Plumbing Gaff

PoGee

UPDATE - COMEDY OF ERRORS
So they came out to replace the immersion heater. He isolated the water supply to the hot water tank i.e. did not switch off at mains. He had to force (with a spanner/wrench) the stopcock as it had seized. He tried to open the bolt housing the old heater but it wouldn't budge. He called his boss saying - if I force this, I may burst the tank. As the temporary leak repair was holding, we had heating and hot water from the central heating, I said 'just leave it'. I didn't want a burst hot water tank.
THEN, found out we had no water in hot water pipes!! The stopcock had been reopened but nothing in pipes. Surprisingly, there's water in central heating pipes.
They're coming back tomorrow so we've had no hot water again (3 days this time).
They say they need to drain the whole system. Why does this need to happen if we have heating?
Could it be that he's busted the stopcock? I'm confused as to why there's water in central heating pipes/boiler/radiators but no water in hot water pipe system. We have water from mains to cold water supply to kitchen/shower/washing machine and to the big cold water in attic that supplies cold water to cold water pipes to bathroom sink and bath.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Bendy_House

Infrequently-used stopcocks - and that's pretty much all of them - are prone to seizing, which is what your fellow found with yours. In the worst scenarios, they also detach inside so that when they are reopened, the washer stays in the closed position. Like yours.

Not the plumber's fault, but I'm surprised they didn't check you had hot water before you left.

They'll need to drain the DHW side of the water system, but not the CH. This is because the stopcock is located near the bottom of the hot cylinder, so when they remove it to replace it, you know what'll happen...

Draining the cylinder isn't difficult, but I'd leave the hot water off when you know they are coming, as it'll all be poured away.

Apodemus

How sure are you that he did re-open the stopcock?  Is it possible that he has treated it like a tap and turned it fully "open" when in fact it requires a 90 degree turn between fully open and fully shut?

PoGee

Bendy_House said:

Infrequently-used stopcocks - and that's pretty much all of them - are prone to seizing, which is what your fellow found with yours. In the worst scenarios, they also detach inside so that when they are reopened, the washer stays in the closed position. Like yours.

Not the plumber's fault, but I'm surprised they didn't check you had hot water before you left.

They'll need to drain the DHW side of the water system, but not the CH. This is because the stopcock is located near the bottom of the hot cylinder, so when they remove it to replace it, you know what'll happen...

Draining the cylinder isn't difficult, but I'd leave the hot water off when you know they are coming, as it'll all be poured away.

He did check the hot water but still left us without hot water as 'someone with experience not available'. They're back tomorrow. I'm concerned that I'll have a fight on my hands when I say CH doesn't need drained. I'm sure it's the stopcock that's been damaged but they say 'no', without looking at it (over the phone).What will happen if they blast water up the hot water pipes to 'clear the airlock', if the stopcock is damaged?

PoGee

Apodemus said:

How sure are you that he did re-open the stopcock?  Is it possible that he has treated it like a tap and turned it fully "open" when in fact it requires a 90 degree turn between fully open and fully shut?

My gut says the fault is with the stopcock but they aren't listening when I talked to them about it over the phone. They're back tomorrow. They keep wanting to drain the whole system, including the CH for some reason. It's getting done by Direct Line home emergency.

FreeBear

PoGee said: I'm sure it's the stopcock that's been damaged but they say 'no', without looking at it (over the phone).What will happen if they blast water up the hot water pipes to 'clear the airlock', if the stopcock is damaged?

If the original plumber had to use force to turn off the stop tap, there is a 99% chance that it is now burgered. Blasting water through the HW system to clear an imaginary air lock won't achieve anything. All that will happen is water will be pushed out of the overflow.

The HW system will need to be drained down, including the header tank in the loft. But with the stop tap jammed in the closed position is going to make that task a challenge. Alternatively, they could use a pipe freezer either side of the stop tap to block the flow water, and then quickly replace the broken tap.

Bendy_House

PoGee, it's covered, let them get on with it, it'll ultimately be sorted.

(If they are truly incompetent, you may wish to report this to DL for their info afterwards...)

Le_Kirk

If they/he ends up changing the stopcock/stop tap, try to get them to fit a ball valve lever operated type; they are less prone to seizing.

Myser

Le_Kirk said:

If they/he ends up changing the stopcock/stop tap, try to get them to fit a ball valve lever operated type; they are less prone to seizing.

Second that, something like this would be better:

https://www.screwfix.com/p/pegler-ball-valve-blue-15mm/11085

Bendy_House

Thirded, if they are happy to do this.