r/ukplumbing

Help!

I bought a house that had a new boiler, f& e tank, pump, rads etc about 10 years ago.

The house itself needs ripping back to brick for other reasons, at which point we will replace it all, but we need to make what we have last for 2 more winters, which given the age of the installation, we thought we could eek out.

Unfortunately - it doesn't seem to be wanting to last that long.

When the boiler heats hot water, it forces air into the central heating loop, to an extent that I'm bleeding the lowest radiator in the house daily. I've checked, and the vent pipe sucks air intime with the pump running when the HW demand is on. I assume the air is then being forced through the y valve, as the lowest radiator also heats up If left on for a while.

The corrosion is insane, I assume because of this - I've had a pinhole leak appear on the lowest radiator already that I'm replacing tomorrow.

Attached is a diagram of the system as Ibest as I can work out. The tomkat instructions on pump installation suggests the feed pipe should be installed after the vent pipe but before the pump. It appears mine is installed on the HW return pipe immediately next to the cylinder.

https://youtu.be/wP5EDVNuV5Q?is=BMWWnFtHYdv5-ako

Would I be right in thinking

- Is the source of the problem the cold feed pipe location?

- should be a relatively easy fix for a heating engineer to do? Room is tight around the pump/vent pipe so the vent pay need moving to accomdate it.

My DIY skills end at soldering pipework unfortunately.

We're weighing up just using the immersion for hot water for the next two winters (will cost about a pound a day more - as we're on LPG which isn't cheap) and limiting the heating (log burners do the heavy lifting anyway), but if it's an easy ish fix - I.e. Half a day-full day for a heating engineer to swap the pipe over it might be worth it.

Appreciate any thoughts and prayers.

Evening,

Just looking for some advice.

I've managed to snap the stopcock under my kitchen sink in the off position. This is an issue as I seem to have no chuffin mains isolation point outside the properly (detached house on a cul-de-sac) and due to that we've discovered Severn Trent have put our water meter on our neighbours supply as this point only isolates their house and not mine, despite the meters serial matching my bill.

They're allegedly coming out on Friday to help locate the mains tap outside.

ANYWAY, the stopcock is 1/2 imperial, it's soldered onto 15mm copper at the top with no fittings and all attached to a 1/2 alkathene mains pipe. I could risk buying and gutting a new 1/2 stopcock but it's not always that straight forward is it.

I'm looking to get this alkathene down to 15mm so I can rework the pipes upto a modern standard and get rid of the imperial shite where possible.

Any recommendations please? All I want to do is go from the alkathene to a 15mm stopcock and I'll figure out the rest from there. I've currently had to slacken the head and have a sacrificial drip in order to get water back in the property. I can't do anything on a live line currently.

Not a plumber, ex hydraulic engineer with tackle for the job. Just need fitting help please.

Picture of the bast attached

One of the copper pipes below my combi boiler has in the last 6 months become crusted over with what I assume are mineral deposits, and today I noticed there is a definite slow drip happening in that spot. It’s right where one of the valves to refill the boiler is. I’m not sure if it’s related but I’ve been having to refill the boiler a bit more often than I used to. The main question I have is whether this is considered part of a boiler repair or separate plumbing, and who should I call for help? I have a D&G plan, will that cover something like this? Thanks in advance for all comments, I really don’t know enough about these sorts of things.

I need to seal this gap between the wall and tap end properly and put the quadrant tiles back in place.

Now, for various reasons moving the bath isn't an option so looking for options to fill it properly and then replace the quadrant tiles in pic 2 back in place.

I have a very slow leak coming from this grey plastic. I usually notice a small puddle of water on the floor every few days ? Any ideas what it could be or how to resolve this? Boiler gets a yearly service and is pretty new <5years old.

When upstairs flushes their toilet water leaks out this pipe and runs down the side of the house. It’s a cast iron original on an old Victorian house (with a 1st floor and ground floor flat).

Questions:

1. What do I need to do to fix this properly
2. What is the best way to patch is this up for now and how long will it last

I'm changing my 3-port valve and I don't think I can get these olives off. Will they be ok with some fresh paste? Is it important enough to cut the old nuts off? If so I'll need to go out for a new hacksaw!

Our bathroom sink / shower waste pipe runs through our garage to an external drain, but the run seems to bend between our consumer unit & smart meter / DNO.

Surely this isn’t safe? How best to fix this?

can anyone tell me what these sounds could be due to? makes really loud noise from boiler and water pipes make sounds when water is turned on ?
thanks

Has anyone else run into this issue? The replacement shower cartridge doesn't fit the shower valve, even though it's supposed to be the correct replacement (new version from 2022).

Were you able to find the older version anywhere, or is there a workaround to make the new cartridge fit? I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions from anyone who's dealt with this.

Sorry if this a daft question I’m visually impaired and struggling match up internet images to what I have. So can anyone identify what product I have so I can buy some replacement cartridges please.

Hi everyone. I’ve just had a shower tray installed and the water seems to be pooling at the other end to where the drain is.
The plumbers told me my floor wasn’t level so they got some boards to level it then said it was sorted but whenever we have a shower, we get a puddle down the other end. Is this normal? Or does it mean the shower still isn’t level?
Thank you.

Can anybody help me identity the correct replacement needed and also the brand of this shower? Thanks!

Cartridge is 10cm long x 3.5cm wide

Anyone know what is the purpose of the red zip ties

My central heating pump is leaking between the black and red areas. Is the ups-3 the right replacement? The valves are seized unfortunately so I think I'll need to drain down the system and replace those too. Are they generally a standard size? I'm hoping to avoid modifying any pipework. And where can I get one quickly? Amazon is a few weeks and screwfix are out of stock.

(It's a Y plan so this is the only pump)

Hi all,

As part of redorating a bedroom I asked a plumber to remove the radiator so the wall could be replastered. I was asked if I wanted to fit a larger radiator which I'd not thought of. He suggested replacing the 10mm copper pipe with plastic as per this picture which would give options for size and position.

It wasn't the plumber/owner himself who turned up to do the work but it seemed to be going well until he cut the channel into the plasterboard to find less room than he expected leading to him cutting horizontally above the skirting board and fitting 2 elbow joints.

Here's where my concern comes in:

Despite cutting into the brick behind to make room for elbows, they stll standpround of the plasterboard. I have no idea how a plasterer is meant to make this work without looking awful and needing to place the radiator unnaturally low to hide the pipes exit.

I'm also concerned about having a joint in a very inaccessible place in the case of a leak, and it seems they will need to use two elbows to get the pipes to the radiator. Now I realise it's not the highest pressure system but I would have thought putting multiple joints whilst forcing water in a 180 degree direction is not ideal.

I know little about plumbing and would appreciate advice. Should I be righty unhappy with this, and if so can anyone advise what is reasonable to request? They're a well-reviewed company as far as I can tell and I understand not everything goes to the first plan, but I do want it doing right.

Many thanks.

Hi all, does anybody know why I keep getting this message on my Mira Shower app? It seems no matter what I do I cannot control the shower from my phone anymore. I have tried the following: turned the internet router on/off, turned my VPN off while using the app, deleted the app and reinstalled it, and used the “forget valve” option on the shower and repaired it. Nothing is working. I can’t find any options to “forget” the shower on my app either. Can anyone help me please? TIA! 😊