The Lemon Fool

Whilst bathroom shopping for replacements for some rusting Screwfix Towel Rails I came across some beautiful Vogue Chube Stainless Steel Radiators.

Having seen them in the flesh, so to speak, when a small one came up on eBay for £80 I bought it immediately. I subsequently bought its big brother from designerraditorsdirect.co.uk

They are lovely to look at and hang really well. However.....

They are absolute bitch to fit valves onto. I have two Draper TRV4's and two other valves to fit, but whatever I do the bloody things drip. The internal threads on the rads are very shallow (only 4 or 5 turns). I have fitted all of them three times now. Of the four connections I have one non-drip (valve), one that drips about once every two days (TRV), one that drips about twice a day (TRV) and one that drips every hour or so (Valve)

Any ideas?

Regards

Pheid

If you've got it down to such tiny leakage pop a dose of Fernox Leak Sealant into the system. I had similar issues after removing/refitting some ageing radiators years ago and the sealant worked straightaway then and ever since.

I have not used Loctite 577 (although I have used a similar Rocol product). I understand that this has a limited shelf life so it might not be any good in a few years' time if you need it again for anything.

The stuff I normally use is Loctite 55. This is like dental floss with a white paste. Scratch the threads first with a Stanley knife , hacksaw or file and wrap some of this around the thread in the right direction. Screw the bits together and you should be leak free.

Julian F. G. W.

Hemp and boss white, mate. Lasts forever. Why, I've still got a hank and a tub from the 1960s when my old dad did the central heating.

Seriously, there are some very good sealants these days, such as the Loctite stuff. I'd never heard of using Fernox leak sealant in the system, but if it doesn't gum up the pump it sounds like a goer. Sort of like putting an egg into the radiator of your car? (LOL, those were the days.)

BJ

bungeejumper wrote: Sort of like putting an egg into the radiator of your car? (LOL, those were the days.)

BJ

Or Pinhead Oatmeal. I had a hippy friend who - of course - tried muesli

RC

bungeejumper wrote: I'd never heard of using Fernox leak sealant in the system, but if it doesn't gum up the pump it sounds like a goer. Sort of like putting an egg into the radiator of your car? (LOL, those were the days.)

BJ

Had a chat (online) with the Fernox help squad before I used it. Apparently it decomposes after a few days in the system so no long-term likelihood of blockages. Saves draining down and mucking about if you've just the odd small leak.

PTFE tape, or put Fernox LSX sealant on the threads as you would Bosswhite https://fernox.com/product/ls-x-externa ... aler-50ml/

I presume your trvs have proper taper threads?

V8

Having looked it up on plumbing forums, I discover that for all my life I have been getting it wrong with PTFE tape. My six or seven wraps aren't enough, it seems - the pros use twelve or fifteen. No wonder there are so many complaints about how hard it is to tidy up a visible joint on a valve after you've made it. (I use a Stanley knife, personally.)

Am I the only person who has to stop and think about whether to apply the tape clockwise or anticlockwise? Every single ruddy time?

BJ

FredBloggs wrote:PTFE tape is so last century..

So am I

Yes, stuff in a tube can do the job, often.
But some threads bottom out. PTFE, or Bosswhite & hemp, provides a means to prevent this. A bottomed out thread will never seal, no matter how much Loctite one applies.

V8