[Shop-talk] Removing a small hot water radiator

[Jim Franklin]

On Mar 14, 2012, at 11:30 AM, Jim Stone wrote:
>
>
> So, that is the background.  My question is around removing the old
radiator.
> The bathroom is on the second floor, which has four other cast iron
radiators
> on it.  For what it is worth, this one is the farthest from the boiler.
> Should I completely drain the system, or is it enough to simply drain a
little
> to release the pressure and drop the water level?  The system hasn't been
> drained in the five years I have lived here, so if this is a recommended
thing
> to do anyway, I guess now is as good a time as any.

Draining and refilling, or flushing, is frowned upon because it introduces
oxygen to the system which corrodes it. Drain as little as possible to get the
job done.

If there's a bleeder on that radiator or at the highest one in that circuit
it'll be easy to drop the level down. Otherwise you'll likely have lots of
stuck water that will be released when you open the radiators ocnnections. if
you're lucky you can just crack them open enough to allow air in while
draining from below, and have minimal spillage.

Have plenty of towels around anyway :-)