook with a screw attached to it underneath the radiator, that is a perfect size.

Emergency over.

You've one that? Good.

Now, what have we learnt today about bleeding radiators at pissed o'clock? I've done it before and won't do it again.

Now, if you're really lucky, there'll be a key to turn in the boiler to drop the pressure. Use that next time.

Love from Uncle MaliA.

glad you got it out but HOLY SHIT you managed to unscrew it completely? That's, what, a good dozen or so turns on a typical radiator?

HOW MUCH HAVE YOU HAD TO DRINK MAN?!

I'd happily wander round to help if you didn't live about 40 miles away

Also, without wanting to further trivialise your plight - your radiator was pissing water and you came onto the internet.

And got immediate advice.

Man, I fucking love this place, it's like an internet with people who care.

Sorry I wasn't here to care on cue. 15 minutes sooner and I'd... probably not really have had much of use to contribute.

In fairness, it was from me.

We should all carry wireless webcams around so we can capture video of, for example, holding a towel against the radiator with one hand while tapping away on a laptop with the other.

It'd be like Jackass for geeks and people who don't like broken bones.

Also: Dimlies. I don't even use ASCII smilies anywhere else, never mind the rubbish icons most forums have.

Another victory for Dimrill.

Um, hope your temporary fix holds til you find the proper thingymabob, Lewie. I'll go an molest another thread now.

Thanks for the advice, the temporary fix seems to be working completely fine. I would have ignored it, but the boiler pressure was scary high, and it doesn't have any way to releasing pressure apart from via radiators.

I still can't find the actual thing that dropped out.

It really should have a manual valve, in case the automatic valve fails. To be missing either is probably a massive regulations violation, never mind both. Not that I know where the manual valve is on the boiler in our rented house.

How scary is scary? I think you'd probably be at no risk of explosion until >4bar. Unless the fitter used shitty piping or didn't solder it properly, which I suppose might be true if they didn't fit a blow-off valve.

over 3.5 and wobbling a little, supposed to be between 0.5 and 1.5.

Oh, er. Right then. Good job!

What alerted you? Disaster movie style groaning and creaking?

Also: you know this already, but a heating engineer is going to be a failure urgent requirement, there.

More importantly, how's the radiator?!

Whoah, just had a major secondary moment of panic then.

The temporary fix breached!

But just in time, I happened upon the actual thing that was supposed to be in there.

I suggest turning the water temperature way down (because it's really a bit nippy to suggest turning the thing off entirely).

Also, if you have thermostatics on radiators, open them all up wide, the few pence extra it'll cost will be better than a flooded house and boiler explosion.

Sounds like a blockage somewhere though - go round an check for any cold radiators, not that knowing approximately where any blockage is will help at this point.

I've been turning the water on and off a bit recently, got a leaky tap upstairs the other day, and it is coming through the ceiling, and waiting on the plumber coming to fix it.

A leaky tap won't cause enormous pressure, though water coming through the ceiling could suggest a sprung weld/join (and so a blockage) nearby.

Best thing (after getting a qualified engineer) is to wait for kalmar to wake up, and ignore everything I say. That's just general advice really, but especially true at 2.20am with more booze than blood.

Though I do stand by turning the water temperature down.

I'm completely ignorant of radiator technology. Can someone tell me things? Like bleeding and stuff. All I know about my radiator is: I CAN'T TURN IT OFF. The fucking thermostat won't rotate. And I don't want to turn the other one at the other end as it's pointy and doesn't look like it's designed for human-hand turning.

Noted, thanks.

Most of it is mopped up, and the towels are in the washer. Bed time I think, before I break anything else.

When the heating's been on a while, feel the corners of each radiator. If the heat is about equal at each corner, that radiator doesn't need bleeding. If it's far hotter at the inlet point than other points (especially the diagonal opposite corner to the inlet), it needs bleeding. Also if there a trickling sounds coming from it. Are you sure it's a thermostat? It'll be a lump next to the inlet pipe with "* 1-5 >" markings? If it's jammed, it needs replacing.

Also: a heating thread at this time in the morning. How surreal. And brilliant.

Though not so much for Lewie.

Don't panic about the high pressure to much, 3.5 Bar isn't dangerous, and there Will be a pressure relief valve in the boiler which will operate before the radiators start blowing off the walls.

There should be a little turny valve thing to manually release some pressure on the boiler too, normally at the bottom of it, sometimes above a little plastic drain thing, which is open. Look for that.

Also, yes, get someone to look at it if the pressure won't stay in the correct range for long.

Edit: o hai biknorton Excellent work being up at all hours to administer reassurance


Lewiep, halo3 arrived yesterday, many thanks!

I would LOVE to know where the release valve for my boiler (Vaillant Combi Ecotec) is. The plumber who reattached the rad in the living room after the decorators left filled it right to the fucking top - full pressure, at the very limit of the red mark on the gauge, and the LED gauge is flashing the pressure as 2.8 bar (max is 3.2 I think). Now, the thing WILL automatically let some water out if it gets over 3.0, but I'd rather not have it running in the red anyway.

And, short of slowly bleeding one of the rads out, I have no way of doing it. I saw the service guys reach under it somewhere and push something and the it jetted a lot of water out through the pressure valve outside. Alas, every google result is just people with low pressure.

Is there no PDF of the manual on the manufacturer's site?

Meaty is Jack Torrence.

I have the printed manual, and I have a PDF of a service manual. Can't find this damn valve (but then, up until recently, haven't had cause to look).

I'd just like someone to tell me, yeah.

Ah, gotcha. Reach underneath the boiler and you should be able to feel a valve thing, it's that. There might be more than one though so make sure you get the right one.

You do not run a race-carradiator in the red.