No cold water from mains

[mjt]

HI chaps

I changed a kitcheen tap today and apart from an airlock in the hot side which i blasted out through the washing machine taps it all went fine.

Customer has rung back saying that cold taps in bathroom (its a bungalow) have not cold water (WC bath and basin) bit kitchen is working fine.

Sounds like an airlock to me but never had one on mains before - any thoughts???

Thanks

 

[GreenArmy]

Bathroom water from Cold Water Storage Cistern. Airlock or a bit of crap has got stuck in the ball valve and its run dry.

 

[REDSAW]

HI chaps

I changed a kitcheen tap today and apart from an airlock in the hot side which i blasted out through the washing machine taps it all went fine.

Customer has rung back saying that cold taps in bathroom (its a bungalow) have not cold water (WC bath and basin) bit kitchen is working fine.

Sounds like an airlock to me but never had one on mains before - any thoughts???

Thanks

sounds possible that it is a tank fed cws in the roof space and the ball cocks stuck shut.

 

[mjt]

i'm going back tomorrow and will have a look - thanks fo the advice

is that common in a newish bungalow?

 

[stevetheplumber]

maybe the tank ran dry while you had the main of and now its airlocked if theres a showermixer turn on both side with your finger over the end of the shower hose

 

[Bernie2]

Yes!

Depends where you are.

Some water companies make you fit a storage cistern if your house is within 10.5 meters of the draw off level of the local reservoir or tank.

 

[mjt]

All done guys - cold water in bathroom was tank fed - ran a hose from outside tap into outlet in storage tank in loft and let rip - all working fine now thanks for the advice.

lesson learnt - never assume anything ( all cold mains fed on this occasion - NOT)!!

Thanks Bernie - the customer is an Anglian water worker aswell!!!!

MJT

 

[david williams]

why does everyone think that cwsc are no longer fitted and that everything is mains fed.different plumbing systems are fitted to different properties for different reasons.

 

[mjt]

haven't come across any in a new house before less than 5-10 years old thats why

 

[jpm]

haven't come across any in a new house before less than 5-10 years old thats why

easy turn off main,open bath,basin and also flush wc.if there is flow it's tank fed,simple.no need to get into loft

 

[tackleburger]

easy turn off main,open bath,basin and also flush wc.if there is flow it's tank fed,simple.no need to get into loft

If I turn mains off to change a downstairs tap I always open the upstairs hot and cold to drain system. So you would have noticed unless of course you had service valves. The hot was tanked anyway you must have seen that. Maybe you don't have the experience for the job mate, I wouldn't admit soething like that on a public forum if I was you it beg the ability question.

 

[Puddle]

Maybe you don't have the experience for the job mate, I wouldn't admit soething like that on a public forum if I was you it beg the ability question.

And now he does have the experiance for the job mate,he like me probably did not pop out his mother,s womb with complete plumbing knowlage.
He has done the job and sorted out any problems he came accross, with the help of this forum,which I thought was partly what it was for,helping inexperianced plumbers become experienced
mjt made a over sight made by many and will be made by many more,everyones ability is at differant stages.as I have said before one of the biggest abilities is to seek advice when needed,once you lose that you are lible to fall flat on your face !!

 

[traineedrip]

ive done this and ive watched seasoned plumbers do it too. never assume the system is like the one down the street you worked on last week.

as for airlocks.... get a wet vax!

 

[mjt]

thank you puddle - i appreciate your comments

was a friday night and not on the ball!!!

all sorted now thanks

 

[Bernie2]

I suppose it depends where you are, as to whether you see many storage cisterns/tanks?

And of course the age of the properties you work on.

Lets be honest a pressure and flow of 1 bar and 9 liters isn't much in todays systems.

Some taps by themselves require 1 bar just to work. And if you use a combi or unvented at low pressure and flow all you get is under performance.

Although its probably perfectly adequate for most homes

Then if you want a drench type shower, requiring abut 15 liters per minute what do you do if your pressure is only the minimum 1 bar 9 liters ?

Its back to storage/booster cisterns/tanks and pumps.

Then if you rely to much on pumps what happens if the electric goes off?

And not everybody wants a low flow combi as their hws. With storage combis and cpsu appearing to require a pretty high pressure and flow to reach their peak performance outputs.

So storage cisterns/tanks are useful and they still sell them.

The problem of Legionella exists of course.

Fortunately plenty of places seem to have mains pressure well in excess of 1 bar.

But many old properties probably still only have 15mm mains to meet the flow rates, the modern main probably being more like 25mm.

Its interesting.