Brrrrrrr. (UPDATED)
Today I'm unexpectedly working from home because one of our radiators started leaking last night.
It was one of the first times we'd started up the heat this fall, and the problem arose from the radiator we'd disconnected while we worked on the master bedroom. After trying a few things myself to repair it, this morning we decided to call in the pros...
For what it's worth, I did give it the old college try. This video clip from This Old House was a good guide, and on their advice I ended up replacing the graphite packing for the valve. That definitely helped...somewhat. It cut down on the extensive leaking and the steam we had coming out from the valve.
What it didn't address was a second leak coming out from the coupling where the valve meets the radiator itself. I tried to disconnect the radiator and reattach it several times, adding a bit more plumbers tape each time. I could never seem to get a perfect seal, though, and a towel we'd left below the connection from the pipe to the radiator would get pretty damp from a steady drip once the steam pressure in the system had built up...typically after 30 minutes or so.
The repair guy just pulled up...we'll see how bad it is. :-(
Update: Well, as it turns out the problem was that I didn't have one of these...
The coupling wasn't tight enough. Bad news in that you'd think we (I) could have taken care of that ourselves. Good news in that any real problem could have been much more expensive. Since the service company was already here, the guy just went ahead and did our annual furnace maintance.
Live and learn...
(10)
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Comments
Eek, good luck! I'm dreading the gas bills this winter ...
Posted by: Kristin | October 24, 2005 2:11 PM
Did you try coating the joint with pipe dope after you put the plumbers tape on? Plumber's tape or "teflon tape" is just a lubricant and not a sealant... the pipe dope handles "sealing" the joint.
At least that's what my nephew the HVAC guy told me!
Good luck.
-The Old Man
Posted by: The Old Man | October 24, 2005 5:22 PM
Glad it wasn't anything major. Nice pipewrench. I gotta get me one of those!
Posted by: Patricia W. | October 25, 2005 5:25 AM
we're in the middle of finishing the kitchen floor, and will have to temporarily disconnect a radiator. this post couldn't have come at a better time---keep your fingers crossed that we won't have a leak, but if we do, we'll now know exactly how to handle it. thanks!
Posted by: mary | October 25, 2005 6:44 AM
I agree with the old man. I always had success with pipe dope.. My father would dip the threads in ordinary house paint. That seemed to work for him...POPS -30-
Posted by: POPS | October 25, 2005 12:09 PM
DOH! Annual furnace maintenance... oh, yeeeeeaaaah...
Forgot about that.
I've actually run across POPS's dad's trick before on a pipe I thought must be rusted shut. Nope; just old alkyd paint. At the time I cursed, hollered, and wondered whether this 60+ year old "fix" had been leaching lead into the drinking water for decades (supply line to kitchen). Sure got a good (and durable) seal, though!
Now I just wonder whether that trick would work with today's latex housepaints.
Posted by: Nathan | October 25, 2005 1:26 PM
One of the craziest tools that i have is JUST for working on radiators. It is a 24" long crescent wrench. The heating guys that i have known will always use a crescent wrench for tightening the radiator nuts. The big pipe wrench is only for pipes that do not have any "flats" on them. If you use a pipe wrench on a nut there will be a tounge lashing coming down the pike.
Glad you got it fixed. Heat is becoming a very nice luxury in our projects about this time of year.
Posted by: Ron | October 25, 2005 9:47 PM
Teflon tape IS a thread sealant.
Teflon dope is mostly just a lubricant.
While the tape acts as a lubricant, it also wads up in the threads and seals them. As Aaron learned, sometimes it is just a matter of getting enough of the tape on/in the threads.
Aaron, sometimes it helps to make a "rope" of the teflon tape by spinning it between your fingers.
In the case of the fitting going into the radiator itself I would have first taped the threads with at least 4 full layers. Then, at the end of that 4th run around the threads, start spinning the tape into a rope or string, and build up several layers of that, right up against the head of the fitting.
The tape on the threads should seal it, with 4 layers. But if it didn't the "packing" of the teflon "rope" just under the head of the fitting would act as a gasket once compressed between the head of the fitting, and the body of the radiator.
You get two, two, two seals in one !
=0)
Posted by: Luka | October 31, 2005 5:09 AM
Teflon tape IS a thread sealant.
Teflon dope is mostly just a lubricant.
While the tape acts as a lubricant, it also wads up in the threads and seals them. As Aaron learned, sometimes it is just a matter of getting enough of the tape on/in the threads.
Aaron, sometimes it helps to make a "rope" of the teflon tape by spinning it between your fingers.
In the case of the fitting going into the radiator itself I would have first taped the threads with at least 4 full layers. Then, at the end of that 4th run around the threads, start spinning the tape into a rope or string, and build up several layers of that, right up against the head of the fitting.
The tape on the threads should seal it, with 4 layers. But if it didn't the "packing" of the teflon "rope" just under the head of the fitting would act as a gasket once compressed between the head of the fitting, and the body of the radiator.
You get two, two, two seals in one !
=0)
Posted by: Luka | October 31, 2005 5:10 AM
I just went through the Brrrrrr stage too. I bought a few space heaters as a temporary measure so that I could work on the radiators at my own pace without worrying about freezing to death. FYI, if you need tools, I found that Harbor Freight, which sells tools to contractors and can be ordered online, has a lot of stuff significantly cheaper than Lowes (my favorite) or Home Depot (your favorite if you are a masochist).
Posted by: Peter Sanchez | November 1, 2005 12:18 PM