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Balancing a Towel Rack Radiator

  • 15-11-2017 11:19pm
    #1
    oceanclub
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,412 ✭✭✭


    Three radiators upstairs, and two are cold (at least, hot when the heating initially goes on, going lukewarm) while the bathroom towel rack stays incredibly hot. That's the one upstairs nearest the cylinder, so I'm assuming I may need to balance it as it's taking all the hot water upstairs? If so, how do I go about that? I unscrewed the caps at the bottom to reveal two valves.

    s2N3dYW.jpg?1

    P.


Comments

  • #2
    Wearb
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 6,417 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wearb


    Turn it off at the side with the knurled head to see if the rail is the cause of the problem. If that fixes it then turn on the other side about 1/4 (maybe more maybe less ) and open the original one fully.

    Please follow site and charter rules. "Resistance is futile"



  • #3
    B-D-P--
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,167 ✭✭✭B-D-P--


    imma jump on this thread with a different question,

    Although A2W is not ideal for a towel rack, is there any suitable alternatives that I can look at?


  • #4
    Wearb
    Moderators, Home & Garden Moderators Posts: 6,417 Mod ✭✭✭✭Wearb


    B-D-P-- wrote: »
    imma jump on this thread with a different question,

    Although A2W is not ideal for a towel rack, is there any suitable alternatives that I can look at?

    I believe there are electric ones.

    Please follow site and charter rules. "Resistance is futile"



  • #5
    oceanclub
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,412 ✭✭✭oceanclub


    OK so it turns out I didn't have unscrew the caps, they're actually knobs which turn the above spindles, not covers. (I'd assume they were like lockshield valve covers)

    Both knobs and spindles are identical; i tried checking the temperature at the pipes to see which one is "in" but couldn't' determine a difference.

    So I tried turning both knobs clockwise 'til they were both fully closed, then undid both a little (quarter to half turn) - at which point an almighty rattling sound came from the one on the left! So turned them back a bit.

    If anyone can tell me how to turn each knob to turn the heat down without causing that racket would appreciate it!

    P.


  • #6
    Pete67
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,257 ✭✭✭Pete67


    Turn off one of the valves completely and allow the towel rail to go cold. Then open the valve a fraction and see which pipe heats up first - that will be the one on the flow side. Open that valve completely, this is the one you will use to turn the towel rail on and off. Fully close the valve on the other (return) side, this is now going to be your 'lockshield' valve, and will only be used for balancing purposes. Open this valve a fraction and see if the towel rail heats up adequately. If not open a tiny bit more and so on until the rails gets hot enough, and then just leave that valve alone.

    If you have access to a thermometer that can measure the flow and return temperatures you can adjust the lockshield valve to get a 10 to 15 degree difference between flow and return temperatures, but this can be hard to achieve with small radiators and towel rails, so I would go with the first method.


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