The radiator system is the part of heating that requires the most material costs. This has led many to look for ways to save. In this way, it became the manufacture of a radiator independently. The thing is that a homemade device costs about 90% cheaper than the purchased option.
Self-assembly benefits
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 design will 100% fit into the design of the room. Even the most expensive purchased models do not always satisfy 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 the heat loss or heat transfer and draw up an individual plan for the arrangement of the heating network in the house. Such a system will be 100% suitable for the selected house.
What is required for construction
The manufacture of a radiator requires the availability of tools and materials such as:
- welding machine, as well as several electrodes;
- a grinder with a grinding wheel or a grinding machine;
- the base will be made of steel pipes with a diameter of 10 cm and a length of 2 m;
- you will need a steel pipe VGP with a length of 30 cm;
- steel sheet with dimensions of 600 × 100 mm and a thickness of 3 mm;
- the last thing you need is a stub, 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 the radiator, and only then to heat the room. Naturally, the main material, that is, the pipe, will have to weld a hole to make it completely airtight. The bends are welded to the plane of the pipes so that it is possible 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 must be at an angle of 180 degrees and 5 cm from the end of the pipe. After this stage is completed, the resulting holes must be cleaned of welding residues.
Next, go to the steel sheet. It is necessary in order to cut 6 round billets from it, the diameter of which is equal to the diameter of the pipe. Using these parts, all ends are welded. Next, you will 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 the thin parts of the pipe, the device can be made more reliable.
How to make a radiator whole? To achieve this, it is necessary to proceed to the welding of the overhangs prepared in advance. We can assume that the radiator is ready. Next, you need to conduct small tests for strength and tightness. To check whether 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, it is eliminated by welding.
Radiator installation
Making radiators for cooling or heating is only half the story. It is important to install them in the right place. It will require general knowledge of installation technologies, as well as a set of construction 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 the installation of a new one. First, fasteners are installed, then you can begin to mount the radiator itself. It is also worth adding that each radiator must be equipped with a stopcock, through which the coolant will be delivered. Installing a faucet and thermal head will power the system. The final touch is connecting 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, then a violation of heat exchange is possible.