Question Of The Week: High-Maintenance Radiator Valves

Posted by Heidi Schwartz

This week’s question comes from the Facilities Management Group on LinkedIn.

TFM's Question of the Week logo. About 760 of the units I oversee were once centrally heated military quarters. At some point in their lifetime, the cabinet radiators were retrofitted with high capacity thermostatic radiator valves and actuators to give residents some control over individual heat.

My technicians spend a great deal of time manually releasing these valves, which then end up sticking in either the “closed” or “open” position. I suspect this is due to two things: the age of the valves themselves and the rust inhibitor we add to our heating systems.

Has anyone come across this, and if so, what was the corrective action to resolve the problem?

Chris Beck
Maintenance Manager
Killam Properties Inc.
Halifax, NS Canada

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1 COMMENT

  1. must not close completely valves, gasket and needle, if closed completely affected by the actions of expansion (hot / cold) and the long stay closed weld seal armor.
    You must calculate that every 8-10 years must replace all valves.

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