Preparing materials and tools
Before adding sections to a bimetallic radiator, the following materials and tools must be prepared:
- The section to retrofit.
- Special pipe wrench (gas wrench).
- Cell gaskets for batteries.
- Heating nipple set.
- Sandpaper.
- Wrench for radiators.
- Side battery plugs with left and right hand threads.
- Gaskets made of paronite.
Aluminum radiators
Adding sections to cast iron radiators is a more complex process than, for example, the build-up of aluminum radiator heating. But here, too, you need to know how to increase the aluminum radiators correctly to make the room warmer.
Extension of aluminum radiators is performed similarly to cast iron radiators. True, here you do not need to use great strength to disassemble the radiator. If you want to add extra sections to an aluminum radiator, proceed as follows:
It is quite simple to augment aluminum radiators. You can do all the work yourself. The most important thing is not to mix up the threads on the nipple.
How to increase the area of an aluminum heating radiator without buying a new one
Quite often, residents of apartments and private homes have a problem. constantly feels the lack of heat, despite the systematic supply of heated coolant. This causes great discomfort. To solve the problem you can increase the number of sections in the radiator. Thanks to this will be achieved a comfortable temperature.
Preparing
Before the battery can be expanded, it must be removed and properly prepared. The device is cleaned from dust and rust, and then conduct inspection of the threaded hole designed to connect the battery and supply pipe. As a rule, over the years of operation on it are formed scales due to the increased rigidity of water and the presence of chlorine in it.
It is necessary to get rid of these formations. For this purpose use sandpaper, treating a hole with threads with it. In doing so, you need to observe particular care, t.к. Even small buildup will prevent the gaskets from sealing. This then leads to leaks at the joint of the comminution.
Is it possible to increase the radiators in the apartment?
When new bimetal heating batteries are installed, but the room is still cool, it means that their capacity calculations were incorrect. As a rule, this happens if the calculations were made only for the area of the room, without taking into account all the heat loss in it. You need to know exactly how many sections of bimetallic radiator you need to create a truly comfortable living conditions.
In the event that mistakes were made in the calculations, they can be corrected by adding a section or several to an already installed design.
How to Convert Old Radiators into Multi-Zone Hydronic Heat | This Old House
The device of bimetallic batteries
Today on the market of heat technology you can find several types of bimetal radiators, each of which is of high quality and reliability.
- Sectional models are very popular, as their technical parameters are ideal for multi-storey houses with a centralized heating system. Knowing how to connect the sections of a bimetallic radiator, you can assemble a construction of any length. This allows you to create a different microclimate in each room.
- Cast models are used either as a design solution for decorating the room, or in systems with very unstable pressure. These types of radiators are tested at 100 atmospheres, which makes them the best candidates where surges up to 30-40 atmospheres occur. These models have two significant disadvantages:
- Very high cost, which you forget about if the house has a “problem” heating system.
- They can not increase or decrease, so you must be very scrupulous to calculate their capacity, taking into account all the heat loss, the method of connection and the area of the room.
To make a correct connection of bimetallic radiator sections, you need to prepare the tools and all elements of the structure.
preparatory work
Before extending the battery, you should not only make calculations, but also buy the necessary tools. This is especially important if you have to do all the work yourself. For quality work will require:
- wrench for the pipe;
- radiator wrench;
- Special nipples (must come with the battery section);
- Stoppers with left and right threads;
- gaskets to be installed between the sections;
- an emery cloth;
- paronite gaskets.
When the tools are at hand, you can begin preparatory work.
- The first thing to do is to remove the radiator to which the section will be built up. To do this, close the coolant supply to the system, and the battery is disconnected from the pipe.
- The removed radiator should be thoroughly cleaned of dust and checked for contamination inside. Although stainless steel is not affected by the acidity of water, the core “is not immune” to the deposition of debris and scale on its walls. They must be removed by rinsing the radiator with a special agent.
- Check the connections for continuity and quality of threads. It happens that on the joints are formed on, so you need to treat each hole with threads with sandpaper.
