Plumbing help/questions

olliecampbell

Hi All,

Just after a bit of plumbing advice please...I managed to avert certain disaster last night (overflow leaking onto bedroom ceiling) but now have a few questions about our plumbing....

Cold water tank in loft:
Should it be covered/sealed?
Should the pipes to/from it have lagging on?
Should there be little gravelly pebbly bits in the bottom? They look like they were in a basket attached to the old stopcock and sat in the tank. What are they for?

How water tank:
It's got Fernox in it (about 10yrs old though!). How long does it last for?
Should it also be covered/insulated?

ariba10

The cold water tank should have a loose fit cover to keep dust and debris out, but there must be room for the expansion pipe to work correctly.

It would be advisable for the pipework to be lagged.

There should not be "Pebbly bits" on the bottom.

And if it is a domestic water tank it should not have Fernox in it.

explumber

1/ is it a plastic tank, if so you need to fit a water bylaw 32 kit, can get from bandq or wickes etc.
2/ all pipe work should be lagged.
3/ sounds like water softner. you can remove the basket, if you would like to remove crystals, turn off mains supply to ballcock, turn on bath hot and cold taps to drain tank, then use a dust pan to scoop crystals into a bucket. make sure taps are in their closed position before refilling the tank. when the tank is filled and the ballcock has shut off, turn on both hot and cold taps to the bath and run till any air is released, then shut the taps. then open taps on basin and flush the loo at the same time, shut taps when running steady.then run hot tap on your kitchen sink.

small heating FandE tank.
would advise draining system. refill system ( without fernox ) then run heating for an hour and then drain system again, then refill again using inhibitor.
tank should be lagged, again kit available from bandq/wickes etc.

olliecampbell

ariba10 wrote: »

And if it is a domestic water tank it should not have Fernox in it.

It's the hot water tank that has Fernox in. Otherwise my tea would taste really funny!

explumber wrote: »

1/ is it a plastic tank, if so you need to fit a water bylaw 32 kit, can get from bandq or wickes etc.
2/ all pipe work should be lagged.
3/ sounds like water softner. you can remove the basket, if you would like to remove crystals, turn off mains supply to ballcock, turn on bath hot and cold taps to drain tank, then use a dust pan to scoop crystals into a bucket. make sure taps are in their closed position before refilling the tank. when the tank is filled and the ballcock has shut off, turn on both hot and cold taps to the bath and run till any air is released, then shut the taps. then open taps on basin and flush the loo at the same time, shut taps when running steady.then run hot tap on your kitchen sink.

small heating FandE tank.
would advise draining system. refill system ( without fernox ) then run heating for an hour and then drain system again, then refill again using inhibitor.
tank should be lagged, again kit available from bandq/wickes etc.

Yes it's a plastic tank, no cover or lagging



Thanks for the advice everyone. I think the whole central heating system needs a flush as the water is looking really murky.

Off to look at bylaw kits!

1984ReturnsForReal_2

olliecampbell wrote: »

Hi All,

Just after a bit of plumbing advice please...I managed to avert certain disaster last night (overflow leaking onto bedroom ceiling) but now have a few questions about our plumbing....

Cold water tank in loft:
Should it be covered/sealed? Loose cover to stop debris & light getting in
Should the pipes to/from it have lagging on? Yes
Should there be little gravelly pebbly bits in the bottom? No
They look like they were in a basket attached to the old stopcock and sat in the tank. What are they for? ?? Shouldn't be there

How water tank: THE HOT WATER TANK BETTER NOT HAVE FERNOX IN IT
It's got Fernox in it (about 10yrs old though!). How long does it last for?
Should it also be covered/insulated? YES

Fernox goes in the radiator pipes & this is done in different ways depending on your system..

olliecampbell

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

Fernox goes in the radiator pipes & this is done in different ways depending on your system..

Sorry I've probably got my parts mixed up. It's the hot water expansion tank in the roof, I think it's A.K.A. as the F&E???

ormus

this may help you to see the general picture.
a typical gravity, two tank, open vent system.


ps
a combi boiler (usually) does away with all the tanks and stuff after the boiler.
it connects directly to the CH, and the DHW supply.

cajef

olliecampbell wrote: »

Hi All,

Should there be little gravelly pebbly bits in the bottom? They look like they were in a basket attached to the old stopcock and sat in the tank. What are they for?

Sounds like someone has used these to help prevent limescale in a hard water area:-

http://www.fernox.com/?cccpage=super_limescale_preventer&sub=9