Pipes in house have frozen - Advice plse

yvonne_tromans

hello i have an old wall mounted central boiler, i do not know what the model is as it in not visible on the unit, since having it serviced earlier this year the pilot light is no longer blue but a constant big yellow flame, also i now have a black mark appearing on my ceiling above my boiler do you have any ideas why? and how do i get the blue piliot light back please can someone help

ormus

Risinfromthegutter wrote: »

Thanks.

I won't be home until after dark tonight, is there anything my partner could do to prevent a burst pipe?

The only place I could imagine the pipe freezing is at the kitchen sink, my boiler etc is in the bathroom upstairs

its possible that there is a big hole where the waste pipe exits. thats enough to freeze any water pipe nearby.

lagging of any kind is useful in this weather. even old sacks/clothing etc can be used.

ormus

yvonne,
please start a new thread re your boiler problem.

keystone

ormus wrote: »

yvonne,
please start a new thread re your boiler problem.

Yes this thread is getting over complicated and will get confusing. This thread should concentrate on Ally's problems. Lou and Rising should also start their own threads to deal with their specific issues. It doesn't matter if the answers turnout to be the same but each poster will get specific advice related to their own problems.

Cheers

lou06

will do thanks for your help

Ally fingers crossed again!

Lou

keystone

ally18 wrote: »

Hi,

Sorry, another daft question for you folks please. Please bear with me.

No such thing as a daft question but there can be some daft answers.

Woke up this morning to find that there was no cold water to upstairs taps, shower and toilets so I assume the pipes leading from the water tank in the loft have frozen?

That may be a reasonable assumption. Check that the ball valve works OK by pressing down on the ball. If water flows then the mains riser is OK. If it doesn't then its prolly frozen. Look particularly for any unlagged pipework that is also in a cold draft. Its likely to freeze at that point. If you think it is frozen then warm it gently with a hair dryer. HAve someone on standby downstairs to shut water off at your stop c o c k in case a joint has popped.

If the riser is OK do a similar search for exposed pipes leading OUT of the cold water storage tank and treat the same.

Cheers

clearoutkate

silvercar wrote: »

There must be pipes going somewhere. You need to see where the pipes are going, possibly very near an outside wall.

A classic sign of frozen pipes is that the only things working are the main kitchen cold tap and the heating.

I hope you don't mind me jumping in on this - we woke up this morning to find there was no hot water running in our main bathroom basin or cloakroom, but there was in the bath and in the kitchen. The cold is OK in all the rooms.

We're assuming (with minimal knowledge) that we've got frozen pipes somewhere but as the hot water tap on the bath is working that the problem lies with the pipes that directly feed into the taps, rather than a larger pipe in the loft. What do you think - could this be the case and if so does that make it less likely we'll have to deal with a burst pipe?

Edited to say - I'll start a new thread, having just seen the comments above!

ally18

Right,

Have just been home to check things, still no change. Heating is working fine, cold water from mains, no hot water from tap downstairs.

Still same upstairs, hot water from all taps but no cold and toilets not refilling.

Managed to get into the space in the loft and have found one very small plastic tank which had an overflow pipe leading out the roof and a large pipe with a tap connected to it with a ball valve. There was about 5 inches of very dirty water in this and from the water level mark I could see, there has not been any more than this amount in there for a long time. Pressing the ball valve down did not appear to do anything, it did not fill just hissed slightly. I am assuming this is the tank for the c/h, is it only supposed to have that amount of water in there?

In the bathroom there is the hot water cylinder and immediately above that on a shelf, I can just see the edge of a black plastic tank, I assume this is the cold water tank. It felt cold to the touch. I cannot access this tank at all because it has literally no access to it. I would have to rip out a large wooden panel in the wall to gain access so I am now seriously worried. I cannot see where any pipes lead from the tank, I think it may all be above the tank itself so what do I do now?

ormus

either the cold water storage tank is frozen or more than one cold pipe line is frozen.
the small tank is indeed the expansion/feed tank for the ch system. it doesnt require that much water inside it.
water should come out when you depress the ball valve. therefore it sounds like it is blocked.

SuzieSue

yvonne_tromans wrote: »

hello i have an old wall mounted central boiler, i do not know what the model is as it in not visible on the unit, since having it serviced earlier this year the pilot light is no longer blue but a constant big yellow flame, also i now have a black mark appearing on my ceiling above my boiler do you have any ideas why? and how do i get the blue piliot light back please can someone help

I am not too sure, but I read somewhere that a yellow flame is dangerous and could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning. Sorry if this is incorrect, but it is better to be safe than sorry.