Great video as usual. We've got sludge in the bottom of our rads so was thinking about cleansing the system with fresh water, then adding some sentinel x400 to free up any residual sludge, waiting 4-5 weeks, then flushing through again. Finally, add inhibitor to a fresh water system. What I was wondering was, can I leave the mains feed to the header tank open and let the rads drain as you describe for an hour or so until it runs clear, then proceed with the x400, etc.?
@ultimatehandyman Thank you very much. I didn't realise that I could do this, great advice. When I've finished draining the system, do I need to replace the copper pipe or can I leave the drain off valve attach to it?
Hi! I have a combi boiler and wanted to install TRVs. I know that the first thing I need to do is to empty the whole heating system. My problem is that, there's no radiator in the house that has a drain similar to what is shown in your video. Is there another method of draining the system? Thank you very much.
Do I just have to turn the boiler off completely in order to drain the radiator, I need to take one off to replace it with a towel rail/radiator. Thanks.
Do I need to put the boiler on to pump water back into the radiators or will that happen with gravity? How do I add the inhibitor? My radiators have never been flushed and have many cold spots. Will this solve that problem? Thanks
@ultimatehandyman Cheers! I'll try that next time I need to drain the whole system. Thanks for the quick response. At this time, I actually wanted to drain the water to replace the 3-port valve, so would have had to drain the rads, as no isolation was fitted for the valve. I had an idea, and fitted one of those self-cutting taps on to a pipe just below the level of the 3-port valve. Attached a hose to outside and hey-presto, valve's replaced and water's back on.
hello sir ,After I turned off boiler,I ensure ALL of radiator valves throughout the entire house are turned ON, Is that thermostatic radiator valve or not? I am confused because there is another valve opposite side of radiator. so which one is it?
Hi, great video and thank you. Is it safe to dump glycols/biocide/molybdate etc straight out onto the ground? Wont this leach into the surrounding soils and eventually into the water course?
Hey this is great thanks. I am going to use this method to try cap off a radiator as the job is so small i cannot get a plumber. I have taken off a large radiator but how do i cap off a plastic pipe from out of the skirt board. What plastic caps do i need please and do i cut of the plastic pipe outside the skirt or chisel away at the wall to find the plastic pipe in the wall which i assume cannot be far away. do i juts cut it and then cap it thanks? steve
It depends what size the pipe is. It sounds like it could be 10mm plastic, so you'll need a 10mm pipe insert and a 10mm pushfit stop end. Best to cap it in an accessible place, if possible.
Hi mate - thanks for the great vid! I'm having trouble draining my system as the downstairs is on 3 separate legs and after draining the 1st leg (plus upstairs obviously!) I found that I couldn't get anything to come out of the other 2 legs. I've got the bleed valves open upstairs but it seems there's some kind of vacuum that has developed that's holding the water back on the other two legs. Even if I take the drain plugs right out nothing is budging! I want to be able to completely drain flush and then refill it in about 3 weeks time. Any ideas how I can shift the water? Cheers. Tom
Just turn the combi off. You can normally drain down the system by installing a self cutting tap onto one of the radiator tail pies downstairs, preferably near to a door- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/how-to/taps/self-cutting-tap
@@neilward7616 Yes, Sometimes you can just push it on and it will be a tight fit, but sometimes I also use a jubilee clip to ensure it can't be pulled off ;-)
I've got a sealed system with a pressure vessel in the airing cupboard above the tank, but I've also got a header tank in the loft - the last service engineer left an empty inhibitor bottle on the header tank, so I'm guessing that it feeds the rads. Can I just drain off the rads by isolating the header tank, or do I need to shut off the pressure vessel as well?
I'm cleaning out my open vented system (Sentinel X400 has been added for a month or so) and after re-filling I can hear a small amount of air bubbling around in the hot water side, only when hot water is on demand but not when heating and hot water are both selected. There is no air in the radiators (I have a a 3-port valve). I still get hot water from the taps and the return pipe from the coil to boiler is hot. I've tried changing pump speeds, opening the bleed nipple for one second (only water comes out) but can't shift the air! I've googled this problem and looks like back-filling via the boiler drain-off is what I need to, would others agree to this solution or should I open the bleed nipple for longer?
