Toilet cistern fittings.

[hunterseye]

Just looked at an outside toilet in a really really old house, its an old black cistern, so concern number one is the obvious, does this cistern contain asbestos. Secont dly, when the float arm is depressed there is no water to refill the cistern. The feed is all new pipework so shouldn't be a problem. Could it be that the float arm valve is gunked up since the loo hasn't been used in many years. I'm looking to replace the syphon and float arm valve but A. concerned about the potential asbestos element and B. As a rule would modern replacement fittings work or is there a thread difference. Any thoughts guys?

 

[chris watkins]

Check for valve inside house, these normally turned off to avoid frost damage in winter or it may have been cut & capped if it is not being used very often. Un-likley to be asbestos is un-sure keep it wetted, do not break it up & were a dest mask.

 

[snowhead]

The fittings are no different to current ones even the older still cast iron ones still use a 1/2" ball valve (the syphon is also cast iron tho').

The ball valve is probably stuck.
Just replace the whole valve with a new one.

The older black systerns do have asbestos in them, but you're not cutting into it so it won't be a problem.

 

[jtsplumbing]

May also be the old rubberline type, have you got water upto the BV ?

 

[hunterseye]

May also be the old rubberline type, have you got water upto the BV ?

All the pipework to the cistern is brand new. but when the BV is depressed nothing comes out to refill cistern.

 

[Guest123]

These cisterns contain asbestos and no way should you be touching it. When I was on a local council contract, I came upon these quite a lot and a specialist contractor was called in to remove them.

Even loosening off a fitting attached to the cistern can potentially release asbestos fibres into the air. Advise your customer of this and advise that renewal is the best option. You can easily and cheaply replace this with a plastic cistern if the customer is on a tight budget.

 

[hunterseye]

These cisterns contain asbestos and no way should you be touching it. When I was on a local council contract, I came upon these quite a lot and a specialist contractor was called in to remove them.

Even loosening off a fitting attached to the cistern can potentially release asbestos fibres into the air. Advise your customer of this and advise that renewal is the best option. You can easily and cheaply replace this with a plastic cistern if the customer is on a tight budget.

many thanks for the reply.