Durgo Valve

[Gogs]

(AIR ADMITTANCE VALVE)

HELP!

i had a bedroom built in to my attic which had a 4" soil pipe roof vent which travelled up almost the centre of the attic from joists to roof.

to aid in the removal of this 4" pipe instead of a re-route of the pipe i installed a durgo valve under the attic floor, i cut out a piece of pipe andd removed it to the last connecting collar, i installed the durgo valve here and where the pipe was boxed in, at the bathroom below the attic i cut out and installed an air inlet vent to the box to provide inlet air for the durgo.

that was 3 weeks ago.

when i flushed the toilet i could not hear the valve open but i could hear a tapping noise from it as it closed at the end of the flush.

the problem is i am on the top floor and there are 2 flats below me that have to use the valve too.


this morning when i arrived home at 11.00am my neighbour was in her garden and said to me, i have had the plumbers in all morning, i replied why, she said there was something wrong with the upstairs neighbours toilet as foul water was spilling over her toilet bowl on to her floor, i immediately thought of a problem with the durgo valve, and ran upstairs and flushed my toilet which was draining very slow, i went in to the loft and removed my durgo and flushed my toilet which had an instant empty, i am presuming the durgo valve is not fit for this purpose then and i have did an emergency reconnection of the pipe by using one of those cheap flexi air ducts from screwfix and used foil tape to seal it.


she said the plumber said the sewer tail was full of leaves and dirty nappies etc.etc.
i dont know if she meant before or after the disconector.
but i dont believe that, i think the restriction of water (air) flow has caused the pipe to block up with toilet paper and other usual toilet debris over the last few weeks.
it is quite a long tail to the main sewer in the road.

i noticed he had used the fire hydrant for his jetting machine to unblock the pipe as there was water around it in the street.


i am also wondering if he has noticed that there was a restriction of air flow from the soil pipe roof vent , as i do not want to get in to trouble if he comes back with reinforcements in the morning to stick a rod down the pipe on the roof.


does anybody know?

Peace.

 

[chris watkins]

Very good Gogs you have a guilty conscience & so you should. I would be afraid, very afraid in case the rody plumber comes back & stick them down !!!! LOL, only joking. I think from the sounds of it you have just been unlucky, with the blockage just after fitting the Durgo. Don't get me wrong I do not like them myself, they only let air in not out for a start, is this the head of the drain run i.e. furthest from the sewer & is there another vent pipe on the system ?
Is there no way that the vent pipe can be maintained, it can be reduced down to 3" if it helps. (have a look at Part H1 of the building Reg's)
If not reconnect the durgo, it is very doubtful that it was in any way connected with the blockage if the plumber found nappies & leaves.

 

[Koogatubac]

I had that prob on a site i was running 2 years ago. Thought it was air flow but was a blockage in the drain pipes underground. In regs to dergo valves you need air vents surrounding the aav

Always go for natural ventilation with a cowl on top of the stack.

You should always have natural ventilation 1 in every 4 properties but regs. Cant remember the exact reg number though!
And the vent should always be at the head of the drain

 

[Gogs]

Very good Gogs you have a guilty conscience & so you should. I would be afraid, very afraid in case the rody plumber comes back & stick them down !!!! LOL, only joking. I think from the sounds of it you have just been unlucky, with the blockage just after fitting the Durgo. Don't get me wrong I do not like them myself, they only let air in not out for a start, is this the head of the drain run i.e. furthest from the sewer & is there another vent pipe on the system ?
Is there no way that the vent pipe can be maintained, it can be reduced down to 3" if it helps. (have a look at Part H1 of the building Reg's)
If not reconnect the durgo, it is very doubtful that it was in any way connected with the blockage if the plumber found nappies & leaves.

well actually, i do have a guilty conscience as i have been growing plants in my attic if you get my drift.
the flats underneath me are still owned and rented by the council to council tennants and i dont want the council plumber snooping around my roof.
i used the top of the soil vent pipe for a fresh air fan inlet, and i used the old blow central heating stack (chimney) as my warm air outlet at the roof.

