Hi,
I have an upstairs bedroom right next to a cold water tank in a communal building, which is a right pain during the night (drip...drip....fill....drip). As far as I can tell simply sticking a hose onto the end of the valve and sumberging it would fall foul of water regs, but is there a "proper" solution? Someone must have made something with a one way valve or similar to solve this problem... I've seen lots of solutions for WC cisterns, but nt for tanks.
Cheers,
Ben
There is / was one that has a soft plastic dip tube - it is designed to collapse and seal if the system tries to siphon.
You might find a fluidmaster valve works better, although I've not fitted the side-entry versions of these myself. The bottom entry ones discharge at the bottom, and they have a hysterisis shutoff action so they don't spend almost forever filling the tank to the final level.
Thanks - they look quite plastic and complicated - are the durable? Does anyone know how they work? I wonder if the downpipe section will be long enouh to reach the water. I'll need to check that!
Cheers,
Ben
Oh dear. What a shame!
Never mind, you will have a lovely quiet tank until they kick your door down to search for regulation irregularities. :))
Thats interesting - there seems to be some disagreement concerning fluidmaster vs. torbeck. Torbeck looks a lot simpler, so perhaps has less to go wrong. Any experiences out there? I'm guessing both are certified for use wrt back siphonage etc. They both claim to be WRAS approved... Cheers,
Ben
If the low noise valves mentioned are like the following... o Blue colour o 2-inch cube float separated from the valve body by 1-2 inches o Float is threaded on a vertical shaft linked to the valve body
Very compact compared to a typical large ballcock & arm.
No idea of the brand, but seems a common. Some comments...
Filling speed o Slower than a conventional blast-n-whine-n-stop ballcock o They reduce flow rate to a slow burble so as to reduce noise Valve noise o Refilling is audible as a soft water trickle -- very quiet o Hysterisis limited -- fades to a barely audible but definate stop Piping noise o Mains pressure water flowing is audible as a whine -- quiet
Piping noise probably a function of flow rate & resonant frequency. This is mains pressure, not fed from a separate low pressure tank.
Re back syphoning... I doubt I would like to drink water drawn back out of a cistern, particularly if any bleach/colour tablets in it.
Would not go back to the older type - it is noticeably quieter.
I've used both, but my sample sizes aren't big enough for any experiences to be statistically significant. I've had torbecks start leaking through, which on close inspection has been due to poor manufacture. I've never had a problem with a fluidmaster, but I've only fitted 2 so far.
Yes.
Fluidmaster downpipe section is adjustable length in the bottom mounting ones; don't know about side entry ones.
I used to think the disadvantage of this type is they could fail full flow whereas a classic ball valve or even a torbeck can't. Then I had a torbeck valve fail full flow, when the ball valve arm snapped in half for no obvious reason costing about £40 in lost metered water, so I thought what the hell, and fitted a fluidmaster.
only if it were an airtight fit so that water could get sucked back vai the hose into the main water supply if there were negative pressure in the main. If the hose is a loose fit so air would get sucked in it will still work to quieten the noise of the tank filling.
I have a Fluidmaster and find that it shuts a bit too suddenly and causes a bit of water hammer heard through the house. (Promoted by the washing machine and dishwasher hoses having some elasticity)
I've seen the ball fall off a classic ball valve resultng in full flow, more than the overflow could take.
It was definitely classic, the copper sphere one, and the solder had failed where it was attached to the arm. I doubt if a plastic one could fail in the same way unless the plastic cracked.
Which is exactly what happened to mine.
I put a fluidmaster in the hot water header tank to stop the noise, it wasn't just the drip drip drip, and the noise of the water squirting into the tank sometimes the force of the water being blasted into the tank would make the water slop from one end of the tank to the other, admitting more water and continuing the cycle! This was worse in the middle of the night when the water pressure was high (>90psi, 6bar). No problems since. I'd previously fitted a Torbec to the toilet cistern but I didn't think it would have adequate flow for the DHW.
On Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:37:10 +0000, "Neil J. Harris" mused:
I'd have perhaps stuck a preessure reducer in that case.
I did, the pressure was also causing problems with the water softener, and if I had a shower late at night the flow controller in the shower would sometimes go unstable and hammer and the diaphragm on its pressure switch failed. I put a Syr PRV (and a double check valve) in and everything's been OK since. The diaphragm went again a year or so ago, but I put the shower in in '89 and it's been used at least once a day since then, so I can't grumble.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.