Overflow Pipe

Dee123_2

Hi

There is water dripping from the Overflow Pipe at the front of my house. It's not heavy and hasn't got any worse in the last few days. By process of elimination, it's coming from the tank that supplies to the toilet.

I cannot get up to the attic until the weekend as I am work during the day. Does anyone know of anything I can do in the meantime?

EliteHeat

Turn your stopcock off.

N9eav

You don't need to do anything much unless you have a water meter and are concerned that you are wasting money.

Most plumbing should have an in-line valve on the pipe that feed the tank, you could turn that off.

ormus

buy a torch?

JodyBPM

I would def recommend that if you're on metered water that you get it sorted. In my old flat I had this and ignored it as it wasn't really bothering me, and then had an astronomical bill! Fairly sure it was a simple job to fix, so someone could probably advise, but I just called a plummer!

wallbash

but I just called a plummer!

Would work , but the cost would greatly exceed the cost of the wasted water.

it's coming from the tank that supplies to the toilet.

Bit ambiguous , the 'tank ' that flushes the WC is the cistern ( which is not in the loft)

The large tank in the loft ?? supplies water to the house i.e bathroom
Am I missing something is it not the ball-valve on the cold water tank that needs attention. ??

andrew-b

Beyond the comedy answers...

Buy a new ball valve and a pack of 1/2" red fibre washers (to fit between valve and connector - always replace with a new one..as soon as they get wet these things swell up). I would keep as spare even if you think you don't need them now!

The plumbers here will enjoy this post and be saying "i told you so"..but here goes...

I replaced the ball valve in my cold water tank a while ago as old one wasn't closing off completely and could be heard dripping when in the loft. I bought a Fluidmaster valve but cross-threaded it and !!!!!!ed up the nylon thread when fitting - i should have paid a bit extra for the pro version with brass thread rather than being so frugal!

Against some of the advice given here (i'm always right after all :rolleyes:) i fitted a torbeck valve instead which my Dad had going spare (i'm still not totally sure on it's history but believe it was actually used at one point which turned out to be of relevance!).

The manufacturer, Opella, assured me it was ok for a water tank in the loft though I had water hammer probs caused by waves in the plastic tank as the valve shut off suddenly so they supplied some anti-water hammer parts to fit to it (patent pending) which made the valve less-sensitive solving the water hammer.

At the time I also contacted fluidmaster's distributor in the UK who kindly supplied me the threaded part of the valve FOC (and yes i told them it was my fault not theres! FOC was not expected!). Just as well I did as roll on a few weeks ago and we came home to find water pouring out the overflow....so replaced the torbeck with the fluidmaster one instead immediately. On disassembling the torbeck later, the diapraghm left like black ink on fingers and I found a couple of bits of what looked like grit inside. So it appears the diaphragm was degrading and SHOULD have been replaced long before bearing in mind it's unknown history!

Whether the Fluidmaster valve is any good I reserve judgement on ..though i vaguely recall it being referred to as "american junk" here ..so i may end up with a "proper" standard ball valve anyway! I'll learn eventually i'm sure!:D So far so good though and it's much quieter than a standard ball valve.

Moral of the story..don't use 2nd hand float valves, note advice given and be careful about cross-threading! If you want to avoid probs just buy a standard ball valve (think they are referred to as Part 2?) and leave it to amateurs like me to test out the rest..so you don't have to (brainiac style!)!

You may get away with just changing a washer or diaphragm on the valve which will cost you pennies rathers than a tenner but for convenience replacing the valve may be quicker for the DIYer! Replacing is pretty simple despite my post here..if your careful and take your time to avoid cross-threading!

Do check though that the overflow pipe can keep up without allowing the water level to keep rising when the valve is fully open plus check for any leaks where the valve meets tap connector. Read supplied instructions and if needed use the flow restrictors when supplied.

andrew-b

wallbash wrote: »

Am I missing something is it not the ball-valve on the cold water tank that needs attention. ??

I read it as the water tank in the loft that supplies the cistern to the toilet ...though I did notice the possible ambiguity!

maninthestreet

Surely the cistern water supply is direct from the mains??

andrew-b

Not always is it mains no - i actually changed ours from mains to tank supplied to try and minimise condensation probs which we had with our old toilet cistern. We found some local housing authorities actually prefer this setup - or at least used to as i don't recall where we found this! Advantage is that if the water supply is cut-off you still have a few days worth of water in the loft tank to use sparingly in flushing the bog - as the saying goes if it's yellow let it mellow..if it's brown flush it down!! Enjoy your lunch!

wallbash

In my house the cistern is supplied by the cold water tank.


Shock news ... so not MSE I have always replaced the whole valve unit .
Yes , I Know , that the diaphragm , can be replaced for only a few pence.

But I just pop down to the shops , and buy the whole unit , but where it use to cost a few quid , the last one was a Tenner :eek: