stop cock

[gricey2012]

hello all,

could I trouble somebody for some advice please

my daughter is in the process of moving house but has a problem with water pressure.Water is on but pressure to downstairs cold tap quite poor and bathroom poor, shower just trickles out, toilet fills very slowly.

there is no central heating/ boiler ( old storage heaters )

outside there is a stock cock supply to toilet and tap which has really good pressure.

The stop cock in the kitchen is in a pretty poor condition very difficult to open and looks like it could easily start to leak if tampered with , difficult to get at too.

right question is could the stop cock although fully open somehow be blocked inside reducing flow and what should I try to rectify it.

sorry for going on a bit
thanks for any help
pete.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Yes the stop cock could be blocked or faulty. You would need to turn off the supply and remove/refit the stop cock.

Andy

 

[kvsalamander]

Good afternoon,

it looks like the jumper/washer may have stuck to the seating or if there is a non-return valve in the stoptap that may be sticking.

I would crack the nut open on the incoming side of the tap and see if there is much pressure there. If there is, turn the water off outside/freeze the internal feed and swap for new stop tap.

cheers

 

[HERTS P&D]

Pete, I would NOT 'crack the nut open on the incoming side of the tap and see if there is much pressure' because if there is too much pressure then you might not be able to close it again and a flood would be on your hands.

Open the kitchen tap and close the external stopcock to see if it stops the water and go from there.

Andy

 

[kvsalamander]

There is nothing wrong with opening the nut a quarter of a turn, if that, to see how much pressure is there. Obviously don't loosen the nut so much that it comes away from the fitting and you cant put it back on again! A little bit of common sense is required!

 

[HERTS P&D]

Ken, a DIYer will not know to undo a quarter of a turn they would just remove it all the way.

How many times have you seen home owners with no common sense at all?


Andy

 

[kvsalamander]

Thats actually a very valid point!

 

[gricey2012]

hey come on lads got a bit of common sense
thats why I'm enquiring on here


however, this cock is in lead does that make any difference, can I just change the top bit ?


pete.

 

[leakydave]

Are you sure the cold water isn't tank fed from the loft?

 

[gricey2012]

not 100% sure but the tank is in the airing cupboard above hot water tank and quite small so dont think so.

 

[Nige F]

, this cock is in lead does that make any difference, pete.

Yeah - there wont be a nut on the incoming side - only on the end of the spanner

 

[calorific]

If you know how to turn off the mains at the street, and are happy to potentially leave your daughter without water for a few days while you try to source the appropriate fittings and potentially replace sections of pipe then have a bash.

However, unless you know what your doing. specifically when it comes to dealing with old lead fittings, I'd call someone in. Call it a housewarming present from you to her

 

[longdogs]

Hi Gricey

Firstly, when you say downstairs tap, do you mean the kitchen tap? The kitchen tap will be fed from the mains but if you mean a basin then it could be tank fed.

second, you say there is no central heating but there is a tank above the (hot water cylinder I presume) assuming this is upstairs it might be supplying your bathroom taps

 

[gricey2012]

yes squeaky the kitchen tap its running but without any real pressure.

the house has had electric storage heaters with a timer for the immersion heater, hot taps have quite good pressure.

the cold tank fills again very slowly as does the bathroom toilet.

just seems to me that the stop cock in the kitchen isn't letting enough pressure through. Will try and find the outside supply stop cock tomorrow and isolate the kitchen one for an examination as suggested above.

fingers crossed.

pete.

 

[calorific]

yes squeaky the kitchen tap its running but without any real pressure.

Do you mean pressure or flow rate?