constinuous overflowing

[shree]

hi all,

please help..there's continuous overflow from tank directly above ho water tank. how can i stop this? I'm a female so please instruct me in plain english :)

thank

-- shree

[Paul Barker]

If you look in this tank you will see a BALL VALVE. There is a re (usually) ball about 5 inch diameter which floats in the water as th water level rises the float rises, so the lever it is attached t should shut the valve and stop any more water getting in. Sometimes bu very seldome if you bend the arm downwards so that the water would b shut off sooner, this can fix the problem. Usually however the valve i faulty and requires replacement or a new diaphragm.

To replace it you have to turn off your STOP COCK, usually found unde the kitchen sink, a brass tap. Check the cold tap in the kitchen stop running when you turn off this tap, if so you have found it. Leave th kitchen tap on so that any small amount that gets by the stop coc doesn't cause a problem up in the header tank where you are about t work.

You need a good adjustable spanner and a set of grips (water pum pliers). Grip the body of the ball valve with the grips and undo th nut which holds the 15mm copper pipe to it, this is a TAP CONNECTOR.

Next undo the large but slim nut which holds the ball valve to th tank. Take your old ball valve to the local plumbers merchant and as for a new one just like it. Also ask for a new 1/2" fibre washer.

Go home and repeat the above in reverse order when you get to the ta connector prise off the old fibre washer and put the new one o instead

-- Paul Barker

[Wanderer]

Sorry, not really enough info to be able to work out what's happening.

How many of these header tanks (that's what they're called) do you have? Do you have a wet central heating system (radiators)? Do you heat your water using the central heating boiler or an immersion heater? If you have radiators for central heating you'll probably have two of these tanks.

Is the problem in the larger or the smaller tank? Is water in the header tank hot or cold? If it's cold, the problem's minor, if it's hot, it's probably major.

Take a look inside the tank that is overflowing. You'll see a (probably orange) plastic ball in the water. That will have a (probably metal) arm coming back to one side of the tank. The arm will connect to a metal fitting which passes through the wall of the tank. Is there a constant dribble of water from this fitting into the tank? If there is, try lifting the ball upwards and see if this stops the dribble of water. Don't yank at the ball or heave it wildly upwards, but you should be able to use a reasonable amount of effort to lift it to see if it stops the dribble. If this stops the dribble, you need a new washer inside the fitting. Whether you feel up to tackling this is up to you.

If there's no constant dribble of water from this fitting, then sorry, but you need to think about contacting a plumber. There's probably a coil inside your hot cylinder that has water from your boiler to heat up the cylinder - the heating and the domestic hot water systems are usually separate - and the coil may have become corroded and leaking, so water is passing from one system to the other.

[Andy]

I undertook this job the other weekend and it's very easy, just ensure that the water supply is switched off as Paul describes before undoing anything! To test that the supply is off, press the ball down in the tank and nothing should happen i.e. no water should come out of the valve into the tank. Worth getting a friend to turn the mains supply back on again, SLOWLY when complete with you in the loft to check that there are no leaks. If you see a leak then it's likely to be from the part with the new fibre washer in so just try tightening it a bit more. If this doesn't work then give your assistant a shout to turn off the water and check everything is fitted correctly.