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How to open to access valve

Some_Guy
Some_Guy Member Posts: 3
Ceiling heatCeiling heat closer up
Hi folks, I feel like this is a bit of a silly question... how do I get the cover off this ceiling heater?

This kind of hot water heat is super common in my area for apartments and commercial. I'm sure there are pictures or videos on the Internet showing how to open it, but I don't know what it's called. I previously always assumed it was just called a ceiling radiator - 'cause it's on the ceiling and it radiates heat - but as soon as I try to involve the word "ceiling" in my Googling then everything that comes up is totally different stuff.

Anyway, something is wrong with the zone valve. I can hear that's it's not closing fully and the "whatever it's called" keeps dumping heat into the apartment. I just want to turn off the manual valve for now and get my landlord to deal with the zone valve later.

In the gap behind the "whatever it's called", my phone camera can see the valve I want to turn off but my fingers can't reach it! If only I could just figure out how the cover is supposed to open!!!! The little section in the corner of the room is where the valve is. I'm thinking it must be possible to open just that little section... somehow. Argh.
Manual valve and zone valve

Comments

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,452
    I have never seen that particular cover but it's got to unsnap somehow
  • ratio
    ratio Member Posts: 3,615
    No clue how to release the cover on that, but you might be able to reach the valve handle with a flat piece of metal & close it without removing the cover. It looks to me like the handle needs to move towards the camera.
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,159
    Never seen one. But the place I'd start would be with that strap thingy. between the end section and the rest of it. It may hook over the leading edge of the cover from above.

    Then again, it may not...
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
    ZmanCanucker
  • Some_Guy
    Some_Guy Member Posts: 3
    Thanks for the ideas. I decided to move to a cooler room and try opening the one in there to figure out how it's supposed to work. What I found...

    The strap thingy covers the join between the small section and big section. The half that's covering the small section is riveted to it. In the back it kinda wraps up behind the cover and hooks over a little metal bracket hanging from the ceiling which it snaps onto.

    The strap thingy actually unsnaps from the hanger really easily, in the cool room. Just grab it at the back and a light pull downwards. Definitely easily enough that it shouldn't require asking on the Internet!

    In the hot room, the strap is just jammed on to its hanger really tightly, I guess. Like, really really really really tight. Could be due to thermal expansion I suppose. Also, some cracks in the ceiling and wall have me wondering if maybe the structure has shifted such that the heater mounting is now playing a role in keeping the room's corners square.

    Tried and tried to reach the valve handle without taking the cover off but there's just not enough maneuvering room for any improvised tool I've been able to come up with.

    Unless somebody who has seen this exact thing before chimes in with a specific trick, I'm just gonna give up. I can deal with the heat temporarily (hallway outside the apartment is pressurized with air conditioning, and DQ is just a short walk). Problem for the landlord.
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,561
    It is Honeywell zone valve. If it slides easily, it is open. If the lever resists , it is closed.
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,506
    Any reason why you can’t get your landlord to fix it?
    steve
  • Some_Guy
    Some_Guy Member Posts: 3
    Zman said:

    It is Honeywell zone valve. If it slides easily, it is open. If the lever resists , it is closed.

    Um yeah... my issue isn't with opening the zone valve; my issue is with opening the radiator cover (to get at the valves). Anyway, just as an aside - apartment heating in my area is always backwards from what most people on the Internet seem to be familiar with. Apartments around here always have normally-open zone valves controlled by an air conditioning thermostat. Dunno if that's code requirement or just preference to help prevent freezing, but it is definitely the norm here. (Northern Alberta, Canada.)

    Any reason why you can’t get your landlord to fix it?

    That's the plan. As I said before:
    Some_Guy said:

    I just want to turn off the manual valve for now and get my landlord to deal with the zone valve later.

    Some_Guy said:

    I'm just gonna give up.... Problem for the landlord.

    Anyway, thanks for the ideas folks. Sorry for all the noise over such a dumb question.