What Causes Radiator Problems
- Posted by:
- Admin
- Tags:
- radiator, problems, radiator problems, radiator valves, radiator care
- Posted date:
- 05-05-2022
This article looks at what causes radiator problems in your heating systems. We look at what causes of radiator leaks and how to maintain and care for your radiators.
Causes of Radiator leaks
There are many reasons why one household or property radiators may leak out. You can resolve some of these issues yourself if you have the skills to do so; however, it is often safer and more efficient to contact an experienced gas safe registered professional in your area to get the job done for you.
You may call them using the company phone number or send a message to the email address to receive a free quote.
The following causes of radiator leaks include:
Rusted And Corroded Radiator
Over time, it's common for homeowners and professionals to uncover a specific amount of corrosion occurring inside radiators. Such is often the case for those with much older radiators, especially if you haven't been regularly topping up on your chemical inhibitor levels.
Chemical inhibitors are a liquid that you would add to the water inside your radiators or central heating systems, and it helps prevent any internal corrosion from worsening.
If you discover that the corrosion has indeed worsened, it can cause several holes to begin appearing at the bottom of your radiator. Such holes generally start small, and over time you may notice a minor amount of water leaking out, typically of a brownish shade.
If you notice this, it is a sign that radiator leaking is coming as it can occur before your corrosion situation becomes an emergency. Once you notice this, you need to contact a local plumbing and engineering company that can accurately deal with the issues at hand.
When you discover holes at the bottom of your radiator, your next step is to seek out a new radiator replacement. Contact a local engineer for further advice or free quotes.
Leaky Radiator Valve
In many cases, those households or properties that discover wet patches below their radiator tend to have a faulty valve causing the leaky radiator.
Once the internal workings of your valve begin to wear out, the valve is no longer watertight, meaning water will often start to leak out, as it cannot hold it in anymore.
Often water leaks outside of your valve when it is halfway open, which is why it is essential to ensure they are tightened.
Try turning your valve to the closed position (or off), which will determine whether your valves are the problem. Ensure you dry off any leaking water with a towel and check if the valve area stays dry.
After doing so, you want to open the valve again to assess if any water leaks out.
If you find that water continues to leak out, you must replace it with a new valve as soon as possible, which is quite an easy job.
Loose Or Damaged Spindle
There is a specific pipe joint that's job is to connect the main body of the radiator to its valve, which is commonly known in the industry as the spindle.
The spindle packing can sometimes be the primary source if you experience water leaking directly from your radiator.
You can sort spindle related issues like this by tightening gland nuts that could have come loose over time.
Undo the union nut, and once you have done so, you must readjust it and tighten the union nut so that it is in a more secure position.
If you discover that water is still leaking after tightening all glands, you can take some PTFE tape and wrap it carefully around the spindle to see if this repairs the problem.
Maintenance and care for your radiators
Radiators are typically hard-working and robust systems that work efficiently all-around your home. With a small amount of care and maintenance, you'll feel warm and toasty for many years to come.
There are a small few easy steps to follow that can ensure that no matter what, you get the maximum mileage out of each of the radiators in your property or home and avoid future leaks. Even you only decide to replace one of two of them.
It would help if you also didn't forget it is far more challenging for your boiler as it has to work much harder to produce hot water to heat your radiators if they aren't as efficient as usual. The more strain you put on your boilers, the more you can wear it out, and in doing this, you could risk costly issues and repairs cropping up in the future.
Furniture Placement
The first tip we would give is to ensure you aren't placing the furniture too close or directly in front of your radiators.
Doing so could cause damage to your furnishings; however, it can prevent heat from efficiently circulating your room and house.
Blocking off heat can bring down the energy efficiency, causing you to continue upping the temperature and more frequently switching the heating on and off to see if you can feel a difference, which will, ultimately, increase your energy costs.
Drying Clothes
It would be best to avoid drying clothes or wet towels on your radiators after finishing the washing or getting out of the shower.
We understand that it's a common fault, and we've all done it; however, it causes a drastic amount of rust and condensation over time that you will have to remove and paint over.
Rust and condensation not only cause external damage to the appearance of your radiators, but they can also do damage to the inside of the radiators over time and lead to cold spots and other faults.
Inhibitor Levels
Continuously checking the inhibitor levels of your system regularly is something that we would also advise doing.
The inhibitor is a chemical liquid known for prolonging and protecting your central heating system's overall lifespan. It's best to frequently look at it to ensure that it's performing well.
Cold Spots
Alongside this, we recommend checking each aspect of your radiators at least once a month to see if you can feel any significant cold spots.
If you discover them, you may need to bleed your radiators.
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Do you need to replace your radiator or radiator valves?
There are times when you may discover that you must get your radiator replaced entirely by a professional, or at least you may have to replace its valves.
Such could be the case if you find that your radiator has leaked at the body or if your valve is faulty. For those faced with replacing damaged radiators or valves, you must do some research to predetermine the right products for you.
When you replace your current leaking radiator valve, you want to ensure that your newly purchased valve is the same model and brand as your existing valve. Then, once this has been established, you must follow these steps:
Firstly, you must drain all the water from your current central heating system radiator.
Next, you want to clean all the valve threads inside your radiator lightly but thoroughly.
Then, you want to use your spanner to carefully unscrew all the nuts that connect the valve to your water pipe and unscrew the old valve entirely.
Carefully wind a PFTE thread around the threads of your new adapters and screw these into the radiator.
Finally, we'd ask that you refill your central heating system with water and ensure you bleed the radiator to get rid of any trapped air inside.
Make sure you close the bleed thoroughly so that you don't experience any more leaking.
When replacing your leaking radiator, you must remember that in this case, bigger does not mean better. There is a wide range of modern radiators that you'll find are half of your current rod size, and yet they offer as much heat output as your existing radiators.
You can reduce the overall replacement cost with smaller heating systems and more compact designs, as they will appear more discreet and sleek when in your home or property.
Do you require radiator and heating servicing? We offer services to both domestic and commercial customers Uppingham, Oakham, Stamford and Rutland. Our charges are highly competitive and realistic. If you are experiencing problems with your central heating - Please contact us.