Has anyone experience of galvanised water tanks failing after years of use and corrosion. Mine must be over 42 years old and probably from 1959 when the bathroom was added, it looks very rusty inside but the outside galvanising looks okay, should I worry?
If it was made in 1959, simple arithmetic says it's over 60 yars old.
If it's a worry, replace it ("the cistern") with a plastic tank, or two connected together.
Almost impossible to answer. 42 years ago copper would have been the usual domestic solution, so I'd guess it is original.
If there is *any* sign of leakage, it's time to act. Do you know if it is supported on beams, or on a flat surface? The plates are thinner than the angle iron frame, so these are the weak spots. When they are undisturbed, the rust can hold them together.
Only if the tank is in the loft and it was installed when the place was built and the roof was constructed around it! From what I've seen, you can sometimes only get quite small replacement tanks though many loft hatches.
If it's structurally mostly OK, just leaking, can you get liners that will go inside to waterproof the structure?
Or you could go for a battery of smaller tanks that will fit, like these:
Once when I wanted to sell a house the purchaser complained about the galvanised water tank so I replaced it with a plastic one. I had to cut the old tank in half to remove it from the roof. It was hard work, as far as I could tell the old tank was fine.
I had similar fitted when my system was renewed a few years ago.
They made a point of ensuring that the feed and draw off were at opposite ends of the group of 4, to avoid stagnation.
Chris
Well, Ours went with a seep, but not until the mid 60s and it was put in in
1939. My only gripe is that its been wedged in the loft space ever since as its too big to go through the loft hatch. How did they get it in there in the first place? BrianIn message <sik1c3$fmu$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me, "Brian Gaff (Sofa)" snipped-for-privacy@blueyonder.co.uk> writes
Was it put in while the house was being built? I had the same problem. The house was built in 1955, and I moved in in 1980. The rusting steel tank had been superseded by a plastic one - but it had been left there, sitting beside it. Too big for the hatch, so I had to saw it in half to get it out. [An angle grinder would have been useful!]
Way, way back in the early 1980's we bought a house built in the late
60's or early 70's. We spotted that there was a very slight rust patch on the outside of the tank (in the cistern cupbaord not loft) - it lasted a further 12 monts before a pinprick leak started. We changed the tank.So, at the age of yours I'd swap it out.
At that age, given the devastation that could result from a failure, I would remove it ASAP. Also, you may have galvanised pipes that will be starting to generate flakes of rust. Providing your mains water pressure and flow rate are OK I would remove the need for a header tank by converting to mains pressure DHW and mains water at all cold taps. It's a fairly simple change but the DHW cylinder will probably need replacing unless it's a new'ish one and rated for mains pressure. Benefits are increased DHW pressure, potable water at all taps and less plumbing in the roof space.
snipped-for-privacy@aolbin.com wrote on 24/09/2021 :
Although, before deciding on that, it might be worth checking that there is adequate flow and pressure from the cold water mains to support a shower.
Good point, there is no way it fitted through the loft hatch and the ceilings are all lath and plaster so I must have been much earlier as the house is 1862 build.
There was a fire prior to 1939 so it may date from then.
Is there any good reason for needing that much cold water storage nowadays? Biggest draw down would be a bath.
Anyway there is a well in the garden that I could use for washing if needed.
Yes this would require a new connection to the main, the current galvanised mains water pipe is under the extension and the flow is poor. This would likely precipitate having a meter fitted which in my case could well reduce the water bill.
I had this in a bungalow at work and decided an angle grinder was too dangerous a fire risk so cut it into four with a sabre saw, it took a while and about three blades.
Quite so, and as I was having a larger one fitted, I needed more storage.
This is the one:
Chris
My rich great uncle (who didn't believe in passing wealth down) once owned a _big_ country house. I found the tank once - there was a big plastic tank in the middle of an attic, and leaning against the walls were the remains of the original (prewar) galvanised tank.
It had been cut up with a gas axe :O I could tell by the melt.
Andy
Well the house didn't burn down so it worked. Generally I found an angle grinder with a 9" cutting wheel was faster than a oxy-propane cutter on thin sheet, I think because there was insufficient burning iron to propagate the cut.
Anyway I have had a further inspection and will risk it till next summer, given my incompetence with plumbing in general. I have decided a
25 gallon plastic tank will suffice and will fit through the loft hatch but tackling the galvanised iron rising main, overflow and two outlets is a bit daunting at present.
You should worry My parents had a 30 year old galvanised tank expansion tank for CH in the loft and over a period of a year the paper on the ceiling in one of the bedrooms started to peel off. The cause was traced to the galvanised tank that looked OK from the outside but appeared to be slightly rusty on the inside. On removal it had a couple of pinholes where the rust had eaten its way throug the tank. No catastrophic failure but just enough water dripping to make the ceiling below slightly damp.
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