Your best bet is to ask here- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/central-heating-boilers-f35.html One of the professional will advise much better than me ;-)
***** Thanks for your reply. I checked out the forum and it looks like a backfill would have been required, only thing is the trapped air vanished this morning. I think flicking the pump speeds from max to low the night before did something, although there was no evidence at the time. Pure luck perhaps?!
I have drained the system and replaced a couple of rads ,am having a new boiler fitted in a few weeks the rads are now empty but connected ( air tight) will they be alright they wont start to rust from the inside with out water in them will they , hope you don't mind the question great video thanks.
+graham garbutt I'm not sure to be honest, there is a chance the the radiators that have had the water in already will be wet and so could start rusting. For the sake of a couple of quid for some rust inhibitor it might be a good idea to refill the system and add the inhibitor to be on the safe side. When you have your new boiler installed the engineer will probably do a powerflush, which should clean out any of the crud that's in there!
No, if you are draining down the whole system you can just ensure that all other radiator valves are open (they are normally always open- unless someone has closed them). You can then drain the whole system from one of the downstairs radiators 👍
I've a drain valve on mine but there doesn't seem to be a tool in existence that will open it. It look like a bleed valve but no screw head and it's in a round housing that is smaller than any ratchet set I have or have seen...any ideas as with a standard bleed key you can't get any strength to turn it as its too small.
fooman65 It might be a good idea to take a picture of it and post it here- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/central-heating-boilers-f35.html one of the plumbers will know ;-)
OK, i;ve got a photo of it, B&Q plumber guy shook his head and suggested I buy one he had in the shop but still got the problem of draining it first. Just joined that but can't see where you post new topics. Do you have to wait a while before you can post a new one?
fooman65 No, you can post immediately once you have clicked the link in the confirmation email and logged in. Just navigate to the central heating or plumbing forum and click the new topic button, then type a post and attach the picture ;-)
fooman65 You are welcome, I just replied to the post saying a regular radiator bleed key might fit it? If not one of the plumbers will hopefully know ;-)
I cant get to my expansion tank, its completely inaccessible - would shutting off the mains and then first draining down the cold water tank (via the bathroom taps) allow me to then drain down the central heating system without it refilling?
No, they are normally separate tanks for the water and heating. You could isolate the main incoming water and then drain the central heating system fully, but it will take a while as the tank will have to empty.
Hi can you help please, this is a weird on. The pipe where the TRV in on the stupidly hot, so its getting water, the value is on 5, still cold rad, other pipe open still cold, I took off the TRV and just wiggles the pin about but it was not stuck. I noticed the RAD got hot right away, so assumed, sorted its fixed, but the TRV back on, the rad started to cool down, took the TRV off, its gone stupidly hot!?!? please help...
It sounds like the TVR is faulty, or perhaps you have a sludge problem! You could ask here to see what the experts say- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/central-heating-boilers-f35.html
+Mariusz Łysik You can get a self cutting tap- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/how-to/taps/self-cutting-tap You then attach this to one of the radiator pipes downstairs, at the lowest point in the system (close to an outside door, then you can run the hose pipe outside) .
Хобби
@ultimatehandyman
Really appreciate your help. I'll make sure that I won't forget the inhibitor. Thank you very much.
Great video as usual. We've got sludge in the bottom of our rads so was thinking about cleansing the system with fresh water, then adding some sentinel x400 to free up any residual sludge, waiting 4-5 weeks, then flushing through again. Finally, add inhibitor to a fresh water system. What I was wondering was, can I leave the mains feed to the header tank open and let the rads drain as you describe for an hour or so until it runs clear, then proceed with the x400, etc.?
