Plumbers Forums

Hi,

We moved to a 1950s semi in Dec last year. We’ve noticed over the months that’s the electric shower will randomly have episodes whereby it starts to go hot and cold for no apparent reason. Same has just happened now and I thought my partner was running water downstairs but he wasn’t and we’ve no appliances on.

However, I have noticed we can hear whenever next door run water and we have old shared drains here and there’s no separate for rainwater v wastewater so I have wondered if...

 

This time last year our heating/boiler/hot water started making a loud rattling noise. The rattling happened each afternoon about 20 mins after the timer switched on the heating and hot water for the afternoon/evening. The rattle happened 2-3 times over a five minute period for maybe 10-15 seconds a time. The next day it did it again. The day after that it did it again but only once instead of 2-3 times. It never did it in the morning only the afternoon

Until last week (so same time of year...

 

Hey, I've checked the forum and I cant see this has been covered on the list it gave me.
Header Tank:
I've had issues with my HT in loft, when hot tap runs, there is a horrible loud screeching noise that runs through from loft. Continues even with hot tap off. Only thing that stops it is turning on the cold tap in a short burst.
I had the ballcock and thermostat changed and had the pipes pinned as they were vibrating. It didn't resolve it

Hot taps now producing a thin...

 

Hi

My name is Jose, I live in Bath, Somerset. I have decent plumbing skills having installed several bathrooms and kitchens over the past 10 years. I have a question about a system that I have been thinking it might have the potential to replace my gas boiler and bring me closer to be completly off gas and somewhat mains eletric independent and would like to hear your opinions.

I am having a big solar PV system of about 30 x 400 W panels and 2 x 12 kW battery installed on my 3 bed 100sq...

 

Hi All
Before I go out and purchase a wall stud, wire & pipe finder has anyone got any recommendations that won’t need a mortgage to pay for them.
Finding pipe work under floors and in walls is getting more tricky with plastic piping being used more where not on show. I have one but I don’t trust it anymore. It’s over 10 years old and it’s held together with cloth tape and elastic band.
Any information would be appreciated
Thanks in advanced

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Shower tray assistance required

Hi
Just after a bit of advice/voice of experience.
Do I have to put the drainer under the shower head side of my shower tray?
I’m thinking of putting it the opposite side.
The reason being that I then don’t have to notch all the joists!
Or am I just over thinking it?

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So...
My mother moved into her new home a few months ago , house about 20 years old. The central heating is open vented.

Her heating had an issue where the rads would come on when only calling for hot water.

So Friday I changed her 3 port valve, with an identical valve, found the old valve full up of rubbish.

Once the valve was in I went to untie the ball valve. It was at this point something odd happened. When I went to drain the rads they wouldn’t all drain, it felts like there was very...

 

Ok, just a layman's view here. I understand fully the need for a PRD in a shower unit. I know the Physics of it all and I get how they work totally. But why nowadays is it a piddly little soft ball popping out of a hole and not a proper sprung loaded valve set to open at the same pressure the ball pops at? It is no problem to make a valve which will open cleanly at the required pressure but will reset itself if the pressure is released. We have these fitted in every car on the road in the...

 

Hello everybody! Could you please give me advice on what is the best way to hide radiator pipes behind the plasterboard? I have heard from other plumbers that if i will chase the wall and wanted to fill channel with filler or cement, copper pipes needs to be covered with foam insulation. What about if i will put those copper pipes in chased channel and cover with plasterboard without filling chaser? is that good practise to do it or there is have to be specific regulations on how to hide...

 

Hi
I'm going away for an extended period (more than 6 weeks) and wondering if I need to empty the 1000l buffer tank/thermal storage tank to avoid legionella bacteria

Thanks in advance

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Hi
I could really do with some advice. My son has just bought his first house, which has a utility room with a boiler and the utility meters etc. They want to install the washing machine and tumble dryer in there instead of the kitchen but there isn’t a waste for the washing machine.
The boiler has a 40mm discharge pipe that runs through the wall to the outside and into the drain. Is it ok to run the washing machine waste through the wall and tee into the 40mm waste from the boiler? I’ve...

 

Can anyone help as the heating in our house has always been troublesome, but now it is worse than ever. Over the years we have had 3 new boilers, 3 new pumps, 4 new radiators and 2 power-flushes. This last week we have had the Y-plan connections changed to 2 S-plan connections with lights on so that we can see when both are on. I put in 2 bottles of X400 on Monday and then attached a hosepipe from the boiler to drain the system on Wednesday. I left it on for about an hour from the advice of...

 

I am just renovating my bathroom and have been removing the old waste pipe which appeared to be a mishmash of different pipe types. I want to use all new solvent weld pipping and joints but have discovered the boss attachment to the soil pipe is standard 50mm pipe receiver. Is there any connector or adaptor I can buy to fit 40mm solvent weld pipping into a standard 50mm pipe receiver?

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Hello
Basically I’m still finding my way in the world of plumbing and I seem to have a confidence issue with using push fit fittings as a permanent solution. Up to now I’ve used the traditional methods of soldering and compression joints.
I have a really awkward space that would benefit from a push fit so just wanted to get the general consensus on whether to go for it or not.
Cheers

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I have a Bristan PM VSHXSP Prism Inline Vertical Shower Pole with Fixed Head that needs a bit of care. The diverter pulses and needs a new spring and there are general leaks throughout the pole. This is a discontinued model and spares seem impossible to obtain. I have a couple of questions:


Is there a direct replacement for this type of shower where the feeds are about 3” above one another.


Does anyone know of spares for this particular Bristan shower?


