Cold water in bath not working - help!

dreema_gurl

Hi, just thought I'd post and ask if anyone had any ideas before asking a plumber out which is going to be, naturally, very expensive! The cold water tap in our bath doesn't work, or rather works intermittently. The cold water in kitchen and bathroom sink seem to work fine (although bathroom sink doesn't seem to be as strong as kitchen - think they are off separate feeds). The cold water tap in bath comes out as a mere dribble even when turned to full, and sometimes not at all, whereas other times it seems to work ok - not great, but ok. Could this be due to an airlock in the water pipes or something - if so, how could we sort this ourselves? We have a hot water tank in the airing cupboard next to the bathroom and a separate cold water tank up in the loft. Any advice gratefully received, thanks!

darkblue_2

It could be the washer in the faucet. That would be simple enough for you to check without major costs. Make sure the cold water valve is turned off so you don't flood yourself first. (Sorry it sounds simple, but you never know...)

Cardew

Is your cold water tank in the loft full?

keystone

dreema_gurl wrote: »

Hi, just thought I'd post and ask if anyone had any ideas before asking a plumber out which is going to be, naturally, very expensive!

There is no reason why it should be but I suppose itdepends on your definition of "very expensive" is.

The cold water tap in our bath doesn't work, or rather works intermittently. The cold water in kitchen and bathroom sink seem to work fine ................ The cold water tap in bath comes out as a mere dribble even when turned to full, and sometimes not at all, whereas other times it seems to work ok - not great, but ok.

Could be airlock but more likley some carp in the pipework or failed tap washer as indicated by earlier poster. Isolate tap before checking.

(although bathroom sink doesn't seem to be as strong as kitchen - think they are off separate feeds).

You would normally expect the cold element of the kitchen tap to be fed by the mains and all other cold taps, including bathroom basin, from the cold water storage tank. There will be a difference in flow rate because of the pressure difference between mains and tank fed supplies.

Cheers

keystone

Cardew wrote: »

Is your cold water tank in the loft full?

Good question but prolly is if all other taps (hot and cold) are OK.

Cheers

dreema_gurl

Cardew wrote: »

Is your cold water tank in the loft full?

Yes it is full. We've already taken the tap apart and checked the washer which is fine. Strangely enough the tap seemed to work better for a while after we'd done this but has now regressed to its intermittent faults

keystone

dreema_gurl wrote: »

Yes it is full. We've already taken the tap apart and checked the washer which is fine. Strangely enough the tap seemed to work better for a while after we'd done this but has now regressed to its intermittent faults

Take it apart again and check for blockage in the tap body.

Cheers

Cardew

If you can easily shut off the supply to the cold tap, take out the tap body(insert) and open up the supply with a towel over the tap and see what the flow is like.

keystone

Lets not get terminology mixed up. When I say tap body I mean the actual casting. What Cardew has called the tap body I would call the tap headgear.

Just for clarification.

Cheers