@ultimatehandyman
Thank you very much. I didn't realise that I could do this, great advice. When I've finished draining the system, do I need to replace the copper pipe or can I leave the drain off valve attach to it?
Very thorough explanation, thank you!
FANTASTIC IDEA!!!!!!!! just watched a video on it...dead easy. cheers mate...you should add that bit of advice to this video
THANKS HANDYMAN APPRECIATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE REALLY HELPED ME
...
Thank you for this video it really helped me out and saved me quite a few £. Subscribed.
What if you are only working on the pipework on an upstairs radiator do you still have to empty the entire system?
Clear and to the point , great video
Thanks for the comment
What about when refilling central heating system do I have to leave it open both valves or have to closed it. Thank you do much
Very helpful video thanks!
Hi! I have a combi boiler and wanted to install TRVs. I know that the first thing I need to do is to empty the whole heating system. My problem is that, there's no radiator in the house that has a drain similar to what is shown in your video. Is there another method of draining the system? Thank you very much.
I live in a flat without a header tank just a refill water pipe of mains
to attach to top up boiler is it the same arrangement to refill it.
open and close the drain valve with the biggest spanner you have. alternatively buy a 2.99 service key. Thankyou Dave Spikey for the video
People really will find issue with absolutely anything…
Do I need to open lockshield valve all the time when I am using radiator ( heater)
Thanks for your good advice. We have pointed a customer to you to help wth a problem they have.
Why did you not send them to your man "Jimmy" ?
you legend you saved my house from collapsing
Do I just have to turn the boiler off completely in order to drain the radiator, I need to take one off to replace it with a towel rail/radiator. Thanks.
Really helpful thanks for nice clip 👍👍
You are welcome
Thanks for the comment
Great simple vid, cheers!
You are welcome
Thanks for the comment 😉
When adding another radiator do I need to ensure that the new pipe is the same layout as the other radiators....flow to flow...return to return....
Thanks matey Sunday morning drainage, good to know
Do I need to put the boiler on to pump water back into the radiators or will that happen with gravity? How do I add the inhibitor? My radiators have never been flushed and have many cold spots. Will this solve that problem? Thanks
@ultimatehandyman Cheers! I'll try that next time I need to drain the whole system. Thanks for the quick response.
At this time, I actually wanted to drain the water to replace the 3-port valve, so would have had to drain the rads, as no isolation was fitted for the valve. I had an idea, and fitted one of those self-cutting taps on to a pipe just below the level of the 3-port valve. Attached a hose to outside and hey-presto, valve's replaced and water's back on.
hello sir ,After I turned off boiler,I ensure ALL of radiator valves throughout the entire house are turned ON, Is that thermostatic radiator valve or not? I am confused because there is another valve opposite side of radiator. so which one is it?
Hi, great video and thank you.
Is it safe to dump glycols/biocide/molybdate etc straight out onto the ground? Wont this leach into the surrounding soils and eventually into the water course?
I would not worry about that too much. Most water is poisoned with fluoride anyway 😉
Thanks for the comment 👍
Hey this is great thanks. I am going to use this method to try cap off a radiator as the job is so small i cannot get a plumber. I have taken off a large radiator but how do i cap off a plastic pipe from out of the skirt board. What plastic caps do i need please and do i cut of the plastic pipe outside the skirt or chisel away at the wall to find the plastic pipe in the wall which i assume cannot be far away. do i juts cut it and then cap it thanks? steve
It depends what size the pipe is. It sounds like it could be 10mm plastic, so you'll need a 10mm pipe insert and a 10mm pushfit stop end.
Best to cap it in an accessible place, if possible.
Hi mate - thanks for the great vid! I'm having trouble draining my system as the downstairs is on 3 separate legs and after draining the 1st leg (plus upstairs obviously!) I found that I couldn't get anything to come out of the other 2 legs. I've got the bleed valves open upstairs but it seems there's some kind of vacuum that has developed that's holding the water back on the other two legs. Even if I take the drain plugs right out nothing is budging! I want to be able to completely drain flush and then refill it in about 3 weeks time. Any ideas how
I can shift the water? Cheers. Tom
I've heard that you can use a wet and dry vacuum, providing you can reduce the vacuum pipes down enough- that might work!
