Leaking central heating pipe

J

jrenshaw

Regular
Weaver
Hi,

Just had the central heating on for the first time for a prolonged time and I have discovered that a pipe going to the radiator in the kitchen is leaking slowly just before the valve. I was going to just try and tighten it, however I have heard that can cause more damage. If it needs more than that I expect I'll need to drain the system etc. I've never done that before so it anyone who knows a good plumber who won't rip me off for that job I'd love to hear from you:)

Any advice?

Thanks,

James
 
If you take the cap off the valve, you may find that it is the stuffing box, there will be a nut at the bottom of the valve spindle, nip it up a tad, if not, nip the bottom valve nut a tad. Good, FREE advice from a genuine plumber, please dont tar us all with the same brush.
 
derekgas said:
If you take the cap off the valve, you may find that it is the stuffing box, there will be a nut at the bottom of the valve spindle, nip it up a tad, if not, nip the bottom valve nut a tad. Good, FREE advice from a genuine plumber, please dont tar us all with the same brush.
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:D cant believe I posted my comment about contacting you as you were replying to her...:D
 
derekgas said:
If you take the cap off the valve, you may find that it is the stuffing box, there will be a nut at the bottom of the valve spindle, nip it up a tad, if not, nip the bottom valve nut a tad. Good, FREE advice from a genuine plumber, please dont tar us all with the same brush.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for that advice I'll take a look at that. Sorry, I didn't mean all plumbers are rip off merchants at all, but it's hard to tell who is good or bad when going through the yellow pages.
 
I've had a look at the valve and I can't see how to get the cap off, it's the one with the control on top. The nut at the bottom won't budge either.
 
sorry I'm an idiot the cap came off easily, I've given it a tweak will see what happens when the heating is next on.
 
jrenshaw said:
I've had a look at the valve and I can't see how to get the cap off, it's the one with the control on top. The nut at the bottom won't budge either.
Click to expand...

Attached is a drawing I sent my daughter in London who was having a similar problem, overtightening gland nuts when they are hot, can make them near impossible to undo when cold.
Retlaw.
 

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Retlaw said:
Attached is a drawing I sent my daughter in London who was having a similar problem, overtightening gland nuts when they are hot, can make them near impossible to undo when cold.
Retlaw.
Click to expand...

New valves are only £2 at screwfix, better quality ones are £6.50.

I agree though that ptfe tape is a good quick fix.
 
Thanks all for the advice, my spanners are the wrong size, so I'll have a go at this later on after going to homebase or somewhere for PTFE tape and the right size spanner! :-)
 
If you need to buy stuff, I can lend you the right spanners and give you ptfe, my mobile is on the website, will be around most of the day.
 
derekgas said:
If you need to buy stuff, I can lend you the right spanners and give you ptfe, my mobile is on the website, will be around most of the day.
Click to expand...

Thats really a very kind offer and much appreciated - top man. I feel a bit cheeky about that, I'm going to see what I can borrow from my dad first.
 
Well I've had a go now with the PTFE tape and the heating has been on for 20 minutes and there isn't a drop out of it. So I'm hoping it's fixed, so thankyou very much Retlaw and derek.
 
Well done, wont leak while the heating is on, have another look when it cools down, if there is still no leak, seems you have cracked it.
 
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