Re: Idiot of the week award. (me)

That was an entertaining read, Mark

At least this is all happening *before* decorating.

A few suggestions.

- IIRC, from earlier photos, the roof tank was a galvanised steel one. If you need to cut it up to remove it through the hatch, e.g. with an angle grinder, do take great care and have water on hand in case of sparks. Ideally use a different way to remove the tank.

- While the system is apart like this, find the water supplier stop tap, turn it off and replace the inside stop tap.

- Get rid of any gate valves - they always sieze IME. Replace with lever ball valves - these are also full bore but much better made and not subject to the same problem.

.andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl

Thanks for the tips, the hose - I wasn't putting that water anywhere near my mouth. ;-)

I've stripped the old fibreboard insulation off the tank, had thought about the anglegrinder but I'm running out of t-shirts from the sparks already, got some new metal blades for the jigsaw after it coped with the radiators so trying that first.

I think I've seen the stop tap outside on the pavement.

The valve with the wheel was pretty funny at the time, little a Laurel and Hardy or Norman Wisdom when I hit that and it snapped off...

Oh and I've made myself a mental note to not add that extra bit of cement when mixing concrete in future after having to remove some I did last year to put in the new gate posts.

Mark S.

The way to do it then is coil the hose up an submerge the whole thing in the tank, ensuring that all the air is expelled. Then plug one end with a cork or other suitable object, leave the open end in the tank, route the hose as required, then remove the bung and /voila/!

A pump is a good idea, last time I had to change a DHW cylinder I used a drill pump to empty it.

I have NEVER done that ...

honest

really

err ...

Once was clearing the bottle trap under a sink at work (it was clogged with little plastic coffee stirers) when a kitchen worker said "hi", handed me the bucket I'd asked for, stepped over my legs, and proceeded to turn on the taps to swill some cups.

Grrr...

Hwyl!

M.

Hello Mark

Turn on all the hot water taps...

Tell me though, at what point did you start repeating swear words?

I turned everything on but for some reason it didn't work as I'd assumed it would.

I swear to myself a lot, like when I dried all the floor under the leaking toilet overflow prior to replacing the floorboards, flushed the toilet and it overflowed again. Fixed that problem, no top on the cistern so the ballcock arm is covered in bits of old plaster and artex making it too heavy so the water wasn't cutting off as it should.

I think I swore worst when I was stood at one side of the room intercepting the jet of water from the hole I'd just made in the tank.

Mark S.

Ahh... jets of water reminds me.

Scenario: aged 18 at parent's house, parents out. Winter, room seems cold, top of radiator cold, so decide it needs bleeding. Get bleed key, keep turning, but no air comes out, suddenly key (and bleed valve) shoot across room. Boiling hot, black water gushes from radiator, mop with hankie. Can't reach valve without letting black water on new carpet, sit there for two hours with (alternate) thumbs over bleed tap.

Amazing I ever took up DIY really.