Cold water not coming through some of the taps

Discussion in 'Plumbers' Talk' started by y clarke, Jun 26, 2016.

  1. y clarke

    y clarke New Member

    Hi, I'm not a plumber, but we have a plumbing problem that seems to be causing a lot of head scratching amongst the plumbers who have come to fix the problem. Last Wedneseday evening we suddenly lost the cold water coming through the taps. After turning the stop tap in the utility off and then back on a couple of times the water started to come through all the taps except the downstairs main bathroom toilet and sink, the kitchen sink, dishwasher and fridge and the outside tap. Water seems to come through to the shower and bath taps from the same bathroom just fine. Also, there is no issue with the hot water either. We had a system boiler put in 4 years ago with a Glenhill pressurised tank.

    So far, they have checked to see if there was an airlock that was causing the problem. They checked to see if it was something to with the hot water system (negative). They also turned off our stop tap and connected a hose pipe from the neighbours stop tap into the outside garden tap to run water through. The water ran through no problems via all the taps (including the problem ones), but when we tried doing it the right way round again, i.e disconnected neighbours hose pipe and turned on our stop tap, we came to the same problem. Is there anyone who has come across the same issue? Please can someone help?
     
  2. masterdiy

    masterdiy Screwfix Select

    Have you tried opening all Taps fully, & waiting for 5 minuets. ?
    2nd, Could your stop cock be causing a problem, is it running through properly ?

    Maybe only way to check is to remove pipe from stop cock (house feed side, not Mains side) and check flow of water.
    Preferably put hose onto s/c and run into a bucket, or outside? Check flow.
     
  3. teabreak

    teabreak Screwfix Select

    When you say cold I assume you mean the drinking water from the main?
    Never heard of an air lock on mains pressure, is the tank in the loft filling, you may be just running on stored water from the tank.
    Possible the mains stopcock is faulty, or of course there is another valve somewhere that is faulty or has been inadvertently closed.
     
  4. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select

    Did they turn your boiler off completely?

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  5. y clarke

    y clarke New Member

    Hi Masterdiy, yes we have left tap open for about 30 mins. No issue with the stop cock as the water pressure to the utility room sink, which is in the same room as stop cock is very good. Teabreak, yes I do mean the drinking water from the main. And yes the tank in the loft is filling- no problem there. If the main stop cock was faulty wouldn't it be evident in all the taps. The one closest to stop tap has very good water pressure. The plumbers checked for other valves that might have been accidently closed. They found none. And no, no one turned the boiler off completely. Can I ask why you suggest that Mr. Handyandy? One plumber thought that maybe a no return valve somehow got turned and is doing the opposite of its function. Thank you for helping with possible solutions. I really appreciate you all taking the time to reply.
     
  6. y clarke

    y clarke New Member

    New plumber this morning and still no closer to resolving the issue. He seems to think a no return valve blockage in the old part of the pipe work. He says he's never come across anything like this....not what you want to hear.:(
     
  7. Mr. Handyandy

    Mr. Handyandy Screwfix Select


    I was wondering maybe if there was some pressure from the boiler interfering with your cold pipe.

    Mr. HandyAndy - Really
     
  8. kiaora

    kiaora Guest

    Hi
    Do you have a water softener?
    If they fail you cold water pipes will get blocked!

    Regards
    Peter
     
  9. y clarke

    y clarke New Member

    Well the plumber didn't quite get to the bottom of the issue. However, he did manage to bypass it and connect a defunct pipe back up to get the cold water to flow through the bathroom and kitchen taps. He couldn't understand where the cold water pipes were feeding into these rooms, but reverted to an old connection(to these rooms) that british gas had closed off. He said maybe the old stop tap was feeding the cold water taps in these rooms. Basically, where all the new pipe works were located in the house were working well. The section with the issue was one where the old pipe system was present. He said British gas should have changed the pipes here when they installed the system boiler and the pressurised tank. Something has failed, be it the washer or the valve or whatever we will never know. Thanks for the advise guys.

    Regards,

    Y Clarke
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice