2 Stopcocks?! Which is which? Both jammed. ‘50s house. See pics…

[Bodgerjob]

Hi all, I need to replace the stopcock but as you can see from the pictures there seem to be two! Behind the pipes is a chimney breast. Ground floor. Old 1950’s semi.
Any idea what’s going on here?

Glad of any help…

 

[terryplumb]

Do you have any other stopcocks in the property, at ground level, where the mains water enters the property ?
One of those pictured may be the primary ,main stopcock ,and the other isolating a branch line.

 

[Bodgerjob]

Thanks for your reply Terry.
No other stopcocks in the property.
The only taps downstairs are the kitchen (which is fed from upstairs…the pipes come down the wall to the taps) and an outside tap in the garden.

 

[jj4091]

Give them a squirt of wd40 and let it soak in overnight.

 

[Bodgerjob]

Will buy some wd40 and try but they’re rock solid and pretty old I think.
Mostly wanna know which tap does what?

 

[Bodgerjob]

Do you have any other stopcocks in the property, at ground level, where the mains water enters the property ?
One of those pictured may be the primary ,main stopcock ,and the other isolating a branch line.

Could the lower tap be a branch line to the garden tap? Does that sound plausible?

 

[terryplumb]

As both pipes appear to disappear into the floor ,it's impossible to tell where they come from ,or go to.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

As both pipes appear to disappear into the floor ,it's impossible to tell where they come from ,or go to.

OP could hold the pipes, and feel which go colder, when various taps are turned on..

 

[Jurassicspark]

Are you in a flat?

Most likely one stopcock is for one branch and the other one is for another area such as a kitchen..

 

[terryplumb]

OP could hold the pipes, and feel which go colder, when various taps are turned on..

Worth a try Harry.

 

[Bodgerjob]

OP could hold the pipes, and feel which go colder, when various taps are turned on..

Great idea! Thanks. Will do that tomorrow…

 

[Bodgerjob]

Are you in a flat?

Most likely one stopcock is for one branch and the other one is for another area such as a kitchen..

Semi.
Kitchen taps are fed from upstairs.

 

[Bodgerjob]

OP could hold the pipes, and feel which go colder, when various taps are turned on..

Just did this. Worked a treat. The ‘branch’ pipe only gets cold when the garden tap is on, so I’m pretty sure it’s feeding that exclusively.
The vertical pipe comes in at the bottom from the street and goes up to feed the bathroom and kitchen, as well as the ‘branch’.
That make sense?

Btw I just measured the pipes and they’re 12mm. Is that normal for a mains in, and will it effect replacing the stopcocks…if that needs doing?
I thought they’d be 15mm at least but what do I know haha

 

[Bodgerjob]

Btw I just measured the pipes and they’re 12mm. Is that normal for a mains in, and will it effect replacing the stopcocks…if that needs doing?
I thought they’d be 15mm at least but what do I know haha

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Btw I just measured the pipes and they’re 12mm. Is that normal for a mains in, and will it effect replacing the stopcocks…if that needs doing?
I thought they’d be 15mm at least but what do I know haha

Old half inch copper pipe - 12.6mm OD.