Radiator tail olives

[Bogart]

Been wondering a while and finally curiosity has got the better of me. Was going to ring Pegler but they have all gone home. Have a few terrier valves to fit. On all of them the olive on the radiator tail is only
say 2, or 3 at the most, mm down the tail stem. Would it not be better if the stem went further down the valve orifice a bit more? The valves have a stop about 10mm down inside them making the 2/3mm
seem, to my mind, a bit of a mistake. Am I missing the obvious?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Put the tail in the valve and tap the thread end in with a hammer

 

[Bogart]

My such a prompt reply, thank you. It did cross my mind to do something to move the olive down the stem but did not want to damage it. Will give your suggestion a go.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

They expand the end ever so slightly to stop them falling off and sometimes/ most they get stuck / jammed up

 

[Bogart]

Tried on a couple by getting an old fitting and using a vice to push the olive down the stem a few more mm, seems to work ok. Just seems odd to me that they do not come with at least 5mm of stem
extending past the olive.

 

[Gasmk1]

Always tapped the valve onto the stem to make sure it’s at the stop

 

[Bogart]

Always tapped the valve onto the stem to make sure it’s at the stop

​

Sense would say good practice.

 

[nicam49]

I think you should leave it where it is! Else it will be very difficult if not impossible to remove the rad for decoration or replacement. It seems that the valves no longer have a Union-type connection, which only needed a slight bending of the connecting pipes to disconnect.

 

[Ric2013]

I think you should leave it where it is! Else it will be very difficult if not impossible to remove the rad for decoration or replacement. It seems that the valves no longer have a Union-type connection, which only needed a slight bending of the connecting pipes to disconnect.

You can still get the union type, though they appear to be only on the cheaper valves. If removal is going to be something you feel you need to plan for (and arguably you should), perhaps a union type lockshield combined with a normal TRV?

 

[nicam49]

Yeah, that's the way I'll have to go.... but once fitted, how on earth do you remove a radiator if they're fitted with these compression tails both ends?

 

[Ric2013]

Yeah, that's the way I'll have to go.... but once fitted, how on earth do you remove a radiator if they're fitted with these compression tails both ends?

If there's a bit of flex in the pipes, you can often wiggle one off the valve, or unscrew the tail from the radiator. Or remove the valve from the pipe, leaving it connected to the radiator - sometimes possible to freeze or plug the system rather than drain it.

The move away from union fittings seems to be a retrograde step, I would agree!