Drain valve problem

[doitmyself]

I am trying to drain my system but am having problems with a leaking drain valve. It looks similar to the left picture; there is no knurled nut as in the right picture.


The problem is that, when I undo the square headed stopper, more water is coming out round the stopper than through the drain hole.

Any suggestions how I can overcome this?

 

[hammers4spanner]

pay £40 out and get a plumber in!!!

 

[glenno1]

place a bowl underneath it while you drain it, if this is possible

 

[mountainman]

That's the cheapo valve you have and the washer is probably stuck to the seating and staying in place when you unscrew the innards.
If you don't want to get a little wet you might consider investing the £40 as previously suggested.

 

[Best]

I used to screw the square bit out a little - not too much or it all comes out, & then wind a bit ptfe tape around the threads to temp seal them. Then turn in a tad. Get it changed to a glanded one & always try to fit them on a cold, dead leg of pipe as won't stick due to heat later.

 

[doitmyself]

pay £40 out and get a plumber in!!!

That's a defeatist attitude. In any case, the plumber would have the same problem. How would he solve it?

place a bowl underneath it while you drain it, if this is possible

Tried that! The bowl fills up so fast that you are continually opening and closing the valve so you can empty the bowl

I used to screw the square bit out a little - not too much or it all comes out, & then wind a bit ptfe tape around the threads to temp seal them.

You would have to undo the square bit so much that the room would be flooded before you had applied the tape.

Get it changed to a glanded one.

Couldn't agree more. But first you have to get the old one off! Which takes us back to my original question.

 

[Whn1]

Get a plumber in for £40

 

[kay-jay]

What kind of system is it? A combi or a conventional boiler with a small header tank?

If its a combi turn off both rad valves and open bleed valve and catch water until it stops.if both valves are completely shut this should be just a few seconds. Then crack open the nut between rad and valve catch water in a tray. This will empty the rad. When empty fully uncouple rad valves from the rad you can now lift off the rad and connect a hosepipe directly onto a rad valve or leave rad on but twist valve to get hose on. Use a garden hose connector. You can now drain through hose to a grid by opening the valve. When empty replace drain off.

If conventional boiler turn off mains water and do same as above

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[PlumbBobBob]

what about a self cutting tap as a temporary drain off to drain down then replace old doc when drained.

 

[hammers4spanner]

Far from defeatist attitude it would take a plumber an hour with no hiccups to remedy such an easy issue.Probably plenty of plumbs around your area wishing there phone would ring so can pay bills etc . To many people expect a free advice service these days imo i get about 4 to 10 calls a week from custs/builders hoew i do this n that only to get another call few days later to come out remedy what they have fudged ,,,,,no complaints tho as just charge double just to prove that i should have been there first place !!

 

[ecowarm]

Bad attitude mate, the forum is to give and receive advice for DIY and Pro's

 

[PlumbBobBob]

:iagree:

 

[doitmyself]

turn off both rad valves and open bleed valve and catch water until it stops.if both valves are completely shut this should be just a few seconds. Then crack open the nut between rad and valve catch water in a tray. This will empty the rad. When empty fully uncouple rad valves from the rad you can now lift off the rad and connect a hosepipe directly onto a rad valve or leave rad on but twist valve to get hose on. Use a garden hose connector. You can now drain through hose to a grid by opening the valve. When empty replace drain off.

If conventional boiler turn off mains water and do same as above

At last, a sensible solution!

Plumbers may have bills to pay, but so do pensioners; and they cannot always afford £40 out of a fixed income.

 

[hammers4spanner]

apologise if came across as that, what i am getting at it just dont hurt to actually get a plumber in ,on occasions like this scenario it is a distinct possibility there is going to be a wet carpet scenario here!! Why not just stump up £40 or so and see it done then knows how to do for future reference?

 

[hammers4spanner]

Would also like to point out the O.P has over 800 posts here if he was a plumber then surely should know a simple solution to this?? I just dont see the harm in actually ringing in a plumber on this occasion .

 

[ecowarm]

Would also like to point out the O.P has over 800 posts here if he was a plumber then surely should know a simple solution to this?? I just dont see the harm in actually ringing in a plumber on this occasion .

Anybody can join and use the forum, its not just for plumbers

You could have a DIY'er with10,000 posts and the top of the leader board

 

[thereisawizza]

Don't forget, the £40 is also paying for a plumber with PLI......... If DIYer blackens the carpet, earbashing form the wife and a Weekend spent shopping for new carpets!!

 

[hammers4spanner]

Anybody can join this forum aas i have myself . I never meant to be rude but gave advice on a post which could go pear shaped if inexperienced as the poster in on this occasion quite possibly is. i even gave them an estimated cost which is not alot imo which would remedy his/hers issue and get accused of bad attitude.Personally if you r not overly confident on how to do the job then get someone who is i think splashing out £40 to stop a dollop of sludge on a carpet is not alot to ask for and as i said the poster will see how it is done for future reference.We all get phone calls from friends /custs on how to do this and that and if your like me give some advice but if sounds like they may struggle then imo the advice should stop and get a professional in otherwise they could cause allsorts of issues.Think its bad attitude to be accused of bad attitude when myself have only posted few posts doesn't come acrossa s overly welcoming ,,,,either way apologise to the OP if it came across as wrong .

 

[mountainman]

I agree with Hammers.
There is only so much advice that can be given before it becomes conflicting and meaningless.

A professional could solve this problem several different ways but just how deeply does the advice go before it overwhelms the abilities of the OP!

