IDIY

What procedure do people use to de-solder joints where there is still some water left inside the pipes? Is there a way to remove the water after pipes have been drained as well as possible? Can the water be sucked out using a hand pump? Could this even work and if so how to do it? Or do plumbers just cut the damn pipes and deal with water flow as best as possible, letting most of it soak into the plasterboard?

Any ideas are welcome.

There are many horizontal pipes where some water remains. I have attempted to de-solder joints but it has taken a very long time to get them apart and I think it is due to small amounts of water which is making it difficult to heat the pipe sufficiently.

While attempting to heat the pipes, steam has been coming out of the far end, showing that there is still some water inside. When I have finally got the joint apart, some dirty water has come out which I have attempted to catch in a tray.......not always successfully

Thoughts and opinions gratefully received.

There used to be a real problem with putting Thermostatic Radiators Valves (TRV’s) on the return. As the TRV just opening or closing the dynamics of the flow would cause the valve to snap shut and then open repeatedly, this sounded like a machine gun.

Most TRV’s are now bi-directional (as yours is) that is they can be fitted on the flow or the return. In your case pipe the radiator as is and put the TRV on the side with the best air flow.

Thanks for your reply, the pipes all had to be re-done due to the change in radiator size and width, so I have fed to the TRV side, which is on the right, because it has the best airflow to the TRV.

I am replacing a bedroom single panel radiator with a double panel double convector because the previous rad was not sufficient. I also want to fit a TRV, there was none fitted before and with the larger radiator it is now needed.

Lots unexpected problems have been delaying this, such as plaster falling off a wall and a wall practically unsupported on floorboards due to cement breaking out over the last 46 years. The house is very cold so I need to get it finished quickly.

The left side of the rad is on a wall less than 3 feet from another wall at right angles so it is very close to a corner and I plan on putting a bed next to the rad which would box in a TRV quite badly. I therefore want to put it on the right hand side where it will have more air flow and be less restricted by the bed.

The new Rad is slightly wider too, 950 compared with 1m so pipework needs to be changed.

Here is the issue. The feed is usually on the left where I intend having the lockshield valve and the TRV on the right, closer to the centre of the room.

The TRV is bi-directional. Should I put the feed pipe to the left where the lockshield valve will be or the right with the TRV? Go with convention for piping, feed to the left, but have the lockshield valve on the feed side or have the feed on the right with the TRV?

You can get radiator tails with valves in them with small screws on them to turn off the flow. You change the Radiator tails on both sides when doing it. Then you can turn off the radiator valve and lockshield and turn off the valve on the tails and then undo the union nuts and remove the radiator. Help may be required as the radiator will be full of water and could be very heavy. Then the wall can be re-decorated fully and then replaced without having to drain the heating system or lose any water/protector.

Otherwise you can close the radiator valves on both sides and put a small pan underneath the pipe and undo the union nut letting some water out. Tighten again when the basin is full and repeat until the radiator is empty. Lots of rags help too. A lot more trouble than the tail valves but I have done it in the past before I got some tail valves.