[ Note: I'm not really sure if this is a 'plumbing' problem or should go in the 'lofts' forum, so apologies if you think I'm in the wrong place. ]
In my loft there is a 25-gallon round cold-water tank and a 40 gallon rectangular central-heating F&E tank, both at least 35 years old. I needed a new insulation jacket for the cold tank, so I decided to renew F&E jacket at the same time. The old jackets simply stretched across the top of the tank, so neither tank had a lid, but new jackets seem to require a separate lid and lids seemed a good idea anyway.
Finding jackets for a round 25-gal tank proved difficult and lids even more scarce. As I was having some plumbing work done in the house anyway, I tasked the plumber with 'supply and fit' of lids and jackets for both tanks, which he did recently. Since then there have been ominous signs of condensation on the outside of the tanks, but inside the insulation, in various places, as well as occasional damp patches on the loft flooring.
The lid for the F&E tank is simply too small – neither long nor wide enough – so the tank is open to the air along two sides; not surprisingly the moisture is condensing on the underside of the insulation. The round lid does cover the tank, with a flange that goes down over the edge, but it appears to sit on the rim rather than clip down over it. At the moment I’m waiting to hear back from the plumber, but I suspect the problem in trying to remedy this will be that modern lids are made to a standard size which is probably slightly different from my tanks, so finding a suitably-sized variant might prove impossible.
Apart from replacing everything with new tanks and matching lids, is there anything else that can be done to fix this? Obviously with winter approaching I want there to be good insulation, but not at the risk of creating an even greater problem.
In my loft there is a 25-gallon round cold-water tank and a 40 gallon rectangular central-heating F&E tank, both at least 35 years old. I needed a new insulation jacket for the cold tank, so I decided to renew F&E jacket at the same time. The old jackets simply stretched across the top of the tank, so neither tank had a lid, but new jackets seem to require a separate lid and lids seemed a good idea anyway.
Finding jackets for a round 25-gal tank proved difficult and lids even more scarce. As I was having some plumbing work done in the house anyway, I tasked the plumber with 'supply and fit' of lids and jackets for both tanks, which he did recently. Since then there have been ominous signs of condensation on the outside of the tanks, but inside the insulation, in various places, as well as occasional damp patches on the loft flooring.
The lid for the F&E tank is simply too small – neither long nor wide enough – so the tank is open to the air along two sides; not surprisingly the moisture is condensing on the underside of the insulation. The round lid does cover the tank, with a flange that goes down over the edge, but it appears to sit on the rim rather than clip down over it. At the moment I’m waiting to hear back from the plumber, but I suspect the problem in trying to remedy this will be that modern lids are made to a standard size which is probably slightly different from my tanks, so finding a suitably-sized variant might prove impossible.
Apart from replacing everything with new tanks and matching lids, is there anything else that can be done to fix this? Obviously with winter approaching I want there to be good insulation, but not at the risk of creating an even greater problem.
