Radiator leak pouring everywhere

[Craig Farrall]

Hi all,

I recently moved into a house about 6 months ago and during this process we removed all radiators to allow us to plaster the walls and paint.

After this process we managed to add the other radiators back to the wall and connect correctly, except for one radiator, as one of the brackets had broke.

We searched far and wide for a same bracket online, but unfortunately couldn't find the one we needed to match the current one.

Anyway, we have had the heating running now for a number of months, as we had turned the tap off for that radiator. Then all of a sudden tonight we heard a massive noise and ran upstairs to find that pipe that is open was pouring with water.

We managed to turn the water off to stop this from causing more damage.

My question is, why would this of happened? We haven't had any issues for months with this solution, but all of a sudden this happened. I can't think of anything that has happened differently this evening to have caused this. Is this likely to have caused long term damage anywhere when we connect the radiator?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

was it pouring out of the trv?

and tbh you never leave an open end open for long

 

[Best]

TRVs (thermostatic radiator valves) can open if room temperature drops, more so with older type that do not have a positive Off. You ideally need the correct manual head supplied with new Trvs, but usually these are lost. Plus the valves should be plugged off for safety.
Post a photo of the rad bracket on here to see if we have a spare.

 

[Craig Farrall]

Thanks for getting back to me.

I have posted two pictures, one of the setup of how this is currently and of the radiator bracket. Any advice based on seeing this would be great.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Looks like the trv head has bust off also that trv is still open as there's no head on it

Do you have a sealed system/ combi boiler ?

 

[Gasmk1]

As above you could take the head of one of your other rads if the same make and put that on and turn it off but you still need to cap it off till you fit the rad as if the temperature of that room drops the valve may open. You will struggle with finding a bracket I would advise new radiator

 

[Craig Farrall]

Thanks for the replies.

I did exactly that at the time, I used another TRV to turn it off, then took it off. So that solved the issue for over a month, but for some reason last night it decided to stop working and I don't know why.

I searched high and low for the same brackets to save on costs for a new radiator, or costs for reworking the pipes to fit the new radiator location with the different brackets, however I had no luck.

 

[Craig Farrall]

I also have a combi boiler by the way.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

I also have a combi boiler by the way.

Have you re topped up the pressure ?

Also trvs don't totally shut off they just go into frost mode

Which turns the rad on at about 5dc

 

[Craig Farrall]

The pressure on the boiler is regularly topped up, but obviously after this the pressure went down to 0.

I am looking at alternative methods to put the radiator back on, so we can turn the water back on. Just seems odd why this would happen all of a sudden.

 

[townfanjon]

Am I reading this correctly, you used another TRV to turn the rad off , then took the TRV off and it held . The pin must have stuck down and then went bang and released water everywhere.

Just put a new TRV on !! and a new rad . Job done .

 

[JCplumb]

While the pressure's down, you should definitely change the TRV for a new one.
If you must save the old radiator, then use universal brackets, it's the distance between the lugs that's important, use the good bracket as a guide.
Universal Radiator Brackets

 

[sammathias]

Its a lifestyle trv. The head has gone brittle over time and unfortunately popped off whilst not connected to.a rad. Always cap off a trv with a stub of pipe and a stop end.
As for the bracket, its an old one. Best buying a pack of universal brackets or even a new rad.

 

[Daniel Hall]

I cant get over some of the stuff asked on here....

 

[sammathias]

I cant get over some of the stuff asked on here..

Whys that danny boy?

 

[Daniel Hall]

Leaving the rad valve open ended even though the trv is off. Plus they could have called a plumber

 

[plumbandplumber]

What's wrong with the old bracket? If it's just split, get someone local with a welder to repair it. Won't notice when it's behind the rad.

Nobody fixes anything any more!