Help - water through bathroom ceiling - combi boiler system

[rgraham]

Hello, I've recently moved into a flat with an old Potterton Lynx 2 boiler. I've had a gas safety check & all was fine.

This morning while I was using the shower (bath tap mixer type), water starting coming through the bathroom ceiling, dripping down over a halogen ceiling light fitting. It stopped shortly after I turned the shower off. Switched the lights off & haven't dared switch them back on since!

I won't be trying to mend this one myself, and have an appointment for an all round plumbing check in a couple of weeks, but I was hoping to shed some light on where the water could be coming from all the same.

I had a look through a hatch in the bathroom ceiling & there is a cold water tank up there, roughly above where the bath is, but I couldn't see what the connections to it are. This doesn't seem to make much sense with a combi boiler heating system, but I don't really know anything about plumbing. Any ideas? Do you think it will be safe to use the shower (very briefly) before it's all checked out? It's only happened once in the week I've been using it.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated

 

[twgas]

as you have a combi I would suspect the tank supplies another flat in the building.

 

[tryitandsee]

Perhaps the cold supply to the shower is tank fed, pressured by gravity only. The valve on the shower may be allowing the hot water (under mains pressure thr' combi) to back up the cold feed, back into the tank and the overflow on the tank has fallen off, therefore leaking through ceiling

That's one thought, others to follow.

Don't use the light until you have cured leak, as halogen bulbs tend to explode, the resulting splinters of glass not good when naked

 

[tryitandsee]

You could test my theory, does it leak if you turn the hot and cold taps both fully on.

Does it leak when just the hot tap is on and the cold tightly shut.

 

[gigz]

Is the waste connection on the bath ok ?

 

[gigz]

Ignore me, got me ceilings mixed up

 

[rgraham]

You could test my theory, does it leak if you turn the hot and cold taps both fully on.

Does it leak when just the hot tap is on and the cold tightly shut.

Thanks. Am testing out hot & cold together at the moment.... no leak yet.....

 

[rgraham]

Thanks all for your responses so far - I'm really impressed by the speed

 

[tryitandsee]

Thinking about it, there are many ways to eliminate my theory of the shower cold feed being tank fed. Shut of the main stop cock and see if the bath shower cold tap stops working/flowing.

 

[rgraham]

OK, I've tried testing the different combinations of hot and cold at the shower, and it didn't start leaking again at all, so no clue there. I've had a look for the main stopcock, but actually can't find it! It's not under the kitchen sink where I thought it might be, and can't find it around any of the other pipework! I guess it might be outside, so I'll go and have a look.

However, with it only having leaked once out of about 7 or 8 times the shower has been used, and it not leaking now as I've tested it, I think maybe that tank could well belong to another flat.

 

[tryitandsee]

Always good to know where your stopcock is, you never know when your going to need it in a hurry

Your obvious port of call is the owner of cold water tank above your bath, or if Landlord's responsibility, get him to check it out----mention water and electricity-should get a quicker result