leaking pipe from water tank in loft

[dontknowitall]

You'll also find a fibre washer is the easiest way to stop the new ball valve leaking.

 

[sezicoolcat]

Having a similar problem. (overflow pipe dripping out onto outside of property, only unfortunately, onto the street and in this cold weather, it is freezing and if someone slips over, I reckon they'll have me over a barrel!)

I suspect faulty washer in valve as it drips from that area of valve/arm - but in the smaller of the 2 loft tanks.

So, does this mean this is the tank for the radiators, as I have read? (Because when I pushed down on the ball cock to let water come in, water was warm?!...) And if so, would turning off the water from the main stopcock (which in my house is not under the sink in kitchen as I thought, but inside my living room carpet of all places!) not work?

I turned off all red round valves I could find in my sons room which is where the boiler is. One on the cold pipe (runs straight up sons wall - floor through to ceiling - bypassing the boiler system altogether, I think) and one pipe which was warm, just underneath the heating pump. Even when turned off both of these pipes, the smaller tank up in loft was still drawing water from somewhere (whcih was then cold?)

Just don't want to relish turning living room upside down to get to main stopcock to turn off supply if I can help it...

Sorry for hijacking / resurection a presumably old thread - google brought me here

Sarah

 

[dontknowitall]

Can't quite work out what's what in your thread and the warm water is puzzling me at the moment.

In theory, you'll have one or two cisterns in the loft. The large one is your cold water storage and the small one is the Feed and Expansion tank for the heating. Usually there will be a pipe from the large cistern to the small F&E tank. Again, usually, there's a tap or isolation valve on this pipe and this will stop the supply to the F&E tank.

Re the warm water is the water in the tank warm or the water coming through the ball valve warm? If water in the tank is warm that's okay and if the ball valve water is warm, something's wrong somewhere.

If your radiators take in water (when bleeding them) the water comes through the ball valve and into the tank so supply that radiator. (The Feed part.) If the heating system gets a little warm the water rises up the vent pipe and collects in the tank. (The Expansion part). This is fairly normal as long as your heating system isn't too hot.

In your situation you need to change the ball valve.

To do this you will need to isolate the water feeding this tank. Make sure there's no isolation valve by the ball valve (there should be). If there is turn it off and change the ball valve, otherwise trace the pipe and find out how it's being fed. (Unlikely to be from the stop tap but if that's the easiest thing to turn off and stop the water coming out ...)

Press the ball valve down before you start dismantling it to make sure water ain't going to come out in large quantities.

 

[Henno82]

Sarah you may be able to shut off your water supply from outside of your house rather then the stopcock inside your house if this is not accesible,the little tank that you mention is the feed and expansion tank and the warm water you are getting is likely to be from your hot water tank as this is where all the unused as such water gets circulated back into your system, the pipe in your sons room is your rising main too for clarification.

 

[easyt]

Re the warm water is the water in the tank warm or the water coming through the ball valve warm? If water in the tank is warm that's okay and if the ball valve water is warm, something's wrong somewhere. : quoted

Of course hot pipe and cold pipes may be bound together with insulation so that warm becomes cooler and cold becomes qarmer. (It is in a section within my loft).

 

[dontknowitall]

Not thought of that one (hot and cold together). I've not been caught out by it yet but well worth bearing in mind for the future.

 

[PlumbBobBob]

i had that a few weeks ago, warm cold water. i wondered why until i went up into the loft and discovered that the cold pipe was fixed to the rafters above the hot!

 

[sezicoolcat]

Water in the small tank is cold.
Water coming into tank through ball valve (when ball pushed down) is warm.
Turned off warm supply down in sons room coming from tank/boiler and water coming through ball valve was then cold.

Large tank has a pipe going up out and over to the smaller expansion tank.

Went up in loft again. There is a tap on the cold supply pipe to the ball valve - this has crusty white deposit built up on the screw shaft of the tap/handle. Turned tap to off - water still feed ball valve. Not sure, but maybe that tap has failed and cannot turn off.
I'll probably have to turn off at mains and fit a compression isolator or new tap in that case.

 

[Dan]

I'm just bumping this thread for no particular reason. If it isn't a current topic, don't worry about it, just ignore it and it'll move off the forum list before long. If it is a topic you'd like to reply to though, go ahead.