@@ultimatehandyman thanks for the tip. I'll give it a go!
You are welcome.
Best of luck with it ;-)
Hi, do you need to stop the whole water in the house, or just turn the combi off. Plus I don't have a drain valve?
Just turn the combi off.
You can normally drain down the system by installing a self cutting tap onto one of the radiator tail pies downstairs, preferably near to a door- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/how-to/taps/self-cutting-tap
what do you do when you havent got one of these drain off valves, non of my radiators have got one. cheers
Get a bucket
He probably worked it out in the last 7 years.......
Good video. What size hose are you using? I've just bought a Rothenberger hose with 1/4" (8mm) bore and it's slightly too small.
I normally just use standard Hozelock hosepipe, which I think is 1/2 inch
Thanks for the comment
@@ultimatehandyman OK nice one. Just like a garden hose?
@@neilward7616 Yes, Sometimes you can just push it on and it will be a tight fit, but sometimes I also use a jubilee clip to ensure it can't be pulled off ;-)
@@ultimatehandyman great, cheers.
I've got a sealed system with a pressure vessel in the airing cupboard above the tank, but I've also got a header tank in the loft - the last service engineer left an empty inhibitor bottle on the header tank, so I'm guessing that it feeds the rads. Can I just drain off the rads by isolating the header tank, or do I need to shut off the pressure vessel as well?
Similar at mine, also how do you fill the water back in the system ?
The water from downstairs bleed valves is still coming out after draining upstairs how do I solve this
I'm cleaning out my open vented system (Sentinel X400 has been added for a month or so) and after re-filling I can hear a small amount of air bubbling around in the hot water side, only when hot water is on demand but not when heating and hot water are both selected. There is no air in the radiators (I have a a 3-port valve).
I still get hot water from the taps and the return pipe from the coil to boiler is hot.
I've tried changing pump speeds, opening the bleed nipple for one second (only water comes out) but can't shift the air! I've googled this problem and looks like back-filling via the boiler drain-off is what I need to, would others agree to this solution or should I open the bleed nipple for longer?
Your best bet is to ask here-
www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/central-heating-boilers-f35.html
One of the professional will advise much better than me ;-)
***** Thanks for your reply. I checked out the forum and it looks like a backfill would have been required, only thing is the trapped air vanished this morning. I think flicking the pump speeds from max to low the night before did something, although there was no evidence at the time. Pure luck perhaps?!
I have drained the system and replaced a couple of rads ,am having a new boiler fitted in a few weeks the rads are now empty but connected ( air tight) will they be alright they wont start to rust from the inside with out water in them will they , hope you don't mind the question great video thanks.
+graham garbutt
I'm not sure to be honest, there is a chance the the radiators that have had the water in already will be wet and so could start rusting. For the sake of a couple of quid for some rust inhibitor it might be a good idea to refill the system and add the inhibitor to be on the safe side. When you have your new boiler installed the engineer will probably do a powerflush, which should clean out any of the crud that's in there!
Thankyou very much for your wise words,will do just that.
+graham garbutt You are welcome Graham, Thanks for the comment ;-)
When I switched on the main heating , still my rooms are not warm . Why is that ?
Can you tell me do you turn the boiler on. before you refill the radiators or turn it on after they are filled
Boiler off when filling the system. Once the system is full and radiators have been bled you can switch it back on ;-)
Don't forget to turn off the mains feed if your system has a header tank (or isolate the feed pipe). Otherwise the drain down will never end :)
Thanks for the comment 👍
He does say that at the start to be fair. Need to isolate the header tank if one is present.
