removing limescale/gunk on brasswork in cold water tank

unclebulgaria

I thought this site was a source of FREE advice from people who have knowledge of the relevant problem? I think SCRGI is infinitately more qualified than you espresso! Insulting his morals by calling him a money maker (trade bashing again!) is just silly and short sighted!

OP if you want the job doing right get a tradesman in this time, it'll cost more than you doing it yourself but you will have peace of mind. Get someone who is recommended and if you're really worried about being ripped off then do a bit of reading up and watch the guy as he works. You could always enrol at your local college and learn some plumbing for yourself or enrol in those quick courses B&Q run. It is a false economy to try and repair an old ball valve, if its out just swap it for a new one. Dont, for god sake, use limescale remover in your cold water tank unless you want to poison yourself!
Get this simple job wrong and you may end up with more problems than just a drip, this valve runs off the rising main and wont stop if it leaks whilst you're out.

diywhynot

espresso wrote: »

You don't normally need to replace the whole ballcock unit, just fit a new washer which costs a few pence.

See here

+1 for the MSE option. Replacement of the ball valve isn't necessarily required.

Give it a go, morg_monster. Lots of free advice on the interweb. Don't be put off by vested interests:money:

T_T_2

diywhynot wrote: »

Don't be put off by vested interests:money:

Yes, I'm sure that southcoast and keystone are concerned that one member of a forum replacing a washer will signal the end of 'The Professional Plumber' forever!

What nonsense are you talking about, what possible vested interest could they have? Do you really think that they are hoping that the OP will offer them the chance to drive all the way to Surrey to change a ballvalve for £100?

keystone

diywhynot wrote: »

+1 for the MSE option. Replacement of the ball valve isn't necessarily required.

Oh poppycock. I do wish people would read. This is from the lead post.

morg_monster wrote: »

The next hurdle is that all the old brasswork is covered in hard limescale and other gunk which to me looks like it is going to make it be virtually impossible to turn the nuts

Faffing about trying to replace the washer in a corroded and gummed up valve is not at all MSE. OP just needs to change the whole valve as I have already advised more than once.

Don't be put off by vested interests

What is that supposed to mean?

Cheers

unclebulgaria

I have a vested interest! I get a reward from knowing I just helped someone without financial gain.

OP you're getting some free advice from guys in the trade, it usually costs. You are free to choose which advice you take, the free advice from the DIY'ers or the free advice from people who change them for a living.

T_T_2

unclebulgaria wrote: »

I have a vested interest! I get a reward from knowing I just helped someone without financial gain.

OP you're getting some free advice from guys in the trade, it usually costs. You are free to choose which advice you take, the free advice from the DIY'ers or the free advice from people who change them for a living.

In fairness to the OP, they have been nothing but open to suggestions and have acted very sensibly. It's just them there uthers!

mikey72

keystone wrote: »

Oh poppycock. I do wish people would read. This is from the lead post.



Faffing about trying to replace the washer in a corroded and gummed up valve is not at all MSE. OP just needs to change the whole valve as I have already advised more than once.

What is that supposed to mean?

Cheers

Obviously they've never been hunched over a water tank in the dark, faced with a mess of green copper and solid limescale, and tried to undo the end of the valve, which is seized solid, got the pipe wrench on it, twisted everything upside down, got the second pipe wrench, twisted it all back, eventually got the end to move, not been able to get the old washer out as it's got a lump of scale behind it, scraped that away, cracked the water on to blow out the old washer, lost that in the tank, recovered it by getting arm deep in freezing water, finally fitted the new washer assembly, put it back together, (with the split pin that now only has one side left as the other snapped when you took it out) and had it leak at the connector outside the tank from where you twisted it upside down to start with?

As opposed to a ten minute job to get the whole thing off, chuck it in the bin, fit the new one, clean up the end of the connector on the pipe to get the old fibre washer out, put on a new one, turn the water back on.

southcoastrgi

mikey72 wrote: »

Obviously they've never been hunched over a water tank in the dark, faced with a mess of green copper and solid limescale, and tried to undo the end of the valve, which is seized solid, got the pipe wrench on it, twisted everything upside down, got the second pipe wrench, twisted it all back, eventually got the end to move, not been able to get the old washer out as it's got a lump of scale behind it, scraped that away, cracked the water on to blow out the old washer, lost that in the tank, recovered it by getting arm deep in freezing water, finally fitted the new washer assembly, put it back together, (with the split pin that now only has one side left as the other snapped when you took it out) and had it leak at the connector outside the tank from where you twisted it upside down to start with?

As opposed to a ten minute job to get the whole thing off, chuck it in the bin, fit the new one, clean up the end of the connector on the pipe to get the old fibre washer out, put on a new one, turn the water back on.

I couldn't have put it better myself, but as you can gather there just isn't any way of telling some people :beer:

morg_monster

Is this still going :-)

Just to update you, I searched for the valve to turn off the water to the loft to no avail. All the pipes in the airing cupboard are "smooth" so it's either behind the hot water tank or under a floorboard.

So I have admitted defeat this time and have arranged for a plumber to come next week to replace the float valve and also to look at the stopcock as clearly we need to get that unseized. Much easier and also useful to have a tradesman you know as well for those emergency situations!

Thanks again for all your help! For the hardcore MSEers, don't worry this situation hasn't put me off trying to DIY things though. Once I know that the stopcock is operational I'll definitely be trying to do the simple jobs myself.

oddman

I got 2 adjustable wrenches from the £shop that I used to fit a tap. They don't hold their size that well but it's fine for an odd jobber.