 

[kay-jay]

Its simple enough to fix but i would charge more than 40 quid

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[GQuigley67]

if there is room and you have one handy then you can use a funnel which goes into a hosepipe connected with a jubilee clip, this will catch the water from the DOC and will allow you to drain the system without worrying about ruining your carpet

if your inexperienced or not a plumber a bit of water can be a bit daunting, but when doing it every day then you get used to it and a bit of water doesn't phase you anymore, if it does then your in the wrong career lol

 

[secret squirrel]

I feel a bit sorry for hammers4spanners, looked like he was under attack for a bit there.

I agree whilst the forum is for anyone to join etc. to get advice then I agree thats all and dandy.

IMO though as modest as it is (my opinion that is), if someone reads a post and doesn't want to respond, then thats fine, putting things like get a plumber etc. is not what this site is about.

Having said that I feel that some posters don't listen to common sense (that may/maynot be the case here, I don't care), sometimes its quicker and cheaper to get a pro in. Defeatist or not, that is why we have vans and a huge investment in tools etc.

Yes, we are doing ourselves out of work but this is what happens when we give our advice out for free (which is why people join the forum) We as pros get it all the time though, when you go to a job and they're questioning you about pipe runs and we give them the answer, they end up doing it themselves. I tell people nothing now when pricing a job. Just for this reason.

Its our/yours/my choice to respond or not, a lot of the time I choose not to with diyers. This is my choice but I do not put up (try) posts like get a pro in.

Post the other day 'I've read the instructions and installed it but its still not working, help,'

This poster will never get a pro in, so, we get narky between each other. Pointeless.

If anyone has got a problem with this post.......... bring it on.....LOL

 

[mountainman]

No problem SS
Sometimes people want an easy (and free) solution to a problem that they are clearly incapable of resolving , and more than a few posts on any subject in my view proves this.
This thread is classic proof of this, the first few posts should have been enough for the OP to either diy it or get a pro in. But no, it's still dragging on ad nauseum.

 

[Whn1]

what about a self cutting tap as a temporary drain off to drain down then replace old doc when drained.

I personally quite like this idea, its never crossed my mind before.

 

[kay-jay]

I personally quite like this idea, its never crossed my mind before.

I used this once. A brand new self cutter and it ended in a world of pain, leaked like mad from under the wheel head, will never use again. Maybe i was unlucky but these dodgy diy things never have the best manufacturing quality which is why i always do as my previous post. At least the results are guaranteed even if custard has to pay a few quid more. I know the custard whos job it leaked on would rather i had done it this way.....

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[Whn1]

I used this once. A brand new self cutter and it ended in a world of pain, leaked like mad from under the wheel head, will never use again. Maybe i was unlucky but these dodgy diy things never have the best manufacturing quality which is why i always do as my previous post. At least the results are guaranteed even if custard has to pay a few quid more. I know the custard whos job it leaked on would rather i had done it this way.....

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Hahaha I've never used one, seen them though, they do look a little dodgy.

 

[cr0ft]

I've used one once to drain a system. You don't half have to make sure they are tightened up though before you cut through

 

[stevetheplumber]

ive not got a problem with anyone doing some diy if they have the aptitude to do it ,to be fair if common sense doesnt tell you how to deal with a dodgy drain of you probably dont have the right aptitude

 

[glenno1]

i used a self cutter once few years ago and then had to use a hammer pretty sharpish to flatten pipe,never again since

 

[cdodds2004]

open drain valve with tub underneath, aqua vac on tub, get it drained un sweat, fit a decent drain off job done £70 please

 

[Nostrum]

Best is right, whip it out nearly all the way, whack some thread tape on and do it up a couple turns, bing bang bosh job's a good'un.. No point fannying about, time is money. A couple of old towels around the floor and a shallow bowl (chinese takeaway tubs are ideal) As long as the end doesn't come right out your not going to flood the place, obviously make sure a hose is attached still!

Used self cutting tap's loads of times in the past. I once walked into a merchants and picked one up of the shelf, walked over to counter. Two blokes beside me said ' hah, we'll have to replace that in 6 months time they're rubbish' When I told it it was to drain a system with no drain off he said ' never thought of that'

They make them as purpose made drain off's now as well, i've even managed to get one on a 28mm pipe off a back boiler before, just used a bit 10mm copper hammered flat and 2 inch and half wood screws to make it bigger! Normally get about 4-5 cuts out of them before they start blunting off, never had an issue with one to be honest.

I normally leave them in and tell the customer to put a flower pot in front of it...... :hanged:

 

[JCplumb]

Never had a problem with self cutters either, and would be an easy solution for the OP.
Have the cutting part already in the hole of the rubber seal before tightening the clamp. If you don't, when you tighten it up the rubber gets compressed and it's harder to get the cutter in, also cuts through some of the rubber which will make it leak on your next job.

 

[shneld]

A wet vac would be usefull for this

 

[cdodds2004]

aqua vac is the best £50 quid i have ever spent on plumbing tools saves me hours every week, had a discussion on here when i bought it, just got a cheap one from wickes, its a not to big about the same size as a henry and litterally saves me hours on drain downs, dripping pipes, rads, stops spillages, can change pumps when valves are passing to much for tubs to cope with. honestly if you havnt got one on your van get one! you wont look back!

 

[WaterTight]

I used this once. A brand new self cutter and it ended in a world of pain, leaked like mad from under the wheel head, will never use again.

i used a self cutter once few years ago and then had to use a hammer pretty sharpish to flatten pipe,never again since

I used the same one about 5 times in a row for testing pipework was frozen before cutting. On the 5th or 6th time something went wrong and it wouldn't seal around the pipe. Which obviously I only found out after cutting into. That was a rather wet and pulse-racing moment. Cutting live pipe and speedfit cap to the rescue. So my advice ...if using...probably use a fresh one each time and don't be tight like me.