Even if the excrescences are not detected, it is worth to go over the threads with an emery cloth. This will remove contaminants that may prevent the gasket from creating a quality seal.
- After the old radiator has been cleaned out, it should be placed on a previously prepared flat surface. This is important because you must connect the bimetallic radiators with each other without distortion, even the slightest. Little noticeable at first, they can lead to a serious accident in the future.
Only after the preparation, you can begin to build up new sections.
To get a positive result, you should take care of the quality of gaskets for the radiator. As a rule, the steamonite versions are used, which have sufficient strength and durability. You also need to check the condition of the nipples, especially the quality of threads and the integrity of the sockets. They should not have any chipping and the threads should be complete and even.
Observing the sequence of operations, with proper attention can make the assembly with your own hands. This will require:
- Put the radiator and the prepared sections on a flat surface.
- Sections shift and put the nipples with gaskets between them.
- Carefully start screwing the nipple. Since it has a left-hand thread on one side and a right-hand thread on the other, when screwing it in, the sections are simultaneously attracted to each other. Knowing this feature of the nipple, even a beginner will understand how to remove the section from a bimetallic radiator. It is enough to twist it in the opposite direction and the sections will separate from each other. The work is done with a special radiator wrench.
- After all nipples are inserted and slightly lapped, they must be screwed in firmly with the same number of turns. This is important to avoid warping. If 3 turns have been made on one nipple, then all the rest make the same amount of movement.
You can check if the bimetallic radiator sections were assembled correctly only by doing the test.
Testing the radiator
Compressed air pressure test at home is the best way to check the quality of the radiator assembly. To do this you will need:
Solder the nipple from a car camera to the tube that is inserted into the radiator. For checking purposes just use a pump to create pressure in the radiator with a capacity of 1 atm. If you do not hear whistling of air coming out of the device, then all actions have been carried out correctly, the gaskets are high quality and the nipple is screwed tight.
Check the tightness of the structure can be checked with a soapy solution or tinted water. It’s enough to fill the radiator and leave it for a couple of hours, watching to see if there is water leakage or not.
Only after testing, you can return the battery in its place and connect to the heating system. If you have built up several sections it is worth to check whether the brackets can support the new weight of the radiator. In this matter it is better to insure and add another holder on the wall, than at an unexpected moment the whole structure will collapse on the floor.
How to assemble the sections of a bimetallic radiator, they are removed in the same way, but in the reverse order. As a rule, there is nothing complicated about this work, so asking the question whether you can add sections to the bimetallic radiator yourself, the answer will be positive. With all the necessary tools at hand, even a beginner can cope with this work.
The only thing to remember is that the maximum number of sections in a bimetallic radiator should not exceed 16 pieces. If there are more of them, it is worth splitting the battery into two parts. For example, the calculations showed that 27 sections per room are required, which means that the radiator should be divided into two structures, leaving 13 sections in one and 14 in the other.
How to increase a radiator
Probably many are familiar with the situation when in winter, in severe frosts, the apartment becomes quite cool, despite the fact that in the boiler room stoked enough. So what is the main reason? Perhaps your heating radiators simply can not cope with the load? What to do in such situations?
If you set the cast-iron radiator, which, up to this point, are in excellent condition, then it is not advisable to replace them. Then the only option is to add additional sections to the radiator, that is, increase it. And how to increase the heating radiator consider in more detail. (See. Also: Site Map 2)
Cast iron batteries
If we talk about expanding cast iron batteries, then perform work to increase the area of the radiator is necessary when the heating season is over. The fact that to add new sections, you will need to completely disassemble the radiator. To do this you will of course need to disconnect it from the heating system. If you do it in the winter, the whole system will have to be shut off. It is unlikely that any of your neighbors will be happy to know that they will have to sit without heat for a couple of hours. This is at best.
So, no matter how much you would like to increase the heat output from the batteries, try to be patient until the heating season is over. If cast iron radiators are installed in a private home, then you can decide when to replace them yourself. So, consider step by step how to replace a cast iron radiator.