I’ve got drain valves on almost all my rads . Do I have to drain them separately. Thanks in advance ultimate handyman
No, if you are draining down the whole system you can just ensure that all other radiator valves are open (they are normally always open- unless someone has closed them). You can then drain the whole system from one of the downstairs radiators 👍
I've a drain valve on mine but there doesn't seem to be a tool in existence that will open it. It look like a bleed valve but no screw head and it's in a round housing that is smaller than any ratchet set I have or have seen...any ideas as with a standard bleed key you can't get any strength to turn it as its too small.
fooman65
It might be a good idea to take a picture of it and post it here- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/central-heating-boilers-f35.html one of the plumbers will know ;-)
OK, i;ve got a photo of it, B&Q plumber guy shook his head and suggested I buy one he had in the shop but still got the problem of draining it first. Just joined that but can't see where you post new topics. Do you have to wait a while before you can post a new
one?
fooman65
No, you can post immediately once you have clicked the link in the confirmation email and logged in. Just navigate to the central heating or plumbing forum and click the new topic button, then type a post and attach the picture ;-)
Cheers, just found where to post..ive put a photo up so i'll see what happens, thanks again for your help..
fooman65
You are welcome, I just replied to the post saying a regular radiator bleed key might fit it?
If not one of the plumbers will hopefully know ;-)
I cant get to my expansion tank, its completely inaccessible - would shutting off the mains and then first draining down the cold water tank (via the bathroom taps) allow me to then drain down the central heating system without it refilling?
No, they are normally separate tanks for the water and heating.
You could isolate the main incoming water and then drain the central heating system fully, but it will take a while as the tank will have to empty.
Thanks very much for answering, I appreciate it
You are welcome.
Thanks for the comments
Hi can you help please, this is a weird on. The pipe where the TRV in on the stupidly hot, so its getting water, the value is on 5, still cold rad, other pipe open still cold, I took off the TRV and just wiggles the pin about but it was not stuck. I noticed the RAD got hot right away, so assumed, sorted its fixed, but the TRV back on, the rad started to cool down, took the TRV off, its gone stupidly hot!?!? please help...
It sounds like the TVR is faulty, or perhaps you have a sludge problem!
You could ask here to see what the experts say- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/central-heating-boilers-f35.html
Yes, just started ....
How would you permanently remove a radiator out of the system from one room only which is no longer required.? Many thanks.
You would have to disconnect it, either at the manifold or from one of the flow and return pipes.
Thanks for the comment
Open all the radiator values as in the lock shields?
Yes, sorry for the slow reply I have only just seen the comment !
WAHOO! niiiiiice great ;)
Hi, I attached my hose to the drain valve and opened as stated however it won't drain. Nothing comes out. Not sure what I've done wrong tbh.
Have you tried undoing the bleed valve on the radiator?
It might be air locked or there could be sludge in the system preventing it from draining.
***** how can you sort this airlock problem out ?
hinesy89
I'm out for the day now but you could ask here-
www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/forum1/central-heating-boilers-f35.html
Good video but the start of it is missing all the different types of systems installed to people's houses and how to make them safe beforehand....
please help. tried to drain down my system water stopped flowing in the hose but header tank still full and cannot empty rads what shall I do
Have you isolated the header tank-
ruclips.net/video/cUrZXsvV1hA/видео.html
My drain valve seems to have the cock inside the the end of the spigot. How are you meant to have a hose on it and turn it on? Cheers. Nice video.
this is my work i like this
+Umer Ali
Thanks for the comment ;-)
i lov this my work
How to do it if I don't have drain valve in my house??
+Mariusz Łysik
You can get a self cutting tap- www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/how-to/taps/self-cutting-tap
You then attach this to one of the radiator pipes downstairs, at the lowest point in the system (close to an outside door, then you can run the hose pipe outside) .
Mariusz Łysik can i drain one upstairs radiator by locking all the others off
Makes it look so simple......let's hope it is
👍
wow
😉
Come on geezer! Making us plumbers lose out on the moular!
I guess the same reason that a professional wouldn't cover the carpet to protect it?
ta