Gravity fed low water pressure problem

[psk]

hello everyone,

i went to check this system yesterday it was a gravity fed hot water tank.we are looking at a water head of about 2 metres. im getting good pressure in the kitchen as it is on ground floor but there isnt any pressure upstairs in the bath. what bafffles me is that sometimes hardly any water comes out indicating there is an airblock in the system. i tried most airblock techniqques to get rid of the air but nothing seems to happen. i get the water flowing on a trickle.

can you please suggest me some other option that i might not be aware of. ive never seen such a problem before and it made me think hard so i guess all the learned ones on this forum can help me find a solution as i have to report back to my client soon.

regards

psk

 

[billychuff]

Silly question but is it just the bath or do you mean bathroom?

 

[diamondgas]

psk, you got to know if it's something new or just happened imo.... Could be a sticking tap or a blockage!

 

[psk]

its the bathroom hot water taps on sink and bath, i should have been more clearer.
the hot water clinder is electric heated open vent

 

[psk]

hi diamond gas,

the taps are all mixer taps and they seems to be functioning well. they are new too.
when you mean blockage do you mean blockage anywhere in the pipe run or somewhere particular?
thanks

 

[GQuigley67]

are they high pressure taps ?

 

[psk]

nah they arent high pressure taps but why does the system take in air and create a block.
at times there is no water coming at all.

 

[diamondgas]

Is that on both the bath and the hand basin psk? Trying to establish if it's the "bathroom" supply!

 

[psk]

yes on both bath and sink. the pressure to the kitchen downstairs is perfect.
do u reckon its blockage in pipes or just low water head to the hot water cylinder?.

 

[billychuff]

hi diamond gas,

the taps are all mixer taps and they seems to be functioning well. they are new too.
when you mean blockage do you mean blockage anywhere in the pipe run or somewhere particular?
thanks

is the cold fed from the mains? if so can you cover the mixer and get the cold down the hot?

 

[psk]

yes its mains fed. i done that too, covered the mixer nothin happened. I also looped cold to hot and let that run but nothin happend.

Then i tried sucking aip from the open vent in the loft and as i was doing that the water pressure to the taps did increase only when i was sucking the air out. beleive me i was there for over an hour and left the place with nothin accomplished. Really dissapointed at the mo!

 

[diamondgas]

yes on both bath and sink. the pressure to the kitchen downstairs is perfect.
do u reckon its blockage in pipes or just low water head to the hot water cylinder?.

What does the customer say? Is it a new bathroom install?

I fitted a cylinder just last week got called back for similar symptoms ... checked the taps and they'd all got gunged up with stuff! Went into loft and found an un covered feed tank and what looked like lumps of card board in it. I ended up chasing a lump of the stuff around the pipework till I eventually got it all out!

 

[psk]

its a really old system. the customer is clueless and he has been living with the problem for quite a while. i however recomended them a new system but im thinking to conquer this issue otherwise we got plan A

 

[diamondgas]

If you've got a flow issue then It's a mater of tracing it yeh? Process of illimination from the headder to the taps one step at a time..... There's a glass of water technique you could try on the open vent to establish feed through the cylinder ... fill the glass, place the open vent into it and turn on a tap! If the water is sucked out of the glass you're issue lies up stream of the open vent tee if not then it's down stream from the tee to the taps!

 

[psk]

sound advice mate!

i will try that. what if the water gets sucked into the open vent, whats the solution to that?
thanks alot much appreciate it

 

[diamondgas]

Well it may draw a little but it shouldn't down the whole pint and want more .. lol

Tends to indicate poor feed to the cylinder or a restriction on the cylinder outlet to open vent tee! The tap is drawing the water down the open vent quicker than down the cold feed from the header tank basically!

 

[billychuff]

could be another silly question... i take it there's enough water in the expansion tank