Did I buy the wrong radiator? Help and information on all topics relating to your central heating, air conditioning and ventilation issues.

[EricLeBouffon]

Having spent over 60 years avoiding plumbing... I thought the time had come to get my hands dirty so I decided to replace a small radiator that was so rusty I could not bleed it anymore.

So I tried to figure its size and bought something that looked similar (600 mm high 700 mm wide).

Installing it was not too much problem as it fitted in the existing brackets... until I realised "something is missing"!

According to the instructions, I am missing "radiator valve trails" that are not included in the package.

However looking at my new radiator in place, I have about 15mm space left between the radiator and the existing pipe work.

Are there "radiator valve trails" that would fit this little space (15mm for 2)?


Otherwise, I have spotted a radiator 600mm x 600mm on clearance at Homebase for £7 (can't complain!).
Are there any other gotchas I should be aware of regarding these valves?


Thanks

Eric

[stoneyboy]

Hi ericlebouffon,
You will not be able to fit two radiator tails in 15mm. Buy the narrower radiator, get rad valve tails and see how much space you have - you may need to buy some radiator tail extensions or adjustable valve tails.
Regards S

[ericmark]

The valves come with the bits that go into the radiators, they don't come with radiators, you can buy a special Allen key to fit the parts, normally you would remove from old radiator put some new PTFE tape on them and fit in new radiator.