No water in hot taps -pressurised system

[Jonny Sparks]

Hi - I am new too the forum. I know nothing about plumbing so I hope somebody can advise...

In 2011 I had a pressurised water system installed - condenser boiler, cylinder, radiators, etc. Also installed was a solar thermal panel (evacuated tubes). Last month I had the solar system drained down prior to the panel being removed for roof re-tiling. Now there is no water in any hot tap. The cold taps are fine but the shower has no water at all.

When the solar system was drained down, I did ask the heating engineer if this would affect the boiler heated water system but he told me that it would not as the two systems are separate.

Yesterday, I had a plumber look at it and he said there in no water flowing through the cold inlet to the cylinder. He said that replacing a valve/tap in that part of the system would solve the problem - £500 to supply and install.

My question: Is it possible that draining down the solar thermal system could have affected the boiler heated water system? I don't want to pay £500 to replace a valve only to find out that it does not solve the problem.

 

[Deleted member 120897]

Before shelling out daft money, are all stopcock/isolation valves open?

 

[Jonny Sparks]

Before shelling out daft money, are all stopcock/isolation valves open?

As far as I can tell - yes. Except the solar thermal feed which is closed.

The valve he said needs replacing is a Caleffi pressure reducing valve - like this one. He did try adjusting it but it had no effect.

 

[SJB060685]

Is there any flow of water from the hot taps?

 

[Jonny Sparks]

Is there any flow of water from the hot taps?

No - there was no water from any of the hot taps. I had another plumber come round today. He removed the suspect problem valve - it was the non-return valve and not the pressure reducing valve which was at fault.

He poked around in the pipe down-flow from the valve and found a piece of plastic. So the non-return valve had perished and part of it had come away and was blocking the pipe. He said he would need to order a new non-return valve. In the meantime, he put the malfunctioning non-return valve back in the system and said we can use the hot water until the valve is replaced with a new one - hopefully this week.

There is now (cold) water flowing from the hot taps but am I okay to fire up the boiler to heat the water? As I understand it, the non-return valve stops hot water getting into the cold water supply. I would rather live without hot water for a couple of days than create any further problems.

 

[SJB060685]

You are correct. The double check valve/non return valve is there to prevent any water flowing back into the cold mains and contaminating it.
If you can get by by heating water in a saucepan etc for a day or two I would.

 

[Jonny Sparks]

You are correct. The double check valve/non return valve is there to prevent any water flowing back into the cold mains and contaminating it.
If you can get by by heating water in a saucepan etc for a day or two I would.

Okay, I can make do for a couple of days. Thanks for replying.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Common issue on a megaflow