Leaking HW Cylinder

[BigJock2005]

Hello all, silly question here but pls advise.

As it's almost Christmas, the heating has to go on the blink of course. Just had the boiler done a couple of weeks ago but today we've noticed a bit of damp ingress has now become a full-on drip.

Got about the bathroom cupboard and checked all the piping. Looks like HW cylinder is gone. The base of the tank is really manky, wet, and the boards are wet all around the base as well. It's seeping through to the timber joists below, along a supporting lintel and down the kitchen wall.

Obviously I need to get this fixed quick... question is do I need to drain the cylinder? Means no hot water of course, and am I being stupid worrying about the weight of a 150L tank on top of wet joists?!?

Don't fancy having no HW over Christmas Day and beyond, but anyone got any idea if it's okay to leave for a few days?

Thanks for advice, and a very Happy Christmas to everyone.

 

[terryplumb]

Can you actually trace where the water is coming from ? Any leak high up will eventually find it's way down. The safest thing to do ,of course ,is to drain out the cylinder. You will not have any hot water from taps etc,but if you have an electric shower that would still work.

 

[BigJock2005]

I went up into the loft and checked the header tanks, everything seems dry and I can't see any signs of any leaks. The damp starts at the base of the tank, but there are pipes under the floor too. But the water is working it's way along the wall, see attached...
I'm just worried the tank is going to fail, or the rate of ingress is going to cause real damage??

 

[terryplumb]

Better err on the side of caution here .isolate the cold feed into loft tank, turn on all hot water taps .That will empty the loft tank ,but the hot water cylinder will still be full. The cylinder should have a drain cock fitted close to the base ,connect a hose pipe to it and out to a drainage point. Turn off immersion heater and boiler hot water function.

 

[BigJock2005]

Happy Christmas all!

I have located the leak on the HW cylinder, and it is coming from the "secondary return". This is a Hercal 3 1200 x 450 cylinder, and there is a "secondary return" on the rear of the tank at the top above the cold feed. There's some kind of valve on it, a square spindle going into a round knurled body. I can feel the water trickling from this valve. I put a spanner on it and it easily cracked loose, then I was able to tighten it up a good 3/4 to full turn. Didn't overdo it obviously, but can anyone advise what that valve is, and am I safe to tighten it down? Why would it start leaking - although from the calcium build-up, this is not a new leak. I've attached a pic - not great but a b****d to get to.

Thanks in advance, and have a great Christmas Day!

 

[Bodd]

It's tough to say. You could make worse.
Just try to contain and call a plumber out tomorrow

 

[HERTS P&D]

It's tough to say. You could make worse.
Just try to contain and call a plumber out tomorrow

Wait until Thursday, Boxing day rate will be on the high side.

Andy

 

[Bodd]

Wait until Thursday, Boxing day rate will be on the high side.

Andy

Shut up. I'm on 24 hour call.. you'll do me out of work

 

[HERTS P&D]

Bodd, have a day off and drink beer!

Andy

 

[Bodd]

Bodd, have a day off and drink beer!

Andy

I've had one. Just about ready for my dinner...
Watching Carry on up the Jungle.

 

[BigJock2005]

Okay it seems to have got worse. Basis your "could make it worse" comment I went back up and backed of the square bit a turn, and immediately heard (and saw) water spurting out. So I tightened it back round as tight as I dared to (worried that the tank is corroded and it might just break off). I put some towels under the tank, went downstairs, drilled a small hole in the ceiling which drained out quite a bit of water. I am thinking that will stop any water spreading and ruining more ceiling or wallpaper.

Leak now seems to have stopped. No more water tricking down wall and dripping has stopped. Not sure if it's towels, tightening down that valve, or my imagination. In any case the whole f*** shebang is getting ripped out after NY (if it lasts that long) and re-piped.

If it comes back or gets worse then I'll shut off the cold feed and drain the tank as I can get to the drain valve. But there's only one valve for both the HW tank and the heating system, so don't know what else that might do.

Merry Bloody Christmas everyone! I'm going to get ****ed.

 

[JimCrow]

Cant see your pic clearly but it looks like a drain cock has been used instead of a plug, it's an easy fix to swap it,
can you clean round the fitting and post another pic ?,

https://www.screwfix.com/p/male-flanged-plug-x/98635

PTFE thread tape
https://www.screwfix.com/p/ptfe-tape-12mm-x-12m/76841#_=p

 

[BigJock2005]

Thanks for that. Sounds like good advice, but I'm terrified I make it worse... but then don't suppose I can. If I drain the tank (going to have to cut a length off the garden hose...) then even if I break it I'm no worse off.

Wife is seriously unhappy at dripping water, so I'm going to drain the tank later (once Christmas dinner has gone down) and once it's empty enough (only need to drain it half way) then I'll get in there and clean it up. Will post a pic.

We've found quite a few botches in this house since buying it, previous owner was clearly a moron who followed the "if it fits then it must be the right one" philosophy... That's why I want to rip it out anyway and get the pipework redone, just less surprises round the corner.

By the way, like I said, there's only one isolator on the cold feed from the header tanks, so if I close it, I'll isolate the CH as well as the HWT. Won't that upset the CH system?

 

[JimCrow]

No, the heating water is seperate, put a strap of wood across the bigger of the two tanks and tie the ballcock up, that will stop it refilling then you can drain it, no need to close any valves then.

 

[BigJock2005]

Right... tank drained completely. Hosepipe in boiling water then jammed onto the drain cock. Other end down the bog. See pic for a laugh.
Thanks for the advice JimCrow but I can't face houking about in the loft today, so I just shut off the stop cock from the header tank. Whatever that other feed is, I'll find out. I've switched the HW to permanently off, so CH only. Tomorrow, once my hangover has cleared, I'll get in at that drain cock and see what the score is. God willing it is just a poor fitting that got disturbed when the boiler was changed and the system flushed, but I would be amazed if its that simple. I'll be trying to find a plumber tomorrow anyway as we have the whole family descending on Friday, and I have no HW!!!

Will update you all tomorrow. Thanks for the replies and advice. Enjoy the rest of Christmas Day!

Jock