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StephenH

Hi,
I have a problem with a cloakroom hand basin hot water tap - it needs attention, maybe a new tap... no matter... I think I can sort that. Unfortunately when the house was built and the pipework was installed (25yrs) the builders omitted to put stop valves under the taps (which I believe is now the regs?). Again, no matter....I can correct that. What is the the matter is that there doesn't seem to be a stop valve of any sort on the outlet to the hot water tank. There's one for the inlet. The outlet, at the top of the tank is split with a T-joint, one end going up to the roof tank which I guess is the expansion. The other end disappears into the flooring. Now I don't know if this was the general practice back then (maybe now?), or the builder pulled a fast one but to my none plumbing mind I'd have thought it a lot easier to have a outlet stop valve. Still, I can't see one.

Okay, so what is the technique to use. Do I simply turn off the cold inlet to the ho****er tank, turn on the hot water tap in question and let the system drain through? Or is there some other obvious 'doh' I'm missing? I will be fitting a stop valve under the tap I shall be 'attending to'.

Many thanks for your time.
 
You could use some drain easy bungs. just make sure you get a good seal with them thou. If no joy or your not confident with them , its a drain down. you might end up with an air lock if you drain it all down then refill after the job. If you drain it down why not stick valves on all the other low pressure outlets? might save you some bother later.
 
if you bung a cylinder cold feed and vent then open a tap on the floor below you could implode the cylinder

Bunging a cylinder cold feed would have the same effect as turning off the isolating valve. No water in, no water out of a tap
therefor could not implode a cylinder.

Would have to bung both and open cylinder drain for possibility of implosion.
 
Thanks to all.
Tried to leave a message yesterday but the system did not want to play with me, in any shape or form.
Doing all the taps at the same time is a sensible idea, but at my skill level I think I'd prefer to have just the one 'not quite right' joint to deal with rather than 3 or 4. ;)
 
Sorted my problem thanks.
Turned off the feed to the hot tank, opened the troublesome tap to let the water out. Made the first tentative cut and allowed the water to drain above it from the tap. Finished the cut, problem was that the water continued and continued. Not a huge amount but enough to be a pain as I cleaned up the cut end. Came up with a brill idea - I grabbed a piece of plastic small bore pipe I used for a fish tank and shoved it down the pipe and worked a kind of syphon bypass into a plastic bowl - worked a dream.

Took the insert out of the tap and after a little playing about took the central part from a similar tap somebody had given me cleaned it and the better outer of the existing insert, greased it up put it back - the action is now sweeter than a knob on my stereo. ;)

I just have to try to persuade people that they don't have to screw the tap down to turn it off - simply turn it until the water stops. (What is it with people who want to wrench taps into oblivion?)

Thanks again.
 

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