number-1
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| posted on 27/1/24 at 06:02 PM |
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Changing taps gravity fed system
Evening All
My partner wants new taps on the bath. She has a gravity fed system with hot water cylinder. There are isolation valves for the cold water down supply
from the loft but nothing for the hot water even in the airing cupboard
Is there a quick and easy way to isolate the hot water feed without draining the hot water cylinder?
I seem to remember my father sticking a carrot into the cold water storage cistern in the loft but cant remember if it was to change a tap 
Cheers
N1
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 27/1/24 at 07:45 PM |
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Buy a can of freeze spray and work fast. Or just plug the input to the cylinder, power off the immersion heater and drain the lot
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JoelP
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| posted on 27/1/24 at 09:39 PM |
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You can buy plugs to go in the tank, to block the feed to the cylinder. I'd be tempted to just turn off the water heating and drain it once
it's cold.
You often find a gate valve between header and tank, and they're notorious for jamming up.
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cliftyhanger
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| posted on 28/1/24 at 09:39 AM |
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Just pondering. If you plug the outlet from theecold water tank, and the vent pipe from the hot water tank, let it cool a bit it may be enough
to cut the pipe and wack a push fit isolator in. Easy enough to test by opening the hot water tap. If nothing comes out you should be OK.
I wouldn't let the cylinder cool too much, it could collapse under the vacuum.
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SteveWalker
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| posted on 28/1/24 at 10:55 AM |
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There should be no need to plug the vent pipe. Plugging the feed from the cold-water tank and running off a little bit of hot water from the tap,
should empty the small volume of water from the vent pipe and then there is no longer any water above the top of the hot-water cylinder, where the hot
water comes out, and flow should stop. The vent pipe remaining open means that there can be no vacuum.
In our house (and at my parents' house), we have a valve to close off the feed to the hot-water cylinder and have made many changes to the
hot-water plumbing, using just that. Indeed, a few months ago, at my parents, we actually had the fitting out of the top of the cylinder to fit a
Surrey flange, to isolate the shower flow from the tap flow and stop that temperature fluctuation when someone runs a tap.
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 28/1/24 at 10:59 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by SteveWalker
There should be no need to plug the vent pipe. Plugging the feed from the cold-water tank and running off a little bit of hot water from the tap,
should empty the small volume of water from the vent pipe and then there is no longer any water above the top of the hot-water cylinder, where the hot
water comes out, and flow should stop. The vent pipe remaining open means that there can be no vacuum.
In our house (and at my parents' house), we have a valve to close off the feed to the hot-water cylinder and have made many changes to the
hot-water plumbing, using just that. Indeed, a few months ago, at my parents, we actually had the fitting out of the top of the cylinder to fit a
Surrey flange, to isolate the shower flow from the tap flow and stop that temperature fluctuation when someone runs a tap.
Eh, unless im mistaking the way your plumbing is run, that doesnt physics. If the system is vented you'll empty the cylinder if you do that,
assuming the cyl might be upstairs. The weight of water above the tank has almost no impact.
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JoelP
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| posted on 28/1/24 at 04:45 PM |
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Hot water comes from the top of the cylinder, so it doesn't empty. Easiest solution is just turn off incoming one morning, shower until the
header tank is empty, then you have all day to fix the taps. And if you mess it up, at least you're clean lol
[Edited on 28/1/24 by JoelP]
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coyoteboy
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| posted on 28/1/24 at 04:51 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
Hot water comes from the top of the cylinder, so it doesn't empty. Easiest solution is just turn off incoming one morning, shower until the
header tank is empty, then you have all day to fix the taps. And if you mess it up, at least you're clean lol
[Edited on 28/1/24 by JoelP]
Ah fair point!
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jacko
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| posted on 28/1/24 at 05:52 PM |
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If there is no tap to stop water going to the header tank you can go in the loft and tie the ball float up and drain the hot water
But you will need to turn the main tap off to do the cold water tap
Jacko
555
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