Any recommendations so as not to...

 

Hi all - hopefully I can get some answer to a maddening issue. The boiler bypass just refuses to stop letting water through.

Here is the run down. We bought the house last year. It has a Vaillant Ecotec Plus 418 which is only 3 years old. It's on a Y plan, with a hot water cylinder that looks to have been installed at the same time as the boiler - it's very new and a sealed foam type.

When we moved in we had new rads all round and all the microbore removed. The system was powerflushed...

 

Hi all.
I am looking for a career change at 45 years old!! I am interested in bathroom fitting. I have done a very basic course a few years ago and learnt basic plumbing. I have changed basins, and basin and bath taps at home and for family. I was wondering if there are any bathroom fitters that would like some free labour in the Brighton and Hove area. I have my own transport and tools etc. I work shifts in my day job so could fit in around that. If anyone interested drop me private...

 

Hello all,

This is my first post here and would be greatfull for any advice on the issue I am having currently.

I have an en suite with mixer shower - concealed. This is in an attic conversion so at the top of the house, boiler is combi and directly below the shower on the floor below. Unfortunatly make and modle of said mixer are not stamped on the unit but I have some photos attached.

The rest of the ensuit was not finished till recently so the shower was not used for maybe 2 years...

 

Hi All,

I am at the planning stage of a bathroom refurb & am looking for a new Shower with Body Jets. Ideally I would want an reputable brand like Aqualisa, Bristan etc so it will last many years & spares should not be a problem - however I don't think my budget will allow for a Grohe or Hansgrohe.

I plan on using my own Overhead Drencher & own Handheld so am looking for a system that has:

1) Overhead Drencher
2) Pole Mounted Hand Held
3) 6-8 Body Jets.

Very Important: The system MUST...

 

Hi, have recently decided my old shower had to go , so have ripped most of it out. It is situated in a separate shower room with a external wall at one end and the sides composed of stud walls. The distance (width to opposite side ) of the studding is 770mm, the old plaster board on the studding has been removed. I intend to replace the plaster board with Jackoboard with a nominal thickness of 12mm so that would bring the gap to 770-24 = 746mm.
The most suitable tray width is 760 mm, which...

 

Hello, I hope someone can give me some advice on replacing an old air source heat pump.
We moved into a shared ownership house last year which has a Daiken air source heat pump fitted to provide heating and hot water. The unit was fitted when the house was built 12 years ago. It seems that the previous owners of the house weren't too bothered about getting the unit serviced and the unit has died on us, although I think 12 years is about the average lifespan for older ASHP units.
We had an...

 

I have just had a ASHP installed, grant funded as I am over 77.
The expansion tanks touch, hot water pipes are touching with electric cables running over them!
One radiator, replacing an older radiator has pipes that come though a brick wall and skirting board, why, when the radiator it replaced pipes came up through the floor boards. One condition of the install was I should be out of the house while they were working .

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I'm fitting an en-suite cc wc in the small bedroom and I'm tight on space. Is it doable to fit a macerator beside the wc?
I'm thinking of something like a 'McAlpine WC-con8f flexible connector' or would it be better to use non-flexible fittings?
Also the pan has no screw holes for fitting so it's going to be glued down, this is new to me and another reason to put the waste unit beside the pan. Perhaps there's a hack to fitting this wc without gluing to allow access to a maserator behind the...

 

Hi, new here. Fairly competent DIYer but I don't do much plumbing.

I'm just putting some MDPE plumbing services in a Polytunnel I've built.

I just want to know if this (see photo) is a Double Check Valve/ Non Return valve on the outside water supply feed. Can someone confirm if it is please?

Thanks in advance.

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My recently new Gledhill indirect hot water cylinder is making a humming noise when hot water only is on the noise seems to be coming from the return side of the coil there is a gate valve on the return for balancing does it just need adjusting or is it something else can anyone help me out thanks

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Hi

When I go to bed I manually set my thermostat to 17.5 so the temperature never falls below and when we wake up it is not too cold.

However, recently in the morning the temperature is actually BELOW what i set.

There is not an 'auto' programme set on there either.

Example:
When waking up the temp is 16.

But, I had set it to 17.5, as can be seen when i press the 'i' button.

Thanks

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Hello,
I've been to several plumbers merchants trying to find out if a washing machine Tee valve with a built inn check valve exists. All have said no so I thought I'd ask the question on the forum.
Thanks All

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Hello,
Do I need to put a check valve on the cold feed of a bathroom basin mixer tap if it's on a Combo boiler and the tap is dual flow as opposed to a single flow where the water is mixed in the body which I understand should have a cv?

Cheers

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My old system that was a vented thermal storage tank. Fitted to it was a TMV ensuring safe hot water.

I had fitted a new S Plan, unvented system and found the water is coming out very hot. I’ve ensured the tank temperature is 60ish. But it seems the new system doesn’t have a TMV.

Question:
1. Is this normal to not fit a TMV?
2. Should I get one fitted or live with the hotter water? Do the pros of TMVs get outweighed by Cons? Not sure why one wasn’t fitted or the previous one reused?

Kids...

 

Hi all

I'm looking for advice on a pipe bender. It'll be for 3/8" SS pipe. I've been looking at a 'RIDGID 606 3/8" Heavy Duty Instrument Bender' at £194.77 inc. VAT. I tried to post a link but doesn't look like I can (@Dan ??) Anyone got any comments on that one or suggestions for a better one, possibly hydraulic ? It's going to be used for oil pipework on dissolved fault gas analysers on transformers at power stations. As mentioned, pipework will be stainless steel with Swagelok...