OT Hot Water Plumbing Problem

I have a little problem with the hot water system. The hot bath tap runs
slowly then peters out.

The system s 20 years old, and is a normal gas boiler and indirect hot
water cylinder arrangement fed from a cold water header tank in the loft.
Hove is a very hard water area.

The water is hot - until it stops running that is - the problem seems to
be the header tank doesn't go down, actually it does but very slowly.

I have operated the bleed nipple on the tall pipe next to the motorised
valve - water comes out.

There are two feeds off the header tank, both go down into the airing
cupboard; I assume one does the hot water cylinder and the other the cold
taps and toilet cistern. It doesn't go down particularly fast when the
toilet is flushed but the cold tap seems to run ok.

What is the possible cause? solution? Probable cost - DIY or with a
plumber?

Would it pay me to get Gyp to fix it so I could claim on the insurance
for a completely new house?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, sweller

I had *very* similar symptoms last year. It turned out to be the pipe
that comes out of the top of the hot water cylinder. It was almost
completely blocked with chalk.

Easy fix, absolute ****** to diagnose...

Have a quick shufty at the pipe, if that's the problem, it's pretty
obvious.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer As featured in
Performance Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

The one that comes out of the top that feeds the taps rather than the
vent pipe? Was it blocked all the way or just for the first foot or so?

Can I have a quick 'shufty' without taking it apart too much?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, sweller

That's the very fellow.

It was only blocked for an inch or so. The feed hole was pretty clagged
up too. I replaced the first bit of pipe and used a punch to knock the
shite off the inside of the tank hole. Go easy, those tanks are thin.

You can. Empty the tank of hot water, or let it cool. Then turn the cold
feed off and drain the top bit of the tank (just so you don't spill too
much when you remove the pipe), then just undo the connection. If it's
clagged up, you'll spot it straight away.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer As featured in
Performance Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

Isolate the fault. Take the feeder pipe off the hot cylinder and connect
a hose to it and run it out of the window/door/bath. See what the
flowrate is like there. You might find the feed pipe is blocked, but my
money's on a severely chalked-up hot tank. Normal in a very hard water
area.

If the tank feed's ok, do the same to the exit pipe from the top of the
hot cyl. Sometimes the hot pipework gets furred up.

Best plan all round, iwt.

 

Your house is fucked - I'll give you 50 quid for it.


--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

Is Gyp becoming the Timo of DIY?

 

Can you just bung in about 6 bottles of de-scaler and stand well back, or is
it time for a new tank?

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Jackie

No, that's Sir.Tony.

Oh, not *that* sort of DIY.

Move along, nothing to see here...

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer As featured in
Performance Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

You may find that the scale is hiding pin prick holes, if you do that.

Ali

 

Pipes and / or HW tank scaled up ?

 

That's often what happens. Plus the thinly-stretched metal in the base
of most domestic copper cyls is more prone to leakage. 20 years is good
going for a hot cyl in a hard water area. Round here, 10 years is the
norm and sometimes 5.

 

I've got my tool bag ready.

You book the RNLI.

And a film crew.

 

Yesterday I had to deal with a hot water system problem that was much
more fun.

Having just sat down to eat lunch, The Pager informs me in its loud
obnoxious way that there is a "Einsatzalarm" a shout for the local
fire service [1] that I am a volunteer for.

After dropping my fork and racing to the fire station, I quickly put
on the work clothes (Fire retardant Dungarees, Heavy insulated orange
jacket, work boots, lid, gloves and belt[2]) and jump onto Markdorf
1/44/1, our first response engine. With 8 people on board we get
going. We've been informed that it is a technical-assistance shout,
not time critical, so leave the blues and twos off as we drive to one
of the local block of flats.

On reaching the scene, a demand for a bolt cropper is radioed in
before we even stand still. Since I am nearest the bolt cropper, I
grab it and follow into the building. Before even reaching the cellar,
I can't see anything as my glasses have fogged up.

No big deal, I am short-sighted, if I put the glasses in my pockets I
can see enough to be useful. The other three I am with are all long
sighted; all have their glasses misted up. Oh good, I get to be the
hero. On entering the cellar, I feel like I am in a sauna. One of the
risers has failed somewhere, and water is cascading down the wall in
one of the enclosed lock-ups.

A quick snip dispatches the padlock to where padlocks that no longer
lock go, and I am standing in front of a veritable waterfall. Grabbing
a torch that one of the others passes to me reveals the riser in
question. It is the one where the shut-off valve has visibly seized.
As in, it's a big heap of rust. This observation is quickly passed via
radio, and others start in their hunt for the main tap, while others
start bringing the water hoover out. While this is happening I am
clearing the area underneath the waterfall, standing in about an inch
of water. The draining equipment arrives and together with two others
we start to drain the water in the vain hope of slowing the rise until
the water has been stopped. In the meantime, it has been established
that the water had been turned off even before we got to the site by
the housekeeper who called us. Realisation dawns: This is all the hot
water risers in the building draining onto us. A quick look confirms
that there is one other riser in the cellar we are standing in, and we
can assume that there are two more cellars with two risers each…
before the distribution line runs into the next two blocks.

Thankfully, realisation and the subsiding of the torrent fall into the
same instance, so we simply continue to clear up. After about an hour
of cleaning, the floor is now merely wet, not flooded, a plumber has
turned up (he's also a volunteer fireman, so he got paged as well),
and we clear up and return to the station house.

Now, remember, I said hot water, steam, and I am wearing heavy fire
retardant clothes. By the time the cascading water had stopped, so I
could take off the waterproof jacket, I was already slightly sweaty. I
can't take the over-trousers off without removing my boots, something
I am just not going to do with that much water around.

On returning to my car, the first thing I do is down two pints of
water, and head home to change. My pasta has gone cold, and as I take
off my clothes to change, they make a splashing sound as I discard
them onto the bathroom floor.

At least, in a fire, the breathable membrane allows your sweat out to
slow your overheating, but steam-drenched rooms are best enjoyed in a
sauna and not while working a shout.


Johannes Gerber

[1] www.feuerwehr-markdorf.de,
[2] See the blured guy (me) in
http://www.feuerwehr-markdorf.de/berichte/bilder/TF2006/P5180030.JPG

 

War surplus helmets?

 

s/war/lego/

 

Funnily enough, no. Aluminium or Fiberglass, not steel.

However, they do use a war-surplus design.


Johannes Gerber

 

I wondered where the fibreglass replicas came from - ex firemen's kit
sold by pikey traders at various bike rally venues.

 

I like the frog fire helmets.

Good design.