Help! Where's my hot water gone?!?

thescouselander

Something very strange has just happened. My OH and I had just got back from a sporting event and feeling a bit sore we decided to have a bath. I went first - no problems. When my OH went to run a bath the flow of water reduced to a trickle and then stopped. None of the hot water taps in the house are working:shocked:


We have a conventional style system. I suspected that the ball valve on the cold water tank may have got stuck so I went to check - all seemed ok and the tank was full - still no water from the hot taps.

I tried the hand over the mixer tap trick to force mains water into the hot water system in case there was an air lock - it didn't seem to work - I am reluctant to leave the mains water on too long since the hot water tank isn't rated for mains pressure and I don't want it to start leaking.

What could the problem be - any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

geo555

If there is an air lock, the best way would be to use your washing machine pipes. They should have a little valve to turn them off. Turn both of them off. Diconnect the hot from the pipe. Disconnect the cold from the machine and connect to the hot pipe. Then turn both on. This is much more effective than a hand over the tap.

Canucklehead

Hi

Eeeeeerrrrr.

Blocked cold feed? How old is your cold water tank and the pipework? Do you have lever valves in the airing cupboard that turn off the water to the bathroom.?

Corgi Guy.

ariba10

It could be one of several things.

Did you look in the right cold water tank. (Some central heating systems have an expansion tank)

There could be something blocking the outlet of the tank.

Have you turned off any valves or stopc*cks

thescouselander

Thanks, I was wondering if this is actually an air lock though. Its a bit strange that the flow from the hot taps suddenly stopped - it is possible for an air lock to appear so quickly for no reason?

I haven't touched any of the stop valves. I definitely looked in the correct tank - it was the big tank in the loft - not the smaller header tank.

The pipework is 10 years old. It could be a blockage but the tank is covered and I cant see anything obvious in there. I can I tell if there is a blockage or if it is an air lock?

thescouselander

Ok, emergency over - looks like it was an air lock after all. I cant understand how it got there but it seems to be working ok now.

Thanks for your replies.

in2deep_2

Do you live near 'tomstickland' .....hes had it all..!!!:D

thescouselander

in2deep wrote: »

Do you live near 'tomstickland' .....hes had it all..!!!:D

No, thankfully I dont live anywhere near:D