Radiator duct extender: use and independent production

Probably, many are familiar with the situation when only the first few sections of the radiator heat up, and the rest remain cold, and you are sure that there is no air in the heating device, and the connection is made as required by the instruction - you are not undermining.

In most cases (99%) plumbing will offer you a reconnection, that is, replacing the old connection with a diagonal connection - this allows the coolant to be evenly distributed over the entire area of ​​the heater, but the rework will require not only material but also aesthetic costs, which is far from acceptable for everyone.

Therefore, you can use another option, which we want to tell you, and also bring to your attention the video in this article.

Using the duct extender

What it is

• If there are more than 10 sections in the radiator, then there is a possibility that they will heat up unevenly during lateral connection, that is, the farther the section from the supply pipe, the colder it will be the coolant, since the circulation in the heater will take place at different speeds. Therefore, in order not to redo the lateral connection on the diagonal after mounting the battery, which can cause certain problems with the arrangement of the interior of the room, you can install the duct extension for radiators with your own hands.
• After installation of such a device, the circulation of the coolant takes a uniform character. - the internal diagonal movement of water begins to take place at the same speed, and thus the problem of uneven heating of the battery is removed by itself.

But it turns out that not everything is as simple as it really should be - the fact is that buying a duct extender in a shop selling sanitary ware or even ordering it on the Internet is a whole problem and the reason is the most banal - no, not a high price. and their absence. But for those who have a desire to equip their life, this issue is solved - the device can be made independently.

Do it yourself

In order to make such a manipulation with the radiator, there is one important condition that, however, must be performed for very many situations - the presence of stop valves on the supply and return pipes, which will include ball valves and "American".

To dismantle you, first of all, you need to close both taps and carefully unscrew the upper left or right futorku - it is likely that the silicone gasket will be damaged, therefore, it is best to buy it in reserve - good, it has a penny price. Of course, it is best if you completely free the battery from the pipes and remove it from the brackets - on the floor it will be much more convenient for you to carry out further work.

And now let's figure out how to make an extension cord, but first of all, for the project you will need a piece of copper plumbing pipe - its outer diameter should be 18 mm and the wall thickness not less than 1 mm. In addition to the pipe you will need the twentieth solder coupling - its external diameter is not 20, but 19.5 mm.

To solder a sleeve with a pipe, you will need a set of special tools, such as:

• Pipe cutter, with which you can cut the copper pipe without deformation;
• A chaser with which you can chamfer and burrs at the ends after cutting;
• Pipe expander or flare;
• Steel brush for cleaning the copper surface before soldering;
• Brush for cleaning the treated surfaces from dirt that will interfere with the soldering;
• Solder;
• Torch with a nozzle gas, adjustable.

Note. For this purpose, you can also use a compact gas burner based on cylinders for tourist plates.

First of all, you will need to solder the sleeve with the pipe, but first you need to cut it straight - use a pipe cutter for this, only the pipe itself must be held strictly perpendicular to the tool so that the edge is even.

Then we remove the burrs with a brush, which in any case will be on the cut end and use a brush to clean the surface from the inside. We remove burrs and dirt, and then apply flux on the surface of smaller diameter, evenly distributing it with a brush.

Attention! Do not clean the surfaces with emery paper! Copper is a very soft metal, so abrasive grains will remain in it, which will interfere with high-quality soldering. In addition, do not apply excess flux - when heated, it will flow into the pipe and a frozen drop will form there, which will cause extraneous noise when the water moves.

We put the parts into each other, wiping with a cloth, squeezed out the flux and heat the ends evenly, determining the readiness by the color of the flux - with sufficient heating it becomes silver.

We apply solder to the joint - it will melt from the temperature of the pipes, without heating from the temperature of the copper and spreading out to fill the voids - this is due to the capillary effect.

When you see that the solder begins to collect into drops, immediately stop the process, but at the same time continue to hold both ends (not blowing on them) until it hardens completely - it will take less than a minute.

Along the length, you can make the pipe to the middle of the last section when it is in a twisted state - in some cases the length is made to the middle of the radiator, but you always have time to trim the excess. Insert the extension cord into the hole and twist it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, you should pay attention to the fact that the radiator must be made of bimetal, since it is impossible to install a flow extension cord for a copper radiator to aluminum! These two non-ferrous metals enter into a chemical reaction, which results in oxide and destruction.