Replacement lid/cover for how water cylinder - advice please

[dodginess]

Hope someone can help me with this please:

Wearing my electrician's hat, earlier on today I went to replace an immersion heater element that had burnt out. The cylinder was already drained when I got there and the element is an 11inch type that fits sideways into the bottom of the cylinder. The cylinder is also mounted fairly high up on a shelf so that the top is nearly touching the ceiling, and the gap between the top and the ceiling was filled by a scrunched up lagging jacket.

All that was fine (element fitted and tested) until I turned the water back on, when the cylinder started leaking from the top. Further investigation revealed that this "cylinder" has a flat lid covering the top of it which was slightly warped and corroded above where the cold water comes in (the arrangement is like that of a cistern with a ballcock, etc. only the water shoots right up and at full pressure was almost pushing the lid off).

What I need to know now is whether anyone knows if lids like this are still made (the tank is supposedly only 10 years old) and where I might be able to get one from. It might also help if someone could tell me what sort of cylinder this might be as I've tried searching on a few plumbing sites with no luck.

I appreciate that the conclusion most people would reach about this episode is "buy a new cylinder" but the person in question is a pensioner and they can't afford to have a new one fitted.

Any advice would be much appreciated

Many Thanks,

Neil

 

[seco services]

sounds like a combination cylinder.

 

[JohnD]

the correct ball valve has a plastic bridge on top, which redirects the water emerging from the top of the valve so it squirts downwards.

These sometimes come unclipped.

If you like plumbing, look for a "high pressure, Type 2" ballcock which should only cost a few pounds. If you look at a few you will see what I mean.

there is a slim chance the bridge has got dislodged and is at the bottom of the cistern.

 

[dodginess]

Thanks for those speedy responses!

Looking at the picture that's been posted, it's really only looked like one cylinder rather than two stacked ones (it wasn't very tall either).

It would have been useful if I could've got a good look in the cylinder but there was no humanly possible way to look inside it without some kind of mirror-on-a-stick arrangement. I'm not sure whether it's my lack of plumbing knowledge/experience but this seems a rather crude way to design a water heater - it would make more sense if the cold water feed didn't shoot straight up (where it's bound to put pressure on the lid).

Neil

 

[dodginess]

If you like plumbing

It's not really whether I like plumbing or not, it's whether I want the responsibility of doing the job properly I like electricity better than water (easier to switch off) but I have a lot of respect for what you guys are doing. As long as I can buy something and fit it (without tools or soldering) I'm alright. Anything else is best left to the experts - which is exactly how you want it, right?

Thanks for the info anyway - glad I joined the forum...

---- EDIT

Just leafed through my "David and Charles Manual of Home Planning" (a classic I'm sure) and think I've found the type of cylinder - the photo and diagram that look most like it is described as a "Fortic/Primatic" packaged plumbing unit.

Neil

 

[dodginess]

Quick update - cover is now on order and have just bought a new float valve that has the plastic 'bridge' in it that's needed to redirect the water - I haven't got a digital camera handy but the image below shows what it looks like (still no idea what this item is really called though):

Thanks for all the help again - much appreciated!

Neil

 

[JohnD]

if the float valve you have ordered is as per picture, it is wrong. that one is for a WC cistern, and has the supply coming up through the bottom. thev one you want has the supply coming from the side. It will be about £5 in B&Q or any hardware store.

a brass one is preferable.

 

[dodginess]

Thanks for the advice but don't worry, I didn't buy this particular float value - this was just the only picture I could find that had the plastic thing in it.

The plumber's merchant didn't think they'd be able to get me this just on its own so I've had to buy a brass float valve to get one (for a fiver). I'm doing the job as a favour and the guy's just paying for the materials so as the cost is fairly neglible I thought it probably sensible just to buy the whole thing rather than waste a few more days looking for a piece of plastic that I don't know the name of.

As indicated right at the top, I'm not a plumber so will leave replacing the complete ball valve assembly to somebody else as and when it needs it.

Thanks again

Neil