New radiator pah! I fixed it for pennies! A heating engineer could not undo the bleed valve because the nipple, usually square, was completely round. Obviously someone had failed to loosen the valve which would not have been helped by such a short gap between the radiator and the wall. I bet they did not have a proper key or simply it had seized tight over years of not being bled.
The engineer said I would have to drill out the valve or buy a whole new radiator. The first idea was a non-starter because of the proximity to the side wall and the second sounded too expensive, and not good environmentally.
As I did not have bent pointy-nose pliers I decided to try to force a tiny socket on. Again, the gap was a problem and I had to use the hammer side-on. The 5mm socket from my garage tool kit was slightly too big. It did grip, but not enough to turn the valve. So, out came the cheap socket set I keep in my campervan. It had a super range of tiny sockets so I tried the 4.5mm one. Although it was crooked when I had hammered it on, it actually worked.
You might hear in my voice, I was a bit surprised! And as you can also hear by the hissing, the radiator had masses of air in it.
I will wait till the boiler engineer comes to do a service and other jobs, and I will put a replacement valve in.
I'm sure when I inspect the steel socket that it will not have been damaged by being forced on to a softer brass nipple.
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16 окт 2024
