Hi,
I have to start today's post with a, basically two, disclaimers:
I feel very honored and it is a great pleasure to announce that Klein Tools will be supporting me by supplying high-quality tools from their line up, for my upcoming projects. Klein Tools USA is manufacturing high-end tools since 1857 mainly for line man, electricians and phone-/ network-technicians. Since early 2017 these tools are also directly available in Germany from selected partners.
Because of current legal uncertainty in Germany in regards to labeling requirements for this type of postings, I will be labeling all my postings in conjunction with this cooperation advertisement.
However it is very important to me to point out that I’m not being paid for my postings and their content and furthermore they reflect my own personal view/opinion.
As is customary for this type of cooperation, I’m allowed to keep the products after my projects and testing are finished.
I’m not an employee of Klein Tools.
--
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I recently renovated what we call the guest bedroom, in this post I will write about how I exchanged the radiator.
First I had to get the right fittings. If you go to one of our local equivalents of "Home Depot" / "Lowe's" you'll find a lot of different fittings - the ones they don't have are those made from "gunmetal" - which last a lot longer and are of much higher quality than those made from more or less pure copper. It's a product professionals use around here but you can't buy them in typical DIY hardware stores.
It wasn't hard to find a place online that sells them, but then you obviously have to know exactly what you need.
I made a plan, took some measurements and this is what I ended up with:
Trivia: In old houses the pipe system is still 3/8" - today 1/2" is common and 3/8" will be gone for good pretty soon.
So I started with a reducer 3/8" internal thread to 1/2" external thread, then it's a thermostatic radiator valve (flow) / radiator lockshield valve (return), followed by a connector with union nut, right angle connector, a longer connector, a connector with external threading on both sides, and finally the connector that is screwed into the radiator.
Hemp and sealant.
I dry fitted everything and both parts had the same length as I had hoped for.
What I also needed was a radiator spud wrench. Normally those are made for "push-through" ratchets, I was happy to find one for my 1/2" drive ratchet.
Then came radiator replacement day [big grin]
This needs a little explanation. As you can see the old radiator sits on brackets that go through the screed and are fastened in/to the concrete ceiling/floor. I didn't want to "dig" (hammer/chisel) these out so I planned to cut them flush. The plumber did this in the other room with an angle grinder, I'm not the biggest fan of angle grinders, so I wanted to give my MultiMaster a try. From prior experience with multi cutters I was pretty sure I'd be needing two batteries. I had a fully charged one and one that was nearly empty, so the first step was actually to charge the empty one while I still had to do some other stuff.
Then it was time to drain the pipe system and radiators.
I know, not the nicest view - but this is straight and true after opening the drain. (Washing machine and condense dryer are both connected to this drain "inside" the floor, so there is no need for me to open this ...)
Next step was to remove the old radiator. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I had no chance to pause and take some, as the old radiator was really heavy and I wanted to take it off the brackets, empty it and then move it over in one attempt.
The black water is basically pure iron, smells like "blood". So here's a shout out to the preppers and urban survivalists among us: If you think of using water from your heating system (and have old "iron" pipes and radiators) in a doomsday emergency, this is what it looks like. Luckily this stuff collects on the bottom of radiators, so water drained from the system is (will be) much cleaner looking - but still has some iron in it and smells ...
Next the old brackets had to go. I did this with the MultiMaster as planned and I'm really happy to report this was one smooth ride. I used a simple E cut universal metal/wood (BIM) blade from Fein on speed 6 and it held up great. Still sharp and fully functional.
I was also very surprised to find that I just "lost" one stripe on the batterie's charge.
Next I dry fitted my parts one more time and took some final measurements.
Then it was time to install the new brackets.
Preparing tools. The Tradesman Pro™ Rolling Tool Bag is one of the items I received from Klein Tools, I will post more about it soon - but what I can already say after using it for a couple of weeks, taking it on the road and shopping is: that it's surely one of the finest tool bags I ever owned. Large, heavy duty, versatile - but again I will write an in depth review on it soon. For now, please just take my word for it, I had a great time working on my projects with it so far.
I can't say this often enough, but I love the PDC. It's a delicate spot: Plastered insulation board and then a very thin wall. So I needed absolutely clean and tight holes for the wall plugs. Drilling these at 3800 rpm (percussion mode switched off) with the carbide tipped CE-Stone drill bits is a breeze. The wall plugs fit most excellent.
To tighten the bolts I used my trusted 1/2" Snap-On ratchet an adapter down to 3/8" and a 13 mm 3/8" socket. Since these screws are pretty long I used my 3/8" Snap-On impact to overcome most of the length.
Next I had to prepare the radiator. I used the radiator spud wrench (socket) on my ratchet.
Again I apologize for not taking more pictures, but my fingers were covered in sealant and hemp residue and I was fully concentrated on obtaining watertight connections.
Then I cut threading on/to the return pipe as I needed to shorten it.
Installed brackets for the windowsill.
And this is what it looks like in the finished room.
Kind regards,
Oliver
If this hadn't worked out the way it did, I wouldn't need the threading die anymore and didn't want to be stuck with additional accessories for it.
