No cold water upstairs

Finchy2018

Hello all, 

I have no cold water coming out any taps or filling the cistern upstairs. Is there a way for me to fix this, or do I need a plumber? 

I've tried Google but they all seem to reference hot taps. Would using a hose connected to downstairs tap be the way to fix this? 

Thanks! 

ThisIsWeird

More info, please.

Type of cold water system - do you have a CWS in the loft, or is it mains-driven? Type of boiler?

Cold kitchen tap is presumably ok? Just how powerful is it? And no change there?

Finchy2018

There is a tank in the loft, so not mains driven, not a combi boiler the older style one. 


Downstairs is absolutely fine I assume because it's directly from the mains. 

Finchy2018

When you turn the sink tap on your can hear a gurgling sound, and the bath will dribble a small amount of water then stop 

Will_Riker

Assuming it's a "conventional" system whereby most taps are fed from the storage tank in the loft, and the kitchen tap is fed directly from the mains ... have you checked to see if there is actually water in the storage tank in the loft?  Could be that there's a problem with the inlet supply to the tank, or the float valve has got jammed stuck in the "closed" position.

It would probably make sense to have a quick look at that first, given that it's quick and easy to check - might just be something as simple as that.

ThisIsWeird

As Will says.

First check the larger CWS tank in the loft. If that is full, then shine a torch into the water and check how clean it is. Locate the flow pipe(s) coming out near the bottom of the tank, and see if anything is blocking it inside the tank.

If there are two flow pipes, one will be supplying the cold taps (except the kitchen), and the other will be serving the hot, via the hot cylinder. If there's only one flow pipe, then it'll be serving both H&C, and the next most likely cause - an airlock - will presumably be happening after this single pipe splits.

Anyhoo, check the CWS in the first instance, and report back.

Finchy2018

I'm not able to get into my loft as I'm too short, and don't have a big enough ladder - but that will be what I do first, thank you! 

MikeJXE

Will_Riker said:

Assuming it's a "conventional" system whereby most taps are fed from the storage tank in the loft, and the kitchen tap is fed directly from the mains ... have you checked to see if there is actually water in the storage tank in the loft?  Could be that there's a problem with the inlet supply to the tank, or the float valve has got jammed stuck in the "closed" position.

It would probably make sense to have a quick look at that first, given that it's quick and easy to check - might just be something as simple as that.

Exactly what I'm thinking, the loft tank is empty or outlet blocked

Finchy2018

Would the tank if it were empty mean no hot water too? 

ThisIsWeird

Finchy2018 said:

Would the tank if it were empty mean no hot water too? 

Yes :-)

So more likely it's an air lock.

ThisIsWeird

Do you have a hose, and a means of getting it attached to the kitchen cold (or garden tap) and then to an upstairs cold? Often just a garden hose with a trigger sprayer at the end will do.

Little risk in this - it's all done gently...

Connect hose to kitchen or garden tap, roll it out to a faulty tap, leave the 'trigger' off, and turn on its supply. Best do this on a bath tap, as this will catch the spills.

Turn on the cold bath tap fully, and place the trigger nozzle against the spout. Form a 'seal' around it with your fingers or hand - wrap a cloth around it first if it helps. Grip the join firmly. 

Squeeze the trigger slowly, and then open it up more fully if all is well. Let it flow up the bath spout for a good 10 seconds, shut off trigger, remove nozzle, and observe tap flow.