i have just had all my roof tiles repaired as they were in a bad state too as the roof is now 40 years old and had, had no maintenance in this time, and i dont want some fat plumber treading all over them and breaking them again.

the 4" soil pipe has a toilet connection two sinks and a bath connected in the ground floor flat.

it passes straight up through and has the same in the first floor flat with concrete bison slab in between floors with collapsible fire joints.

it then passes through and reaches my flat which i have two floors the lower and upper and thenthe attic.

i have a sink trap on it downstairs and a toilet and a sink and bath on it upstairs.

it then passes on up the roof and has a little basket cover on it out on the roof.

i was actually thinking that i had been unlucky about the blockage too, but i bought this durgo from a guy on ebay and my toilet was fast emptying when i first installed it 3 weeks ago, when i place it back on now my toilet bowl takes about 10 seconds to slow empty.

anyway i have got myself a new air inlet.

so i will get 4 x 90 degree bends and run the stack pipe horizontally between the 8 inch joists on my attic floor toward the wall with another 90 up the wall to the roof with another 90 run it between the 8 inch roof joists and use another 90 to reconnect it to the original pipe and i will just put that section of floor back down ceiling back up and box the pipe in against the wall.

peace brother and thanks for your help.

 

[AWheating]

and of course keep your "plant" room extractor ducts away from any open vent pipe! even if your running through a good filter.

 

[Gogs]

I had that prob on a site i was running 2 years ago. Thought it was air flow but was a blockage in the drain pipes underground. In regs to dergo valves you need air vents surrounding the aav

Always go for natural ventilation with a cowl on top of the stack.

You should always have natural ventilation 1 in every 4 properties but regs. Cant remember the exact reg number though!
And the vent should always be at the head of the drain

i had installed a vent for the durgo, which was at the head of the stack at last flat ceiling height just below my attic floor.

 

[Gogs]

and of course keep your "plant" room extractor ducts away from any open vent pipe! even if your running through a good filter.

my room expels the used air right up at the top of the old blow central heating stack at the roof which is about 10 inches x 10 inches square internally and was previously used to draw fresh air in for the flats blow central heating systems.


the old central heating shaft runs from the basement which has vents on the wall below floor level at front and back of the building and runs straight up through the building with vents at the roof, the old central heating systems were removed and replaced with instant hot water and radiator heating boilers, that have exhausts cored in to the external walls.

and yes i do have a carbon filter.

and i dont know how to thank you all enough for trying to help me.

happy days.

 

[chris watkins]

You lost me mate, when you started calling me a fat plumber.
Fix it yourself,
Oh & hope the heat detector van looks at your roof.

peace to you bro !!!

 

[Gogs]

You lost me mate, when you started calling me a fat plumber.
Fix it yourself,
Oh & hope the heat detector van looks at your roof.

peace to you bro !!!

1... i did not call you a fat plumber, it was an expression of speech meaning i did not want a man walking on my roof tiles after just having them all repaired after a huge gale.
if you felt insulted i apologise.

2... i am quite able to do any plumbing job thrown at me.

3... i only asked for a second opinion which is better than thinking out a problem on your own.

4... it is illegal to use a thermal imaging camera on any property that does not have a warrant before hand.

5... the stupid *******s have been getting warrants and busting in to peoples attic bedrooms with radiators installed in as a method of heating the attic bedroom.

the last straw was when they busted one of their own colleages and issued a search warrant to search her home to no avail.
the law was changed.


the cameras are only useful in the country checking barns, and farm outhouses where there should be no heat.
a warrant is then issued for the property.


houses are a no go now.

how you can justify getting a warrant for a home that is only using 2 thousand watts of lighting power is beyond me.

some grows use 50,000 watts of lighting power.
now that is a different kind of expelled heat.

i mean you should know how much heat a 500w outside garden spotlight gives off.
times that heat by 100.

or put 25 x 2000 watt blow heaters in to a property.

that is the grow the police are after, not a few plants like mine for my own use.

 

[Koogatubac]

Lol good luck gogs just keep the natural ventilation going, up to you with your business