You will need the following tool to add additional sections:
- radiator spanner or adjustable wrench;
- Nipples designed specifically for cast iron batteries (their number depends directly on the number of sections you install)
(See the “hot wrench”); (See the “hot wrench” on page 28). also: How to shut off the radiator)
The first thing you have to do is to remove the battery and disassemble it. Do not forget to shut off the water. It is easy enough to install a cast iron heating radiator, the most important thing is to try to thoroughly clean everything, so that the joints of the joints of the sections will not leak later.
If the batteries are not new and have been used a sufficient amount of time, between the sections can form a kind of growth from rust and dirt. To put a gasket and connect sections, this growth will have to be removed. The inter-section space is scrubbed either with a coarse sandpaper, or with a brush with metal bristles.
Is it possible to independently replace one type of battery with another, or increase the number of sections? Explanation
When it is cold in the apartment, and the batteries obviously can not cope, the homeowner has a strong desire to do something with the heating system. For example, instead of cast iron batteries put more efficient bimetallic. Or simply extend the radiator with additional sections. But here’s the question: what does the legislation say about this? Can the owner take these steps on their own??
So the answer is no, it can’t. Approval from the housing authorities of the local authority (housing inspection) is required. We publish explanations in this regard, which were given on the communal portal “Open Kazan”.
Can the owner of the apartment independently increase the number of sections in the radiator?
The heating system of the block of flats is the common property, and consequently, the change of radiators of one type (for example, the radiators of the same type). aluminum radiators) by another type of radiators (for example. Cast iron radiators) requires a prior approval of the Water Code of Ukraine and the Water Code of Ukraine.
Even when building many factors are taken into account: in what climate zone is the house, what material is made of, etc. д. Information about the radiator models installed in the house, the number of sections must be contained in the design documentation for the specific house.
In addition, according to paragraph 35 of the Rules for the Provision of Public Services to Citizens, approved by Government Decree 54 of May 06, 2011, the consumer is prohibited unauthorized:
to drain the heating medium from the heating system without the contractor’s permission; to connect to the in-house engineering systems without permission or to connect to them bypassing the collective (common), common (apartment) or individual meters, to make changes in the in-house engineering systems without making changes in the technical documentation of the apartment or residential building or in the technical certificate of the living premises in accordance with the established procedure;
Unauthorized increase of the heating surfaces of the heating devices installed in the accommodation above the parameters indicated in the technical passport of the accommodation; violate the seals on the meters, remove the meters and perform actions aimed at distorting or damaging the readings.
Extending and transferring heating radiators
The boiler room is smoking from the heat, but it is still cold in the house? What is the reason for this situation? Perhaps your cast iron radiators simply can not cope with the load, which increases especially during severe frosts? How to increase the efficiency of the radiator? In this case, there is a way out. is to transfer heating radiators and increase their. After all, it is not necessary to replace the radiators, you can simply move them to better conditions and increase the missing number of sections.
Is it necessary to coordinate with the housing and utilities committee to replace the radiators
Initially, before replacing the batteries, it is worth getting permission from the appropriate services. As a prerequisite for replacing the radiator will be the approval of such a procedure in the state authorities. When the owner misses this step, he or she will receive hefty fines. The owner of the dwelling agrees:
- Replacement of the initial batteries with new ones;
- Replacing the radiators with a different type of battery, with a possible change in configuration;
- moving radiators.
In the first situation of replacing the devices with similar ones, you only need to notify the management company about the upcoming installation. In the rest, it is necessary to seek the assistance of an expert who determines the option of installing new devices. The expertise is paid for by the owner of the dwelling.
Important! To choose and replace the heaters in the room, you need to break down the main stages of the work, the likely difficulties that may appear in the installation.
How many sections of the radiator can be installed. sections. warmer
Sometimes you find that the batteries don’t warm up the way they’re supposed to. Of course, you can change them, but to change the batteries in the cold is questionable pleasure, and such problems arise mainly with the beginning of the heating season.
It remains either to endure until summer and freeze, or to try, if not to solve the problem, at least to reduce it. And it’s even more than realistic, and the solution can be either purely technical or simply “tricky”.
