Sealing TRV thread without removal

[Bubblecraft]

Hey everyone

Did a bathroom fit a few months back where I also fitted a towel warmer linked with the existing central heating. There was a bit of play with the TRV when fitting (as always with towel rads) so put plenty of PTFE on at the time. Everything was fine & heated without any problems. This is fitted in a top floor flat on a non pressurised system. The header is also feeding the other properties.

The customer contacted me tonight to say he's been using the heating a good bit more with the colder weather & has noticed a very small bead of water forming from the valve. Under normal circumstances, I'd just remove the rad ect but to do so here, I need to turn off the water to the whole block including 3 of the shops on the main street & drain down the header which also feeds the other properties as there is no stopcock within the property.

Is there a product I can put around the valve where it meets the rad like Loctite liquid PTFE (If suitable as I've never used it that way before) or something like that to save the hassle of removing the rad?

 

[SimonJohns]

Freeze pipes?

 

[AWheating]

cant you turn the valves off and drain the rad into a tub? the re puffty the thread?

 

[Best]

Remove the towel rail as it will be very hard to remove & refit the valve tail without water everywhere, unless the pipes can be moved out of position a lot. Have someone help you with it.
Putting sealants outside the joint is no good really.
Make sure you use enough ptfe tape next time, but not so much that it pushes off. Use Boss White on it as it will seal well & it lubricates the joint, so makes a better filled joint.

 

[garyplumb]

You could always try just tightening the tale while still live by loosening the nut to the valve and nipping the tale up, you might be lucky!

 

[stevetheplumber]

tie ballvalve up and just drop the level enough to do the top floor rad no need to effect the shops there ar valves out there with rubber washers on a flange like the air vents when ever i get these i save the tails as they are perfect for cheap towel rail connections
looks like all stella valves are like this now
[DLMURL="http://www.giacomini.co.uk/product-details.asp?submit=+View+full+Product+details...&productID=115"]Giacomini UK :: Giacomini UK - Online Product Finder[/DLMURL]

 

[Bubblecraft]

With further thought into it, each valve is in 2 parts so will be able to shut them off, drain, split the valve & re-tape. For some reason I had in my head that it was a 1 piece valve cause it was straight & not an angled valve - Duh

 

[tamz]

Use loctite 55 instead of tape