Using hot water from a vented system for the first time in 2 years

[DIYNotIan]

Hi all

Thanks for the great replies.

I should have added that I was joking about the orange squash, just in case it wasn't clear. Not that it's a joking matter I guess if people have been made seriously ill or died from it. So apologies if I offended.

I think I'm going to stick with OPTION1 and go for the least intervention and cheapest approach seeing as it's always possible we'll have to get a new heating system at some point in the future anyhow.

- Lid. OK, I'll see if I can get a decent fitting lid, although not sure how likely that is. Do lids tend to be "unipart"? I'll put a couple of pics of the tank itself below.

- Insulation. I'll get a jacket too. A quick look shows standard types tend to be for a 50 gallon tank, whereas mine is 60. But I'm sure I can hunt something down if they exist.

- Cleaning. Would Milton cut the mustard or is chlorine the better option? I was thinking also that while the tank is empty I'll give it a scrub and clean, perhaps with a spray or two of anti-this-and-that spray.

- Emptying. There's only the one outlet from the tank, so there's no way of bypassing the cylinder. All cold water in the house is mains. Presumably chlorine et al are ok to go through the cylinder?

- Overflow. Someone on another forum pointed out that the overflow should be below the ball valve. Do you think it needs changing? If so, will that involve a whole new overflow, new hole in wall, etc?

- Vent pipe. They also pointed out that the vent pipe needs shortening. Will that be as simple as cutting a little off?

Thanks everyone and have a great week.

 

[JohnD]

Would Milton cut the mustard or is chlorine the better option

milton is basically chlorine bleach diluted with water. You can use either to sponge the inside of the tank after scrubbing it clean (organic dirt neutralises the chlorine so you need more). Bleach breaks down into salt and water so rinse it away well as it may cause corrosion.

You can buy chlorine tablets for sterilising if you're going to throw them in a full tank, but I suppose you could tip bleach in and stir it round. I don't know what dilution rate you'd need. It will probably be on google somewhere for homes without a safe water supply. IIRC the tablets specified on the package.

Emptying. There's only the one outlet from the tank, so there's no way of bypassing the cylinder. All cold water in the house is mains. Presumably chlorine et al are ok to go through the cylinder?

I'd be inclined to rig up a hosepipe. I am not a plumber but I prefer not to contaminate the cylinder, it means you have to repeatedly flush it as well.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

If it were mine then I would drain it from the hot taps with float valve turned off.

Then refill and add chlorine solution to the loft tank and run about 30 litres through everyday or halfday.

That is what I would do and I do do. Our caravan can stand unused, in my drive through the winter. When it comes to first use each year, I fill with a small amount of water, in which Milton tablets have been dissolved, leave it with that for 24 hours then drain and then flush thoroughly. My caravan came with a filter installed in the main supply pipe - I didn't like the idea of a wet filter being there in a drained system, through hot weather when the caravan wasn't in use, so I immediately removed it, bypassed and binned it.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

- Cleaning. Would Milton cut the mustard or is chlorine the better option?

Milton is bleach, just in a more convenient form.

I was thinking also that while the tank is empty I'll give it a scrub and clean, perhaps with a spray or two of anti-this-and-that spray.

It looks fine, I wouldn't bother - just use Milton.

- Emptying. There's only the one outlet from the tank, so there's no way of bypassing the cylinder. All cold water in the house is mains. Presumably chlorine et al are ok to go through the cylinder?

Drain as much as you can with the cold input to the tank isolated, then refill with some Milton tablets dissolved in a small amount of water poured into the loft tank.
Draw that water down into your cylinder by turning a hot tap on.
Add more Milton, let the loft tank refill and leave it untouched for 24 hours.
{HERE} Turn the cold to the tank off again, drain down again, cold back on refill, repeat from HERE once more.
Cold back on and use as normal.

- Overflow. Someone on another forum pointed out that the overflow should be below the ball valve. Do you think it needs changing? If so, will that involve a whole new overflow, new hole in wall, etc?

That is not essential, providing the valve is properly sealed to the tank side. So long as the overflow is well below the top edge of the tank.

 

[Lower]

Would it not be sufficient to turn on the heating or immersion to get the cylinder up above 60 degrees to kill any bacteria in the cylinder, then drain with the ball valve held up so that the header tank fully drains.

Then refill, allow to reheat above 60 again and then repeat the process a couple of times?

Heating the cylinder will kill off any bacteria in there, and flushing the storage tank a couple of times with fresh mains chlorinated water should kill any residual bacteria.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Would it not be sufficient to turn on the heating or immersion to get the cylinder up above 60 degrees to kill any bacteria in the cylinder, then drain with the ball valve held up so that the header tank fully drains.

Then refill, allow to reheat above 60 again and then repeat the process a couple of times?

Heating the cylinder will kill off any bacteria in there, and flushing the storage tank a couple of times with fresh mains chlorinated water should kill any residual bacteria.

Idea is to kill anything in the loft tank and cylinder, with Milton (Chlorine).

 

[RandomGrinch]

Would it not be sufficient to turn on the heating or immersion to get the cylinder up above 60 degrees to kill any bacteria in the cylinder, then drain with the ball valve held up so that the header tank fully drains.

Then refill, allow to reheat above 60 again and then repeat the process a couple of times?

Heating the cylinder will kill off any bacteria in there, and flushing the storage tank a couple of times with fresh mains chlorinated water should kill any residual bacteria.

It may be! There could be nothing in the tanks to start with! But considering the very small cost and effort implications, I would think it's worth it to be absolutely sure. But that's just me (...and I would where a mask to drain it off. Given the current situation, that doesn't Seem a hardship either )