Ideas and tips

HOW TO DISMANTLE A RADIATOR

You have to dismantle a radiator and are afraid of flooding your house?


Here are some useful tips

Radiators are part of the most common heating systems. They are generally connected to a hydraulic network that receives heat from a boiler (fed by various fuels such as gas, wood, etc.). Radiators are usually made of metal materials such as steel, cast iron and aluminium, and therefore require maintenance in terms of cleaning, painting or in severe cases, complete replacement. This is why it is essential to know how to dismantle them properly to avoid flooding your home. Although this is a quite simple operation, it is important to follow a few tips to disassemble them in the right way.


Here are some tips to remove a radiator easily and intuitively.

Needed:

1. Plier wrench

2. towel

3. basin or bucket

4. teflon tape

Steps to take before disassembling a radiator

As a first step, close the main valve that brings water from the boiler to the radiators, or alternatively close the taps on both sides of the radiator, turning them until they are completely blocked, in order to stop the flow of water. Spread a towel on the floor under the joint nut and place a basin on top of it to collect any residual water trapped in the joints. Use the plier wrench to loosen the joint nut slightly, taking care not to shake the pipe too much, which usually ends up in the wall or floor.

When water starts flowing from the joint nut, stop unscrewing and let the water slowly flow into the basin. As soon as the basin is completely full, tighten the nut, empty the basin and start the operation all over again. Then tighten the first nut and move the basin under the other nut and loosen it almost completely. There will still be a residue of water in the heater, then lift the radiator from the wall supports and tilt it to drop all the water into the basin.

Due to the weight of the radiator, it is essential that someone helps with this operation. It is advisable to place it on the floor, on a soft surface such as a carpet, to avoid scratching the floor. At the end of the operations, you will be able to reassemble our radiator, simply by carrying out all the above operations in reverse order.

Tesi

 

What does a heating system look like?

 A heating system, whatever type it is, consists of a few essential parts:

- a heat generator: boiler or heat pump, which can be powered by liquid or gaseous fuel.

- heating terminals: radiators, from the most classic cast iron radiators to the most modern steel or aluminium ones, up to the most innovative furnishing radiators, passing through the practical towel warmers, ideal to be placed in bathrooms. In recent years, "alternative" heating systems such as wall, baseboard and floor or air heating systems (fancoil) have taken hold.

- distribution system: pipes can be one pipe or two-pipe  depending on the type of water distribution network.

- regulation system: thermostat/chronothermostat, which allows to manage and program the system.

- other devices: manifolds, which are used to distribute hot water to the various heating terminals or to the different circuits of radiant panel systems, and thermostatic valves, which are placed directly on the radiators and are used to regulate the temperature of each room.

 

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How valves work

Over the years, radiator valves have had a significant evolution: from the traditional valve with the typical function of a normal tap that once closed allows the removal of the radiator, to the thermostatic valve, which in addition to traditional functions, regulates the flow of hot water and therefore the room temperature, with significant advantages in terms of energy and climatic comfort.

Read the article about Thermostatic Valves

 

Simple & Fast

As we have seen, removing a radiator is simple, fast and practical and can be done even by those who are not experts in household and similar work.

A radiator is usually dismantled for various reasons: it does not heat sufficiently and therefore needs to be cleaned inside; you want to re-paint it, so you need to dismantle the connections, unhook the radiator from the brackets and move the radiator so that it can be conveniently painted; you want to replace it with another model or you simply need to repaint the room.

To avoid risks and unpleasant consequences, the first thing to do is to close the central tap of the house plumbing system. This manoeuvre allows the total blockage of water circulation within the system and ensures safe maintenance.

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And the boiler?

Once the radiator has been replaced, it is a good idea to check the boiler pressure indicator. If the pressure is too low, for example, it could prevent the boiler from operating, resulting in no hot water. But what if the boiler pressure is too high? What could happen and what should be done to restore the situation?

The boiler pressure should vary between 1.2 and 1.5 bar (unit of measurement used to calculate atmospheric pressure), but this indication may vary depending on the model of boiler installed. Check the boiler's instruction manual for the correct setting.

The control and consequent setting of the pressure of a boiler is a very simple operation, within everyone's reach, which does not require technical intervention.

The pressure is indicated by a barometer, usually placed at the front or top of the boiler; the pressure gauge of a boiler resembles a car tachometer or an analogue clock. If the needle is positioned between 1.2 and 1.5 bar, there is no need to do anything else.

If it turns out to be too high, then action will have to be taken. How?

By letting some pressure out of the boiler's drain valve, which is usually located just below, and let some water out, checking that the pressure gauge returns to the required 1.2 and 1.5 bar levels.

If the device does not have a valve, we can proceed and work on the radiators. The operation is the same as described in the article 'how to vent radiators'.

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Read the article HOW TO BLEED RADIATORS

 

 

 

 

 

 


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