Downstairs hot water problem.

dawson456 · Post by **dawson456** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:06 am

Got a bit of a problem, we are getting no hot water to tap in kitchen, but upstairs is ok, and radiators downstairs and upstairs are fine. Could someone please help me? Thanks in advance.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:31 am

We need to know what the hot water source is. Do you have a combi boiler or is the water heated by a different method? A bit more info would help

DWD

dawson456 · Post by **dawson456** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:26 am

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 10:31 am We need to know what the hot water source is. Do you have a combi boiler or is the water heated by a different method? A bit more info would help

DWD

Sorry, it a coventional boiler system, 2 tanks in loft and a copper boiler and boiler in kitchen... Just to clarify, we can get cold water out of the hot water tap, but its not getting hot.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:37 am

Well, this is out of my experience loop. The two tanks in the loft I assume are the cold water tank and the header tank for the boiler. I think I would firstly check that the ballcocks on the two tanks are working properly as this could cause a pressure imbalance and impaired flows. Not sure what the copper boiler is do you mean a hot water tank?

DWD

dawson456 · Post by **dawson456** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:05 pm

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:37 am Well, this is out of my experience loop. The two tanks in the loft I assume are the cold water tank and the header tank for the boiler. I think I would firstly check that the ballcocks on the two tanks are working properly as this could cause a pressure imbalance and impaired flows. Not sure what the copper boiler is do you mean a hot water tank?

DWD

Sorry, yes I mean the hot water tank,and yes the 2 tanks in the loft are exactly that.

aeromech3 · Post by **aeromech3** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:16 pm

Kinda unusual, suspect the tap if it is the only one and a mono type?

dawson456 · Post by **dawson456** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:23 pm

Actually, I have been given the wrong info off the mrs lol..... There is actually no hot water upstairs either!!
Checked pipes on hot water tank... (pic included) I have marked the pipes up, the ones that are cold and the other pipes are really hot

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:41 pm

I suspect the motorised valve may be stuck shut (the silver box with QC 02 on). I am not sure but I think that the hot water for the rads is diverted through the hot water coil in the tank by the motorised valve activated by the temperature in the tank. A fairly simple job to replace but I would hang on until other more experienced members chip in to help.

DWD

dawson456 · Post by **dawson456** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:48 pm

dewaltdisney wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:41 pm I suspect the motorised valve may be stuck shut (the silver box with QC 02 on). I am not sure but I think that the hot water for the rads is diverted through the hot water coil in the tank by the motorised valve activated by the temperature in the tank. A fairly simple job to replace but I would hang on until other more experienced members chip in to help.

DWD

Thank you very much for you help, it`s really appreciated. What I have just done is tap the pipe what is cold, and that pipe seemed to get hot pretty quickly, so I am hoping it was a blockage, I will give it a hour to see if I get any hot water.

Someone-Else · Post by **Someone-Else** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 12:55 pm

I am NOT a heating engineer or plumber. I would suggest that we wait till you get home. Then you can tell us what is really happening. Does any water come out of either of the hot taps?

Cold water is heated in the copper cylinder via a coil inside said cylinder, the water in the coil is heated by your boiler. (It can also be heated by an immersion heater if you have one) The radiators are heated by water that runs through the boiler, the rads and tap water never meet. (If they do, you have a problem but that is for another time.)
When you turn on a hot tap, water (heated) comes out from the top of the copper cylinder (Through the pipes to the now open tap) you have to let the tap "run" to get hot water as you have to let the standing cold water out of the pipes from the cylinder to the tap. Water can not come out of the cylinder unless it is forced out, that is where one of the tanks in the loft come in. When you turn on a hot tap, as said water comes from the top of the cylinder, this water is forced out by cold water coming in (close to) the bottom of the cylinder from one of the loft tanks, if the loft tanks ball valve is stuck (Or the tank is empty) there is no water going into the tank to force the hot water out, so I would also have a look in the loft tanks, to see are they both full of water.

dawson456 · Post by **dawson456** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 2:00 pm

I would like to thank everyone who as commented on this thread..... It must have been a blockage, because when I tapped the pipe, that piped got hot immediately, and I now have hot water back. Thanks again guys.

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 2:02 pm

You may have released the motorised valve by tapping, keep an eye on it

DWD

wine~o · Post by **wine~o** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 6:28 pm

DWD is spot on, could be a blockage, could be 3 port valve. Please keep us updated if you have any further issues.

Razor · Post by **Razor** » Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:04 pm

Much more likely it was airlocked and the tap dislodged it if the pump was running. The vertical pipe in your picture that goes out of sight probably has an air bleed at the top of it.

The isolation valve shouldn't be there in the flow to the cylinder either. It will have a small orifice that could also block

dawson456 · Post by **dawson456** » Tue Mar 14, 2023 4:35 pm

Razor wrote: ↑Mon Mar 13, 2023 7:04 pm Much more likely it was airlocked and the tap dislodged it if the pump was running. The vertical pipe in your picture that goes out of sight probably has an air bleed at the top of it.

The isolation valve shouldn't be there in the flow to the cylinder either. It will have a small orifice that could also block

Yes I actually did bleed that before I tapped it.