pebble in mains before stopcock

[chrisw99]

Hi all,
I think I've got something in the mains water supply just before the stopcock, like a pebble or suchlike that's probably too big to fit through.

The mains pipe comes into the kitchen, bends upwards for about 8 inches then it's the stopcock. Whenever any cold water is running, dishwasher on, etc, you can hear it rattling away inside that 8 inch bit of pipe.

I'm going to replace the stopcock - it's ancient, and doesn't actually stop the water completely anymore, I have to go to the pavement to turn it off.

Are there any tips for getting the offending item out as it will probably drop back down into the mains pipe once the water is off? I can obviously flush it out but struggling to think of a good idea what I do with the vertical bit of mains pipe that won't turn it into a fountain in the kitchen when I'm out on the street briefly turning the water on. Any cheap solutions for somehow connecting a vertical upwards mains pipe into a bucket ??

 

[terryplumb]

Its probably a loose Jumper in your stopcock thats rattling. Its unlikely ,but not impossible ,for a foreign body to get in to the mains pipework. Is the section of pipe before the stopcock copper ,lead,plastic ,other ?

 

[HERTS P&D]

Turn off mains on pavement, cut out stopcok and place wet vac hose over the end of pipework and turn on, (get someone to hold it in place) turn on mains on pavement for 5 seconds. Then turn off and fit new lever valve as a replacement stopcock. Then turn pavement mains back on and check for leaks.

Happy days

Andy

 

[Nige F]

Could be a blob of solder - has been known

 

[chrisw99]

Its probably a loose Jumper in your stopcock thats rattling. Its unlikely ,but not impossible ,for a foreign body to get in to the mains pipework. Is the section of pipe before the stopcock copper ,lead,plastic ,other ?

It's copper. Something wrong with the stopcock was my other thought, seeing as it doesn't stop the water completely. I'm changing the stopcock anyway so it may just go away.

 

[Terrywookfit]

Remove old stop cock.
Attach a garden hose to the pipe with a jubilee clip and flush through.

 

[Hot&Cold]

Remove old stop cock.
Attach a garden hose to the pipe with a jubilee clip and flush through.

Try and catch the offending pebble via above procedure,maybe there are more pebbles in the incoming main pipe.

 

[chrisw99]

Try and catch the offending pebble via above procedure,maybe there are more pebbles in the incoming main pipe.

Isn't the incoming mains 22mm and garden hoses about 15mm? In which case whatever it is may pass through a garden hose, and attaching it could be tricky.

It's behind a kitchen cupboard and only the actual tap bit sticks out through a cutout, so I'm not 100% sure the diameters of the pipes until I cut more of the cupboard back panel away to reveal the whole stopcock.

 

[Hot&Cold]

Thank you for adding more information,Oh well get in an approved plumber but you may have to provide adequate access to the cockstopper.

 

[bart man]

we just had our inside stop cock replaced becuase it was clogged.

 

[chrisw99]

I cut away the back of the cupboard to get a closer look. Turns out the mains is black plastic 22m with a threaded connector, and not really sure what's going on at the top end as it seems to be 22mm for an inch then down to 15mm.

Oh and now I can get right in, if I put my ear against it when the water is flowing, there's definitely something tossing and rattling on that input side. Hopefully I can find some kind of flexible hose that can connect directly to that black connector for flushing out.

 

[HERTS P&D]

New 22mm full bore lever valve with 3/4 olive and an insert.

Andy

 

[chrisw99]

New 22mm full bore lever valve with 3/4 olive and an insert.

Andy

That did the trick. 3/4 inch conversion olive worked a treat with 22m compression.

Although it turned out the old 3/4 inch mains pipe only had an 11m internal bore anyway, so couldn't find an insert that would fit but with the pipe walls as thick as that, I doubt an insert is needed.

Quite impressed with the end result. No leaks yet after 3 hours. Most annoying thing was having to buy a full piece of 22mm pipe when I only needed about 3 inches. Couldn't find anything more suitable for connecting the 22mm lever valve to the existing 15mm pipe.

And no more rattling from the pipes now. Didn't seem to be anything there, I think it was the internals of the old stopcock. Peering down the old one, it's full of crap and gunk. Glad the drinking water is no longer going through that!

 

[HERTS P&D]

I would've used a blue handle or at least put some blue insulation tape on it. I would also would've used a soldered or compression joint and not a pushfit joint.

But well done.

Andy

 

[chrisw99]

Red handle was only one they had in B+Q. Pushfit I happened to have in my box of bits.

Now it's easy to remove I can have a better go when I have more time. The worst bit was getting the old one off.