Leak from radiator

[lizwizz]

We're having a new bathroom fitted and last night about 5am the radiator pipe was found gushing water. The radiator had been disconnected, but the plumber said he turned the valve off and there was certainly no obvious leak when we looked at the bathroom about 9pm ish. Is there a logical explanation as to how this can have happened or have we got a ghost? The valve had to be turned about 30 degrees to turn it off properly, but there's no way it can have been leaking for very long to the extent it was when it was discovered this morning.

[Hard@it]

Sounds to me like a thermostatic valve had been turned off, and when night temps came down it opened up. It does not matter anyway the person who disconnected it should have plugged it off safely.

[lizwizz]

That sounds plausible hard@it (great name by the way!) although our central heating does not come on until 6.30. Is your explanation still possible?

[KARL]

The whole system would be charged with water whether or not the boiler. etc. were dormant. If it was a thermostatic valve that opened up to adjust the ambient temperature (as is certainly most likely), then definitely it was asking for trouble to leave it uncapped (if it was). If it wasn't a thermostatic valve then it is difficult to say what was the cause of such a sudden change without knowing the system well. But in any case, when a radiator is taken out the connections should be secured and occupants made aware what is going on.

[lizwizz]

Thanks. It sounds as though he ought to put right the damage to the ceiling. The laminate floor looks ok at the moment, but I don't know if water will have got in underneath it. He may have to do that too. I don't like to ask him to pay for redecoration as we were going to do that anyway - he's a one man band after all.

[Hard@it]

Sorry for not getting back sooner, thanks for name acceptance. If your heating was either on or off is irrelevant as it is purely the thermostatic valve that is the problem, and if you have an open feed tank then the water would run as long as room temp. required the valve to call for heat. If pressurised system the water would stop as soon as the content of the system was empty. Conversely the valve could could close again when the room temp up. Regardless of all that it is not you or the valve that is at fault, it is the person that did not plug off. Just remember we can all make mistakes. Cheers Hard@it