One of my radiators was leaking slightly from the valve^[I overtightened it because I thought tighter is better, but it looks like I warped the olive], so I thought I would take it off and have another go with a fresh olive. Other than the usual fun of water leaking everywhere ^[despite draining, and bleeding, and getting soot onto nice tea towels], one problem immediately arose: I can't get the olive off. So I order an Olive Tool / Brass Puller, whilst the radiator lies on the floor for a day^[I'm wearing ski socks and christmas sweaters to overcome the lack of heating].
The tool arrives, I use the 15mm attachment on the small side and it slides the olive off of that side no problem. I use the 22mm attachment on the big side and.... it's 1mm too big? Wait, what?
It turns out I was a ruddy fool for expecting my radiator to conform to modern sizes. One side uses 15mm, the other side uses the 1/2" patriotic standard:
So I'm waiting a few days now for this somewhat harder to find tool to arrive, whilst the weather ticks ever colder and wetter, and I question the existence of my hybrid radiator -- the confused love child of two worlds.
I feel like I say this every week, but, I hate plumbing.
