cracked cistern

[Poynton Plumber]

i have a cistern that has developed a hairline crack right down the back.
the water is seeping out, at the rate of about 10 drips a day!!
i want to have a go at sealing the crack before doing the obvious and replacing it.

any suggestions as to what i could use?
my first thoughts were silicone or a flexible/waterproof epoxy glue

 

[andyg0507]

ct1 silicone, google it.

also check it out on youtube, it will certainly do the job until you replace it, wich really should be sooner rather than later

 

[Poynton Plumber]

thanks for that andyg0507.

yes i'm coming round to the fact that it will have to be replaced.

 

[WHPES]

Don't leave it. It might suddenly go in the middle of the night!

 

[oldplumber]

turn off the service valve to your wc and replace it, the £2000 damage it will do when it breaks and floods you out isnt worth the wait

 

[REDSAW]

i have been running an experiment on my cistern for the last 8 years or so, old victorian one.
it has a 10'' crack to the front of it with a smear of silicon inside and out, it is also boxed in so not seen but still no leaks. i will let you know when it fails for research purposes.

 

[Poynton Plumber]

i have isolated the cistern and emptied it.
also advised the customer that replacement is the best thing

thanks for all your advice

 

[moony]

heres me thinking you were asking for yourself as a diyer lol
, yeah always replace when it comes to things like this - not worth the eventual claim against you as you were the last to try and fix it.

 

[Poynton Plumber]

new cistern on it's way today.
suprisingly the supplier has agreed to replace it FOC.
was fitted only 9 months ago, but unusual for supplier to replace.

 

[WHPES]

The supplier has done it for goodwill. In any case they will just send it back to the manufacturer and be credited for it so no loss to them.

 

[that bloke.]

i have been running an experiment on my cistern for the last 8 years or so, old victorian one.
it has a 10'' crack to the front of it with a smear of silicon inside and out, it is also boxed in so not seen but still no leaks. i will let you know when it fails for research purposes.

whats the cistern made from?
ive just repaired a broken cast iron cistern with some jb weld. ive heard good things about it but i have yet to test the cistern.

 

[WHPES]

It will probably fail eventually due to a process whereby moisture will enter the crack and form rust which stresses the crack and causes it to grow.

 

[that bloke.]

the crack i repaired was on the lid of an old shanks 2 gallon high level cistern that i restored, not the end of the world if it fails.
i probably still would have used marine jb weld if it were on the tank side but really an engineering firm running a line of weld down the inside of the tank along the crack, in my view would be the best way to repair it.