Suddenly I've got no water upstairs, but no evidence of leaks anywhere

[dragonfly101]

Hi,

The other night I replaced a copper pipe that was leaking with plastic piping, involving three speedfit elbows, a speedfit straight coupler, and a metal tee for a washing machine. Was quite pleased that it was all working, no leaks from any joints, then suddenly this morning while I was brushing my teeth the water in the upstairs tap stopped dead - no slowdown nor drips, just a sudden stop. Looking at the water meter the red dial is not moving at all, so can't be any significant leaks, I've visually checked all the joints I fitted and can see nothing wrong with them. What is going on?

 

[dragonfly101]

one thing I forgot to mention in my original post was that I heard a single short thud sound when the water stopped.

 

[opps]

An air block?

 

[opps]

Do you have a cold water tank in the loft?

 

[opps]

I don't have much experience of dealing with gravity fed systems, but sometimes, putting your hand over the tap in the kitchen (which should have mains water) will force the mains water in to the hot water system to push out any airlocks. I appreciate that your block might be on the cold side, but I guess it is worth a try until a proper plumber responds to this post.

BTW, clamp your hand over the spout and open the hot and cold simultaneously.

 

[dragonfly101]

I have a combi boiler upstairs (no cold water tank) it comes ‘after’ the bathroom tap. I was wondering if the isolating valve I have at the very start of these new pipes I added has somehow flipped to off? This valve has a big handle on it and was fitted by a professional plumber. Is this possible? I’ve turned the handle of this valve to off now (going out this afternoon), and notice that turning it off and on I hear no sound nor feel any vibration.

 

[CBW]

Not normally possible for them to fall to off. I take it the tap worked before you did this fix?

 

[dragonfly101]

Attaching photo of the above mentioned valve, my new pipe work starts below at the plastic elbow.

 

[dragonfly101]

Tap worked before yes, been turning it on and off for weeks now while I’ve been struggling with the leaking copper pipe that the plastic has not replaced

 

[CBW]

Do any other taps/outlets from that valve work?

 

[jeff the gasman]

Sounds to me like a stop tap has been fitted back to front. The loose jumper acting as a check valve.
Can’t happen with a lever valve though.

 

[dragonfly101]

Stop tap? Would the tee for a washing machine that has a small plastic lever on it do this?

 

[jeff the gasman]

Stop tap? Would the tee for a washing machine that has a small plastic lever on it do this?

No mate. Could be a tap cartridge fault if it’s only one tap!
Does the washing machine fill?

 

[terryplumb]

Is there no hot water ,cold water,or both ?
How many taps , showers,etc are affected ?
What Does the lever isolation valve normally isolate ?

 

[dragonfly101]

Problem solved! The next thing in-line from the washing machine tee was an innocuous looking compression joint, that would have been fitted at the time the washing machine was installed. Removing this joint and turns out it has what looks like a valve inside it. See photos: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmGtZYDBXzj8iL0cVyDprLMcg_dmSQ?e=yOzVP5. With the original cold water pipes, the washing machine was at the very end (bonkers plumbing in my house that has had things ripped out and re-added over the years), now with my changes I've made it is the very first thing in the line. What I'm worried about now is what this valve was for, would it have been protecting the washing machine or the rest of the plumbing?