warm water coming from cold tap in bathroom

Benny2006 · 5 Sep 2006

Hello,
I ve just had 5 radiators replaced and after the 4th day the cold water in the bathroom is running warm and brown coloured. The hot tap is running brown coloured too. The main downstairs is fine and the hot water downstairs is fine. The radiators all work good, no airlocks. Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be?

Many Thanks In Advance

Ben.

bab · 5 Sep 2006

have u got a cylinder ,sounds like a primatic with a blown air seal If the 5 rads are not replacement u may have exceeded the expansion quota for the cylinder

Benny2006 · 5 Sep 2006

We have a hot water cylinder but it is old. Needs Replacing. If i replaced the cylinder would it solve the problem?

Ben

Benny2006 · 5 Sep 2006

We have a hot water cylinder and boiler. It was playing up a bit before the radiators were changed. What is the best solution to fix the problem?

Ben.

bab · 5 Sep 2006

It sounds as if the up stairs water is tank fed but that dont relate to why its brown & warm. How many water tanks do u have in the attic & if 2 is the heating (smaller) tank higher. has the boiler been set higher or is the vent off the cylinder below the water level of the water in the tank above the cylinder.

Benny2006 · 5 Sep 2006

There is 2 tanks in the loft. The smaller one is lower than the cold water tank. The boiler is downstairs in the kitchen.

bab · 5 Sep 2006

Have u had any problems with overflows running over, not left ur immerision on ? Bottom line sounds like header tank in attic,s full of dirty warm water. if so why ? can we check this before moving on.

Benny2006 · 5 Sep 2006

None of the overflows are running and the immersion heater does not work.

bab · 5 Sep 2006

Still sounds like a tank full of dirty warm water in attic. Not sure why its taken days to come to light. am i right in thinking that only the heating was drained to fit the rads & in what way was the cylinder playing up before.

bab · 5 Sep 2006

You need to investigate up in loft 1st.I'll check later ,no T yet & alota plumbing to be done tomorrow.

Benny2006 · 5 Sep 2006

Just the heating was drained when the radiators were fitted and it was really dirty brown. Some of the old radiators had brown sludge in them. There was a bit of brown water coming from the hot tap in the bathroom before and the immersion heater dosent work at all. We only moved in three months ago and i wanted to sort out the heating before winter.
If i clean the tank in the loft and put a new immersion heater in will it cure the problem or will i need a new cylinder and a proper clean out?

bab · 5 Sep 2006

The immersion aint a factor at this point. only asked cos if there left on & are bottom entry the heat can feed up the cold feed into the tank. check the vent that go's over the tank to see if its dipped into the water level.That would warm up the cold tank & maybe disturbing sediment in bottom of cylinder.

JohnD · 5 Sep 2006

While Bab has his tea...

There should be no mixing of the water in the central heating and in the taps.

there is a fairly uncommon sort of hot cylinder called a primatic that can let mixing occur if it goes wrong, otherwise, if the hot coil in the cylinder has split - but your symptoms do not appear to match this.

If there was some piping wrongly connected it might allow mixing.

My money is on the vent pipe (expansion pipe) from the circulating boiler water venting hot and dirty water from the radiators. If the vent has been positioned over the cold water tank it can cause the conditions you describe. You need to go and sit in the loft with a torch while the boiler is turned on and off, hot taps run etc.

the vent pipe will (should) be a 22mm pipe, which comes up (usually from the airing cupboard) into the loft, rises several feet up, then is bent down in a curve over a tank so that any water that comes out of it runs down into the tank.

Let us know if this is happening.

Was the radiator water flushed, either with chemicals or a machine? I think this is going to be one of the things you need to do, as well as adding inhibitor when you have got all the loose muck out.

Were your old radiators rusty? Or why did they need to be replaced?

Benny2006 · 5 Sep 2006

The vent is dipped in the water level.

JohnD · 5 Sep 2006

Benny2006 said:
The vent is dipped in the water level.

In the big tank or the little tank?

How high is the water level in the little tank?

Have you got a pipe cutter?

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warm water coming from cold tap in bathroom

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