Loft Tank - Leak/Overflow

[guitarcarfanatic]

So...Noticed some staining on bedroom ceiling. Pop up to the loft as tank directly above and there is a lot of wet. No sign of dripping water though.

Looking at the location of the leak, initially thought it was the lower tank compression joint as it's a little crusty, but foam lagging is bone dry. Plus seems like a lot of water, extending below both of the tanks I have (unsure why I have 2? 1 Big, 1 small). It may have tracked, but looks like leaking from both tanks.

Anyway, there is signs of water leaking from a hole in the tank. Both have them almost in line with the overflow...unsure why? I suspect the overflow has stuck open slightly and allowed the main tank (and then the little tank via the overflow it has into it) to both leak from these holes instead of via the overflow.

Seem plausible? Can anyone confirm if the holes should be there? They seem to serve no purpose and surely just undermine the overflow...

See pics...







So...shall I just plug the holes with compression fitting and cap? Water currently off and both tanks drained.

Any help appreciated. I did run a bath on Saturday and suspect the emptying and then filling of the tanks led to the ball valve sticking and it's obviously
rectified itself.

[guitarcarfanatic]

Actually...cannot see any real overflow up here for either tank...perhaps these holes were drilled to be the overflow and never connected up?

If so... that may explain why I have a wet loft if ball valve stuck...

[Big_Dog]

The small tank is your central heating header or jockey tank. Looks like the overflow has never been connected. The ball valve on the CH tank is often a bit sticky as its not used much. Worth changing the ball valve assembly. They are about £10 from Wickes or Screwfix and fit an overflow pipe.

[guitarcarfanatic]

Big_Dog said:

The small tank is your central heating header or jockey tank. Looks like the overflow has never been connected. The ball valve on the CH tank is often a bit sticky as its not used much. Worth changing the ball valve assembly. They are about £10 from Wickes or Screwfix and fit an overflow pipe.

Awesome, pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. Will the header tank have a ball valve as well as that look's to have been leaking as well? Will pop up and investigate in a sec.

[guitarcarfanatic]

So after a bit of investigating, looks like the main tank overflow led to the water in the loft. New ball valve on order.

Also going to change the header tank as well - looks like it has leaked historically (although not this time as the radiators haven't been touched for a while).

Will sort the overflow pipework out in the next few weeks as need to figure out best exit point.

[dhutch]

Sounds like good progress. Little more to add here, other than the fact I would get the tanks overflows plumbed up and run out under the eaves, ideally somewhere you will see it drip.

Typically ball valves fail by starting to weep through a worn seal/seat, but sometimes they fail catastrophically which would have left you with a 'running tap' amount of water coming through the ceiling.



Danel

[herewego]

Have you removed the insulation and lids from those tanks or do they not have those either?

[guitarcarfanatic]

Thanks guys, yes I actually think the leak was the result of overflow from the hot water system - there is an overflow vent into each tank and as both ball valves seem to be functioning correctly, I presume the small overflow from the system coupled with the lack of waste pipework led to the problem. Neither of the tanks have hardly any leeway in terms of gap between water level and missing waste connection!

Today, I replaced both ball valves for good measure and also tidied up a bit of the copper pipework that looked a bit ropey. Much tidier installation now! All materials for the waste pipework on order and will be sorted out on Saturday to exit under the eaves as mentioned.

Interestingly, neither tank has a lid or insulation! Will measure them both up and source replacements at the weekend as well as getting them wrapped in insulation.

Appreciate the advice though, thankfully all seems in hand now! Just need to stain block and paint the bedroom ceiling now!!

[dhutch]

A good fitting lid and insulation are good.

The vent into the main cold tank is from the hot water cylinder, which if you heat a whole cyclinder from cold without drawing any off may over flow into the tank. There should be reasonable headroom between the ball cock lever and the overflow for this and the valve bedding in a little.

The CH header tank is predominantly for expansion of the water in the CH, so when all is cold it should be well off the overflow.


Daniel

[guitarcarfanatic]

dhutch said:

A good fitting lid and insulation are good.

The vent into the main cold tank is from the hot water cylinder, which if you heat a whole cyclinder from cold without drawing any off may over flow into the tank. There should be reasonable headroom between the ball cock lever and the overflow for this and the valve bedding in a little.

The CH header tank is predominantly for expansion of the water in the CH, so when all is cold it should be well off the overflow.


Daniel

This is exactly what happened I think - Emptied the cylinder running a bath, when it refilled it vented into the tank taking it above the operating level. Waste will be fitted at the weekend which should avoid any future occurrence!

There are signs of similar happening in the CH header historically (water staining), but presume this was then I refilled the system a few times during some bathroom works late last year and clearly wasn't enough to cause any staining (unlike the recent occurrence).