can removing and capping off a radiator cause central heating to stop working?

Question

we have removed a radiator in the bathroom and capped it off - can this break the central heating circuit and therefore stop the central heating working? if the 2 capped pipes are then reconnected, will the central heating work again? its an older style system and i'm not sure if the circuit needs to be complete for the central heating to work

Answer 1

It'll still work as radiators are in parallel. removing a radiator and capping off the pipes is the same as turning it off.

I have no clue why some of the answers are sying its not possible, perhaps they don't know, perhaps they are winding you up. Whatever the reason, they are wrong. Go ask in a plumbers shop

People do this type of thing all the time. Cricky, i do it every time i decorate to paint behind the rad, never had my heating stop working yet !

However, you may have air trapped in the system. You don't say if this is a hypothetical question or if you've run into problems.

The other thing to note is that radiators in bathrooms are often left on as a loop to protect boilers from overheating. You might want to ensure another redaitor is left on all the time, perhaps remove a thermostatoc valvel and put 2 lock shield valves on the rad in the hall or downstairs loo or something.

Answer 2

Central heating systems work on a flow and return system. The furthest radiators from the system can suffer if there is air in the system or insufficient flow. Radiators are normally added in such a way so that the main flow and return is unrestricted, this allows the radiator to be turned off when not required but allow the other radiators to function. If you could previously turn off this radiator and it didn't affect the others than your problem lies elsewhere. Dodgy plumbers have been known to cut the flow pipe and connect the pipes directly to a radiator that you want adding and so a previously normalhouse that had functioning radiators that could be turned on and off at will suddenly lose half a house full when the new radiator is adjusted. I have several radiators in my hotel removed and capped without affecting the rest of the system. Mind you before I had chance to cap one, some little brat thought it would be fun to turn the thermostatic control to 5 instead of 0 and watch the water pour through the floor to the ceiling below. Luckily I noticed the water coming throught the spotlights before the ceiling had chance to fall in!!!

Answer 3

I would agree with some of the above answers. If the system is on a flow and return basis, there is no reason why your heating will not work. Most systems have an air release valve at the highest point. If the system does not, you can drain air off at the radiators. The system will automatically top its self up from the header tank (if you have a hot water talk style system). When you reconnect the radiator, leave the bleed screw undone until the water starts dribbling out, then tighten. If in doubt consult your plumber as over stressing a boiler will only end in tears.

Answer 4

Removing A Radiator

Answer 5

A lot depends on the position in the circuit of the radiator. Capping can cause radiators after the cap to stop working. You do need a full circuit for the heating to work properly in most systems.

Answer 6

In addition to previous answers, not all bathroom radiators and towel rails are used as a bypass to allow some circulation through the system in certain conditions. If the radiator has a valve, then capping the pipes off should be no different to shutting off the valve. It simply prevents circulation through that radiator. If the radiator or towel rail has no valve, then it has obviously been designed to serve as a bypass. In this case you will need to connect up both ends with a pipe so that circulation continues. Otherwise, it would appear that you have a two pipe system and capping off one radiator should make no difference.

Answer 7

In your case, yes it will. The radiator in the bathroom is normally in series with all of the other radiators (which are all in parallel). This is so that it acts as a 'bypass' so in the event of all the other radiators being turned off the boiler does not overheat and shutdown (or worse explode !). If you remove the bathroom radiator the water no longer has a flow path to the other radiators and consequently they will never heat up. Worse still your boiler will probably shutdown almost immediately as it overheats !
You could just re-connect the two pipes, but this means the flow/return path from the boiler will be extremely short, and the boiler will still overheat !

Answer 8

Your system needs bleeding. Probably at the boiler...which you should only be done by a professional. You could try bleeding all the radiators first to see if this resolves the problem, but Like I explained it is the boiler that needs bleeding.

Good luck, and get it sorted soon because it is predicated that the weather is to turn very cold.

Answer 9

It will stop it working only if your radiators are in series. They should not be in series. As the last radiator in the line would be cooler than the first. They should be plumbed in radially. The easiest way to test is to shut off the radiator inlet and outlet valves and see if it still works.

Answer 10

Go with MichaelH, he's right as far as I'm concerned. All you have done by your description is blanked off one flow and one return, which cannot affect other radiators on the same circuit.