The radiator system is the part of heating that requires the most material costs. This has led many to look for ways to save money. This way was the manufacture of the radiator yourself. The thing is that a homemade device is about 90% cheaper than a purchased option.
Benefit from self-assembly
Homemade radiators have several undeniable advantages.
- Firstly, when assembling with your own hands, you can give almost any shape to this product. This means that the finished structure will fit 100% into the design of the room. Even the most expensive purchased models do not always meet this requirement.
- The manufacture of aluminum radiators or any other is possible with only improvised means.
- Another important point is the ability to independently calculate heat loss or heat transfer and draw up an individual plan for arranging a heating network in a house. Such a system will be 100% suitable for the selected house.
What you need to build
Making a radiator requires tools and materials such as:
- welding machine and several electrodes;
- grinder with a grinding wheel or grinder;
- the base will be made of steel pipes with a diameter of 10 cm and a length of 2 m;
- you will need a VGP steel pipe with a length of 30 cm;
- steel sheet with dimensions of 600 × 100 mm and a thickness of 3 mm or more;
- the last thing you need is a plug, as well as 2 drives.
It is worth noting that the wall thickness of the pipes from which the radiator will be manufactured should not exceed 3.5 mm. If the pipe is too thick, then a significant part of the heat will go only to warm up the radiator, and only then to heat the room. Naturally, the base material, that is, the pipe, will have to weld a hole to make it completely airtight. The sleeves are welded to the plane of the pipes in order to be able to supply and discharge the coolant into the heating system.
Assembly process
When all the necessary tools and materials are prepared, you can proceed. First, you need to cut a large piece of pipe into three equal parts. After that, using a welding machine, it is necessary to make two holes in each of the pipe sections. The diameter should be the same everywhere - 2.5 cm. It is also important to consider here that they should be at an angle of 180 degrees and 5 cm from the end of the pipe. After thisthe stage is completed, the resulting holes must be cleaned of welding residues.
Next, move on to the steel sheet. It is necessary in order to cut out 6 round blanks from it, the diameter of which is equal to the diameter of the pipe. With the help of these parts, all ends are welded. Next, you need a VGP pipe, which is cut into two equal segments. Each segment is welded to a pipe with a large diameter, where holes were previously prepared. With the help of reinforced parts with a length of 10 cm, welded to thin parts of the pipe, the fixture can be made more reliable.
How to make a radiator one-piece? In order to achieve this, it is necessary to proceed to the welding of the surges prepared in advance. We can assume that the radiator is ready. Further, it is necessary to carry out small tests for strength and tightness. To check if the workpiece is airtight, one of its drives is closed, and water is poured into the second. If a leak is noticed somewhere at the junction, then it is eliminated by welding.
Installing a radiator
Making cooling or heating radiators is only half the battle. It is important to install them in the right place. This will require general knowledge of installation technologies, as well as a set of building tools that any owner has. If there are old radiators, then they are removed, if not, then you can immediately start marking the site for installing a new one. Fasteners are installed first, then you can startattach the radiator. It is also worth adding that each radiator must be equipped with a plug valve through which the coolant will be delivered. Installing a faucet and a thermal head will power the system. The final touch is the connection of a new radiator to the entire heating system. It is important to note that the optimal installation height of the radiator is 7 cm from the floor. If set higher than 15 cm, heat exchange may be disturbed.
