I need to bleed a radiator
I bought a thing, I'm just not sure what to do next
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:37, 3 replies, latest was 15 years ago)

Punch it in the nose

(PenguinOfDeath is Scottish, and most likely angry, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:37, Reply)

*laughs*

( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:38, Reply)

:)
it's the only approach I can imagine working
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:39, Reply)

Screw it onto the thing it fits onto.
Turn it, and when the hiss stops and the water starts, turn it back off again.

Easy.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:38, Reply)

i guess I need to turn the heating off first
so that it's not hot water, right?
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:39, Reply)

Yes
Don't do it whilst the system is under pressure.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:41, Reply)

what does that mean?
do I just turn it off for a bit?

(thanks BTW this is really handy)
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:42, Reply)

Just saying but you can get info about this off the internet.

( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:44, Reply)

this is true
I was gonna look it up at the weekend
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:45, Reply)

But then again the internet can answer back to questions you may have.

( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:48, Reply)

Turn it off first
Then bleed.

Do you have a combi boiler? If not I'd leave it for about ten minutes.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:48, Reply)

combi

( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:50, Reply)

Right.
Turn off, find the right shape on the highest radiator - or the one furthest from the boiler - turn. KEEP THE KEY ON THE SHAPE!

You'll hear a lot of air hissing and that's what you're getting rid of. As soon as the hiss turns to bubble and water starts coming out turn back.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:54, Reply)

cheers
totally bookmarking this. This is my weekend achieving plan
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:56, Reply)

Yay! our resident handyman is here.
My toilet cistern keeps making a screaming noise now and again. I think it's something to do with the water pressure.
( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:40, Reply)

Sing it a lullaby
Simple.
(PenguinOfDeath is Scottish, and most likely angry, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:43, Reply)

It's not your expelair again is it?
We've been here before.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:49, Reply)

*laughs*
No. Turns out it was the cistern. Haven't got round to getting a plumber yet. The bloody thing keeps waking me up in the middle of the night.
( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:50, Reply)

Don't know
I'd offer to pop over and have a look but I'm busy the next three weekends.

If it's not pissing water out of the overflow it's not serious.

A quick fix might be giving the elbow joint off the handle a blast with WD40.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 21:02, Reply)

I wasn't expecting you to come and fix it : )
I'll get someone in.
( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 21:16, Reply)

Don't waste your money
There's not much that can go wrong with a cistern.

I can't quite understand why it's doing what it's doing unless it's not filling properly until the water pressure rises.

Take the lid off, give it a few flushes and see if the mechanism works smoothly.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 21:21, Reply)

I think it might be filling a bit too much and that might cause it.
If I turn the tap on for a short while the noise goes.
( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 21:23, Reply)

So the ballcock isn't sitting right.
Again, WD40 is your friend.

Turn the main stopcock off, flush the bog and give all the moveable joints a good blast.

Give it 30 minutes, turn the stopcock on again and see what happens.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 21:29, Reply)

I'll try that this weekend.
I can get some WD40 from work.

Thanks.
( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 21:30, Reply)

It's haunted

(Zoz prayed for twink on, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:51, Reply)

That did cross my mind at the beginning.

( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:55, Reply)

Next time you need to flush
stand there shouting: THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!
(Zoz prayed for twink on, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:57, Reply)

This technique can also be used on stubborn floaters.

(Zoz prayed for twink on, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:59, Reply)

Hahaha!

( girlinthehole, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 21:16, Reply)

It's called a radiator key
The receiver will be top right, insert, turn, close when water begins to expel; rinse and repeat
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:39, Reply)

it has 4 ends!

( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:41, Reply)

Dur the receiver will be at the top, generally right hand side, you'll note that it's triangle shaped
As a female you may still not be able to find it though.
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:42, Reply)

May not be triangular
Depends on the age of the system.

Squares, triangles and hexagons but a 4 ended key should fit anything.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:46, Reply)

Oh it's the key she was going on about ;/
I've only ever had recourse to the triangular one, across rads maybe for a 20 year period. How I've never come across the other ones is beyond me.
Rory /blog
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:51, Reply)

Depends on the age and quality of the system
If it's square it's the awful microbore stuff designed by '80's people and it won't work very well anyway.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:58, Reply)

It'll have a hexagonal end
That's the one you want.

You'll find a hexagonal bit at the top of the radiator.

Go to the highest radiator in your house and bleed that first.
( The Disappointed Caravanner of the year, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:43, Reply)

Also if it's one of the cheaper keys for 49 p it's bound to snap after the first rad
due to it being a cheap piece of shit
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:45, Reply)

nah I like tools
so I got a metal one
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:46, Reply)

I've never seen a non metallic one
The cheaper ones consist of a really shit metal alloy, which snaps on the first rad when tightening the valve. Then it's oh noes woe is me.
( Light In Chains maker of the ikea sofa, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:49, Reply)

And the best thing about radiator keys?
Depending on the type of toilets you have in work, you might be able to lock it from the outside, meaning if you coordinate your trips to the toilet so you get there just after the cleaners leave, you can lock a trap from the outside and have your own, private WC.
( JeffTheDogFucker Can you dig it?, Thu 18 Nov 2010, 20:49, Reply)