Towel Radiator All aspects of plumbing questions and answers, help, tips and information

[gopher21]

I am about to replace an existing radiator for a towel radiator in a small cloakroom toilet. The room has recently been plastered and I intend to fully tile the room which has a solid floor. The existing copper pipes come from above and I intend to reroute them in channels chased out in the breeze block, coming directly out of the wall and into the valves.
Does this sound like a good idea are am I letting myself in for unseen troubles, are there any special fittings for coming out of the wall or 10mm elbows o.k.? I also intend to make the plaster good over the pipes before tiling.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[plumbbob]

This would seem a reasonable plan.

If the pipes are buried in the wall it may be a good idea to protect them from potential damage with capping similar to electrical cables. If the pipes are in direct contact with the plaster, prevent corrosion by covering them with tape.

[gopher21]

Thanks for the feedback plumbbob.

I will definitely use some form of capping as you suggest.
Is there any benefit in discarding the existing 10mm copper in preference to plastic in this situation ?

[plumbbob]

There is no reason to replace the copper with plastic unless it offers significant installation benefits. 10mm plastic has such a small bore made even smaller by the inserts and this can have an adverse effect on water flow. Reducing the bore may unbalance the system and cause the radiator to be starved of hot water.

[gopher21]

Thanks again plumbbob,
So to sum up I will stick with the 10mm copper in some form of capping or trunking to prevent corrosion.

Last question before I commit with lump hammer and chisel, I assume once I have roughly laid out the pipe run and turned the pipes out of the wall with 90 degree bends to match the spacing of the radiator valves and clip in place, all I then need to do is replaster over the capping and fittings once pressure tested. The tiles are then cut/drilled to suit the out facing pipes and fitted, on completion of tiling I will cut the pipes to length and fit to radiator valves.

Is there any preferred method in the alignment of the pipes into the valves i.e. should I come straight out of the wall leaving the valves sticking out into the room or should I make the pipes coming out of the wall narrower than the valve spacing and turn the pipes through 90 degrees horizontally allowing the valves to be inline with the radiator?

Once again advice is much appreciated.

[plumbbob]

It is not good practice to have the valve heads sticking out into the room. I guess you have angled valves which mean the heads will point sideways. It is more usual with towel radiators to use inline valves so the feeds enter from below and the heads point inwards towards each other. Either way, the pipes will need two bends to enter at the correct angle.

[gopher21]

Thanks plumbbob,

Your advice has been greatly received.
All I need to do now is to get stuck in and complete the job.

Thanks again.