How do i do it.......?

lukemed1

Hi everyone,

my hot water cylinder is leaking and i want to empty all of the water from it so it stops leaking, the stop !!!! is right underneath it but how do i empty the water?

thanks for any help!

Luke:beer:

Tallymanjohn

I take it you mean that you cannot reach the stop!!!! to turn off the cold water supply? That should be altered asap - if you get a cold water burst pipe anywhere in the house, you be totally scre*ed up - if that is the case, get a plumber in to do both at the same time.

If you just mean that you have a separate stop!!!! for the hot water cylinder, then I'd have thought you could just turn off the mains stop!!!! and leave a hot tap running until the water stops.

lukemed1

Tallymanjohn wrote:

I take it you mean that you cannot reach the stop!!!! to turn off the cold water supply? That should be altered asap - if you get a cold water burst pipe anywhere in the house, you be totally scre*ed up - if that is the case, get a plumber in to do both at the same time.

If you just mean that you have a separate stop!!!! for the hot water cylinder, then I'd have thought you could just turn off the mains stop!!!! and leave a hot tap running until the water stops.

hi there,

the stop !!!! is right underneath the hot water cylinder, when i turn it off no water runs out,so how do i empty the water in the cylinder??

best wishes

Luke:beer:

lukemed1

Hi,

right am trying what you suggsted, turned water off at the mains and now got the hot tap on, so what do we do if we want a shower later, turn the mains back on? obviously we dont want the cylinder to fill up again,

thanks for your help!

Luke:beer:

crossleydd42

Is the world going mad,with words like stopcock and ballcock being treated as if they're offensive?

BobProperty

crossleydd42 wrote:

Is the world going mad,with words like stopcock and ballcock being treated as if they're offensive?

Yes, this has happened for years on forums. Even worse if your surname is !!!!!!!.
Back to the OP. If you are lucky there will be a drain off on or near the pipe that feeds the cold water into the bottom of the hot water cylinder. You are looking for something like this :
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=100121&ts=61493&id=65868
You then put a length of hose pipe on the outlet and undo the square headed shaft then the whole thing acts like a tap.
To enable you to turn the mains back on again, but not fill the hot water cylinder, there may be a gate valve or isolation valve somewhere but it sounds like they have been missed out on your set up (not uncommon the older they are the less likely they are to have all these things). Can you tell us what your set up looks like from here:
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/domestic_hot_water_systems.htm

lukemed1

BobProperty wrote:

Yes, this has happened for years on forums. Even worse if your surname is !!!!!!!.
Back to the OP. If you are lucky there will be a drain off on or near the pipe that feeds the cold water into the bottom of the hot water cylinder. You are looking for something like this :
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?cId=100121&ts=61493&id=65868
You then put a length of hose pipe on the outlet and undo the square headed shaft then the whole thing acts like a tap.
To enable you to turn the mains back on again, but not fill the hot water cylinder, there may be a gate valve or isolation valve somewhere but it sounds like they have been missed out on your set up (not uncommon the older they are the less likely they are to have all these things). Can you tell us what your set up looks like from here:
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/domestic_hot_water_systems.htm

Hi Bob, it's the setup on the left, i think the waters now drained from the cylinder, because i've turned the mains back on for about an hour, then turned it off, opened the stop !!!! and no water came out, so i think it's all drained

cheers

Luke

lukemed1

no, it did fill back up when i put the mains back on! if i turn the stopcock off will it fill back up?

cheers

Luke:beer:

plumb1_2

If you have no gate valve to isolate the cylinder, tie-up the ballCOCK in the cold water tank in the loft with string, then call a plumber out.

BobProperty

plumb1 wrote:

If you have no gate valve to isolate the cylinder, tie-up the ballCOCK in the cold water tank in the loft with string, then call a plumber out.

Are you near Warrington as plumb1 was talking about working weekends.....:rotfl:

Seriously, I'm slightly surprised it's a direct but plumb1's answer is the only easy way to stop it re-filling. A plumber should want to add a drain-off when they replace the cylinder which is presumably what is needed. Just out of curiosity is there a label on the cylinder by any chance, saying something like "Bloggco..... Direct Cylinder ...... Grade 3" or similar?