bleeder valve help

whtsx2005

I'm having trouble bleeding this valve since it have been covered with trim on top of the shroud by the previous owner. I have been bleeding most of the other valves around the house with a slotted screwdriver from the side of the valve (different type of valve/vent) but this one is on the top. Will one of those vent keys key fit in there? Is there a replacement valve I can buy that will let me access it from the side? Any other ideas to make this easier to access in the future?

IMG20260116192109.jpg

mattmia2

i think you were meant to take the cover off to access that. you can use brass fittings to turn that however you want, it is just npt, i think 1/8". you could take that bushing out and put a street ell in there too. sometimes they adapt to soft copper and use that to put the bleeder in the cover or something like that.

hot_rod

It looks tight to the top to even get a key on it.

A workaround is to wrap a large towel around it and just loosen (not remove)the bleeder with an open end, let air bubble out around the threads.

When the system is down, pressure lowered, you could get a small brass street ell or ell and close nipple, see if it fits under the cover, and turn the bleeder off to the side. Looks like an 1/8" could be 1/4. Buy one of each if you are unsure..

mattmia2

is that coppery hex female npt part of the convector element or is there some copper pipe or something in there?

hot_rod

If you do attempt to loosen the bleeder use two wrenches, one on the hex bushing, one on the bleeder.