stuck stop cock

[david_uk]

Hi,

Started the bathroom back in september, turning off the supply from the cold storage tank to the shower. It's got an isolator valve and a stop cock in the pipe from the bottom of the tank to the shower.

Get to turn it on tonight having fitted a new shower and there isn't any cold water coming through. I suspect the stop cock (whick was playing up when I turned the water off) isn't letting water through despite being fully open. It's been jammed shut for about 6 weeks now.

I'm wondering if there is anything I can do to it before going down the route of changing it. Or is it better to forget trying to fix it and put a new one in?

I don't think there is an airlock. The pipework to the shower runs horizontally for a meter, then downwards. The shower is a power shower with a pump for stored cold / hot and has a comissioning mode to prime it. The hot primes fine, and the cold is non existant.

Any suggestions please?

 

[andytheplumber]

Is it a stop cock or a gate valve. has it got a red handle

 

[muggles]

You can confirm whether the valve is ceased shut by carefully breaking the compression joint on the downstream side of it, if no water comes out then the valve's ceased shut

 

[seco services]

ceased

is that a devon laugage for seized ?

 

[david_uk]

It's got a red handle

 

[seco services]

gate valve.
they are prone to snapping and the handle just keeps turning.
bin it and fit a full bore lever valve.

 

[andytheplumber]

If its a gate valve quite often these things shear off and drop into the valve. Either change it or just change the head. The biggest proplem is draining the water out or the water tank .if the gate valve is blocked

 

[seco services]

you don't drain it you bung it.

 

[david_uk]

Thinking about this overnight and the way the pipes run, there IS a possibility of an airlock. Also, the valve turns both ways and stops either end, so I do wonder if the valve is working ok after all.

The reason I think there might be an airlock is because the pipe runs down from the loft to floor level, under the bath then up to the shower head. The priming mode runs at a trickle, and as the pipework is all new, it's all air

What I'm going to do is put an isolator valve in at floor level in the access panel it runs through. That way I can get the water to floor level, and I can check that the valve by the tank is working at the same time.

Thank goodness it's run in plastic pipe, and I made an access panel!

 

[david_uk]

'Twas an airlock (thankfully!) - sorted now. Just had a lovely shower in the new bathroom.

Cheers for all the info everyone - much appreciated