Overflow dripping

kerri_gt

Hi all, I'm hoping some advise might save me a costly plumber. I have 3 overflow outlets that come out just below the roof of my house. One started dripping yesterday but I don't know what source is causing it.

When I flush the upstairs toilet a couple of times, it does seem to stop the drip - in fact it seems to stop when we're at home and doing normal domestic stuff, then start when we're out or overnight.

How do I tell whether it's the toilet, or one of the tanks up in the loft? I don't want to make anything worse or cause a flood but hope it's something simple I could resolve myself.

Many thanks

kerri_gt

closed wrote: »

Take the lid off the toilet and look.

If it's roof level, it's more likely to be a loft tank

This is a really silly question, but what am I looking for?

southcoastrgi

if the dripping overflow is above the height of your wc cistern then it is a roof tank (not quite sure why there are three it's normally only two), look inside & see which tank has the water level at the height of the overflow outlet pipe, easiest thing to do is drain some water out of the tank (if its the big one turns the mains off & open a hot tap) then replace the ballvave (it needs to be a part two ballvalve the plumbers merchant will know what you are talking about) & get a new fibre washer for the connection onto it, best of luck.

Ectophile

kerri_gt wrote: »

This is a really silly question, but what am I looking for?

At the risk of stating the bleeding obvious, you're looking for a tank that's really full.

The position of the overflow that's dripping will give some clue as to which tank it's likely to be.

Taking the lid off a tank and peering inside should tell you if the level's up to the overflow pipe. Also look for a slow drip from the inlet valve even when nobody has used water recently.

My guess is it's either a WC or the cold water tank in the loft.