liquid glass in hot water radiators
I have 4 radiators that have small seam leaks since the frozen Chicago winter and I am not able so far to get replacements in the proper sizes so can anyone tell me if they have used a product called “liquid glass” or something similar to seal the cracks in a hot water radiator system?
If so how fast does this set up? Does it also clog the bleeders if I have to bleed the system since it hardens when it hits the air? How soon after putting the liquid in do I bleed the system since the leaks are on the first floor apt and the second floor is ok. I usually bleed my system at least twice after firing up the boiler-do I follow the same procedure? Also if you can see the crack/pin hole is there a product to apply to the exterior without putting something through the whole system?
Any help would be appreciated
Replies
Hey big...
I have heard of people using the liquid glass for auto radiators with differing reports of the results. I'm sure it's a function of the size and location of the leak. But, my first thought was that from what remember seeing of it at the auto parts store, the small botles were fairly pricey and I assume you'd need many of them to give you the same concentration as is used in an auto cooling system. Just a thought...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_silicate
(PS... Came across this while Googling: http://www.gunk.com/CAT_B232.asp don't know anything about it)
Thanks I'm going to contact the company on Monday when they open to get more info on how to use the product without messing up my whole system
Worried about blocking my bleeders and how it all works out.
"Water glass" is a common name for sodium silicate, a chemical which is soluable in water but which has glass-like properties when dry and which adheres pretty well to many materials, including glass.
It's properties make it a halfway decent auto radiator sealant, but I'm not sure how well suited it is for heating systems. It doesn't set on exposure to air, but rather when it dries out and is heated dry. I don't think it would create a serious risk of clogging a bleeder valve while you're bleeding air, but there would be some risk that it could make valves stick.
At least it's fairly cheap.
I suggest checking over at
http://www.heatinghelp.com/homeowners.cfm
I seem to recall something like "Liquid Weld" or something that can be used on hot water radiators. But I'm not certain what it is called. But something exists for just this purpose.
Thanks again that website has a lot of good stuff on it.
If you can see the holes, why not use a high-temperature epoxy like the ones used for engine repairs? You can get a stick very inexpensively. Just knead together small chunks of the parts a and b according the directions and stick it on like chewing gum.
I have made many repairs with the stuff.
About 10 years ago a house was repossesed by the bank and was vacant. One bitter cold Canadian winter day I was told to go over to this house for some reason . When I got there I saw that there were no footprints in the snow anywhere around the house and all the windows were frosted up. The bank was paying a security company to keep an eye on the house, but didn't. When I got in, I found that the heating system was the old fashioned gravity flow boiler system with very large cast iron radiators. Due to the cold these rads had burst like grenades with bits of cast iron embeded into the walls. Lots of pipes were also burst. Luckily the main water line had also froze first and there wasn't a water leak.
Remember I said the bank owned it BUT has just sold it to a person who really liked the cast iron rads and wanted them back in so the heating company I was working for had to re-do all the piping, find and install lots of cast iron rads plus put in a modern boiler. I was in the house for months threading and fitting this 2 pipe system which included lots of time in an 18 inch dirt crawlspace. Did I mention it was cold.
We finally fired up the beast and everything was working fine until all the pipes came up to operating temp and we started to get the odd dribble of water here and there plus a couple of rads started to leak even though we had pressure tested them first. I was sweating bullets because there were hundreds of threaded connections I could envision them all dribbling and after months on this job (did I mention it was cold) I was fed up with it. An old plumber friend of mine told me to inquire about a radiator leakstop. After some inquiries I found a supplier that had two large bottles (quart size) that had been sitting on the shelves since before he had started. I dumped one bottle into the boiler and within a day every dribble stopped, even the cracked rads. As far as I know the system worked fine. About a year later we sold the extra bottle to someone who also had a leaky system and it worked for them.
There is stuff out there.
roger
Yeah, they poured radiator stop leak into the Nautilus to stop a leak, before it crossed under the North Pole.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin