I recently fitted a kitchen mixer tap,and encountered firstly getting the hot water to turn completely off. The cold was no problem as the stopcock for it was under the sink,but as the plumbing was pretty old no service valves were installed to isolate the tap.
The system was an indirect system with c.w.s.t with one main bathroom and 2 ensuites upstairs,a small nooky bathroom under the stairs,and a sink in a utility room. Main bathrooms hot and cold fed by tank along with the hot in the ensuite but cold in both ensuite was mains fed.
A stopcock as opposed to a gate valve shut the water off to the hot water cylinder but no matter how much i tried even with my grips to close it that little bit more there was always a trickle of water getting by. Ive come across this problem before especially on old systems,and just put it down to dirt on the valve seat or a poor washer, wear and tear etc.
I ended up draining the tank which i dont like to do, and even after that the water still trickled, so with a dish underneath catching the drips,and me thinking for the millionth time, if its gonna go wrong its sure to go wrong in plumbing i worked away with the sensation of water going up my sleeve until i quickly fitted a service valve and got it totally stopped.
I got the taps fitted and the time was lovely until i went to turn the hot side on and nothing came out. The cold flowed like niagra falls in flood but no hot. Not only that but hot and cold both in main bathroom were airlocked as well. I tried blowing down both hot and cold dist pipes to shift the airlock using lung power but i dont play for liverpool so that didnt work. I pulled washing m/c out to link the cold to the hot but the nut on the end of the hose that screws onto m/c inlet would not match threads on hot water valve. I evantually took a flexi tap connector off the hot tap in utility room and fitted a 15 mm comp st to that,a short length of 15mm copper pipe to a 15mm service valve and another short length of pipe to a hose fitted to an outside tap. I got someone to turn water on and i turned it off at valve. Ihad to do it a few times to blow it out but the hot came at last.
I also had to deal with the airlock on the cold feed to the bathroom, and after tryng to put the hose through the pipe from the tank end and force mains water down the cold pipe it didnt get the air out. i had to break into the pipework underneath the basin and using the hose again force the airlock back up into tank and at last the cold came. Surely there has to be another way of getting rid of airlocks. Maybe prevention is better than cure and i should have bunged the cold pipi outlet at tank prior to draining,and then just had hot to deal with. Is there a m/c available that gets rid of airlocks,and or you better to force air up and out rather than down and out. Sorry about the long spiel and i appreciate any help you can advise.
The system was an indirect system with c.w.s.t with one main bathroom and 2 ensuites upstairs,a small nooky bathroom under the stairs,and a sink in a utility room. Main bathrooms hot and cold fed by tank along with the hot in the ensuite but cold in both ensuite was mains fed.
A stopcock as opposed to a gate valve shut the water off to the hot water cylinder but no matter how much i tried even with my grips to close it that little bit more there was always a trickle of water getting by. Ive come across this problem before especially on old systems,and just put it down to dirt on the valve seat or a poor washer, wear and tear etc.
I ended up draining the tank which i dont like to do, and even after that the water still trickled, so with a dish underneath catching the drips,and me thinking for the millionth time, if its gonna go wrong its sure to go wrong in plumbing i worked away with the sensation of water going up my sleeve until i quickly fitted a service valve and got it totally stopped.
I got the taps fitted and the time was lovely until i went to turn the hot side on and nothing came out. The cold flowed like niagra falls in flood but no hot. Not only that but hot and cold both in main bathroom were airlocked as well. I tried blowing down both hot and cold dist pipes to shift the airlock using lung power but i dont play for liverpool so that didnt work. I pulled washing m/c out to link the cold to the hot but the nut on the end of the hose that screws onto m/c inlet would not match threads on hot water valve. I evantually took a flexi tap connector off the hot tap in utility room and fitted a 15 mm comp st to that,a short length of 15mm copper pipe to a 15mm service valve and another short length of pipe to a hose fitted to an outside tap. I got someone to turn water on and i turned it off at valve. Ihad to do it a few times to blow it out but the hot came at last.
I also had to deal with the airlock on the cold feed to the bathroom, and after tryng to put the hose through the pipe from the tank end and force mains water down the cold pipe it didnt get the air out. i had to break into the pipework underneath the basin and using the hose again force the airlock back up into tank and at last the cold came. Surely there has to be another way of getting rid of airlocks. Maybe prevention is better than cure and i should have bunged the cold pipi outlet at tank prior to draining,and then just had hot to deal with. Is there a m/c available that gets rid of airlocks,and or you better to force air up and out rather than down and out. Sorry about the long spiel and i appreciate any help you can advise.
