Emergency help please - got a leak

[Roger465]

Just found the bathroom floor wet, and there seems to be a pinhole leak in one of the risers to the handbasin.

My mind isn't at its best under pressure, so... is the left hand pipe normally the hot one to the mixer tap? It feels slightly warm, but the hot water hasn't been on today.

So I drained the hot tank, but it's still spraying out of the little pinhole!

What might I be doing wrong? Realise I'm not giving you much to go on, sorry - will post more if I cna figure anythign out

You can just see the little spray at the bottom of the corroded section of the pipe. Thing is, all the hot taps have run dry now, but it's still spraying out. But if I turn this hot tap on, nothign comes out... I'm lost

 

[HERTS P&D]

Turn the water mains off and open all the taps, up and downstairs.

Once drained down, go to bed and call a plumber out in the morning, do not mention on the phone that it is an emergency!

Andy

 

[CBW]

Can you isolate the cold feed to it too and see if that stops it?

 

[Roger465]

Turn the water mains off and open all the taps, up and downstairs.

Once drained down, go to bed and call a plumber out in the morning, do not mention on the phone that it is an emergency!

Andy

Yeah... thanks, I'd already turned them off, but the tiny spray just kept coming... soaking the place out of all proportion to its size. It has now finally stopped - I guess it must just have been the head above it, up to the tap.

So the bathroom cabinet beneath the sink is probably ruined, but at least the water's stopped for now. No water till I can get to SF tomorrow, but it could obviously be a lot worse. Also can't find the length of copper pipe I keep in the garage for this kind of thing!

 

[Roger465]

Can you isolate the cold feed to it too and see if that stops it?

Thanks - yeah, already did that. But I think it's the hot one - just to be sure, can you confirm that the left pipe on a mixer is going to be the hot one please?

 

[CBW]

Thanks - yeah, already did that. But I think it's the hot one - just to be sure, can you confirm that the left pipe on a mixer is going to be the hot one please?

Well I can't tell just by looking at it, but logic and rule of thumb is generally hot on the left cold on the right.

 

[Roger465]

Well, soaked up as much water as I could (some has already soaked into the chipboard cabinet - don't know how long the leak's been there FFS), and everything shut down for the night.

SF in the morning for some 15mm pipe, and hope I can lash it all up again. Chances of getting a plumber this side of Christmas are limited

Wonder what caused the little pinhole...

 

[CBW]

Wonder what caused the little pinhole...

At a guess, I'd say possible corrosion from flux residue over the years or electrolytic corrosion.

 

[dilalio]

Put a bowl of rice in or near the cabinet and an electric heater if you have one.

 

[Madrab]

Perfect example of what can happen when it looks like a lazy worker hasn't clean the flux off the pipe after soldering.

Anyone seeing green residue on their pipes should get it scrubbed clean with a green scourer

 

[Roger465]

Perfect example of what can happen when it looks like a lazy worker hasn't clean the flux off the pipe after soldering.

Anyone seeing green residue on their pipes should get it scrubbed clean with a green scourer

Aye trouble is, people like me don't know that (I do now ) - I imagine those pipes have been like that since the house was built in 1994, so you kind of assume things are all OK

All reassembled now with a new bit of pipe, isolating valve etc. Seems OK so far.

On the up side, the basin drain has been slow for a while now - taking the pot trap apart, I found one of my girlfriend's stockings

I'd poured caustic down it before, to no effect - but, having worked in the nylon industry back in the 70s, I can tell you that it doesn't dissolve in caustic soda (should you ever need to dissolve a stocking, you use strong formic acid, since you ask. Don't know if Kilrock would be strong enough. And don't even get it in the same room as your skin, especially the eyes

Thanks everybody

 

[Roger465]

Seems OK so far.

Spoke too soon as usual - now leaking from the seal between the basin and drain. I remember tearing my hair out on here 5 or 6 years ago when I fitted a new tap and drain to this sink, as I couldn't get it to seal.

I'm no plumber, but a normal human being should be able to tighten a simple plastic nut, compressing a rubber ring against a porcelain basin, and hey presto... but no matter how many times I re-did it, as soon as I put water in the basin, out it came round the seal. I examined and cleaned both basin surface (no cracks or chips) and seal, again and again - and out came the water.

Eventually - and I hate resorting to this - I sealed it with a dab of silicon. It's been OK for maybe 5 years now.

However, rubber seal is starting go around the drain "plug" (which requires two grown men to open and close), so I think it's time for a new drain unit. But what kind? When I replaced taps and drain in the en-suite, I went for a different kind:

This is a "McAlpine centre-pin basin waste".

But the trouble is, this one has started leaking - ie, when you push the plunger down, it clicks and seems to locate OK, but the water drains slowly out (down the drain this time, not between the drain and sink).

Everything has been examined with a magnifying glass - no cuts in the rubber etc - and cleaned thoroughly.

Is it me? If so, what the **** am I doing wrong all the time? As I say, I'm hardly a plumber, but can happily take cars and computers apart, so am careful and methodical - and this basic stuff isn't exactly rocket science

Any suggestions for a new drain? Standard sized wash hand basin...

Thanks

 

[dilalio]

Get one of these.
You can remove the whole mechanism for cleaning.
And, when the spring in the brass actuator does eventually seize up, you can replace just that bit.

Oh, and use plumbers mait not the useless rubber washers that come with it... Maybe use the lower one but not the top one.

Click Clack Basin Waste - Slotted | Victorian Plumbing

Easy clean slotted click clack basin waste at Victorian Plumbing. Browse our full range of replacement bathroom plugs, wastes and bottle traps online.

www.victorianplumbing.co.uk

 

[Roger465]

Get one of these.
You can remove the whole mechanism for cleaning.
And, when the spring in the brass actuator does eventually seize up, you can replace just that bit.

Oh, and use plumbers mait not the useless rubber washers that come with it... Maybe use the lower one but not the top one.

Click Clack Basin Waste - Slotted | Victorian Plumbing

Easy clean slotted click clack basin waste at Victorian Plumbing. Browse our full range of replacement bathroom plugs, wastes and bottle traps online.

www.victorianplumbing.co.uk

Thanks - I seem to remember you helping me with the old one, years ago no matter what you suggested, I tried it (Plumber's Mait etc), but it still wouldn't seal, so I used silicon. So I'm interested to read on the Victorian Plumbing web link you sent me "When installing we recommend running a thin bead of silicone sealant around the recess of the sink waste hole"!

Maybe it wasn't just me after all

 

[Roger465]

Oh, and use plumbers mait not the useless rubber washers that come with it... Maybe use the lower one but not the top one.

Right... by "top one" do you mean the thin one that's on the top surface of the basin?