Sorting an airlock affecting taps/toilet

Cabaal

So my water went yesterday morning and since then my toilet and cold tap in main bathroom are not working so I guess they are airlocked.

How can I get them working again?
I've tried leaving the tap open so it would run but nothing and the toilet still isn't trying to refill after 24hours

northdublin

had this problem the other day and sorted by turning on all the cold taps in the house. it wasnt till i turned on the last tap that the air escaped and water began to flow. also ive gotten rid airlocks before by forcing water from the hot tap up the cold tap.

Cabaal

Yeah I heard connecting a pipe from one to the other can sort it but how do I sort the toilet?

I'll turn on all the taps tonight and see if that sorts it out

KoolKid

Removing the air lock



To overcome this, attach a length of hosepipe to the affected tap and connect the other end to a working direct feed tap. In most cases this will be the cold tap on the kitchen sink.
Open both taps to allow the pressure of the mains water to force the air back out of the pipes. Leave to act for several minutes, then turn off the air locked tap first.
It may be necessary to repeat this a few times to release the lock and allow water to run properly.
When finished, undo the hose from the higher of the two taps, before releasing the lower and allowing the water in the hose to drain into the sink.

Air lock at more than one tap

If more than one tap appears to be airlocked, clear it from the lowest one.
With cold water pipes from the attic cistern, it may also be possible to blow out the airlock if the above method fails.
Push a length of hose into the outlet pipe within the tank. Open the tap at the other end. Blow through the pipe to dislodge the lock.

Draining down to remove an air lock

As a final resort method, drain the system down. Turn off the water feed and open all the taps to drain the water.
Close all taps until they are about a three quarters closed. Turn the water supply back on.
Adjust them all until a light, even flow of water is achieved.
Now go round opening them one by one to the half-open position, starting with the lowest and working upwards.
Repeat at the three quarters open position. Once all air has been discharged, turn all taps off to a point where there is only a minimal flow.
Finally, close them all before checking the operation of each in turn.

Traditional

have you still got an airlock ?
i have a few easy ways to clear it .

Koloman

Traditional wrote: »

have you still got an airlock ?
i have a few easy ways to clear it .

Share it with us then. It might come in handy at a later date.

ART6

The hose between taps is the best trick, but to make it work you need to go into the attic and put your thumb over the vent pipe above the cold tank. That forces the water, air, and any crud back through the tank outlet pipe.

Koloman

ART6 wrote: »

The hose between taps is the best trick, but to make it work you need to go into the attic and put your thumb over the vent pipe above the cold tank. That forces the water, air, and any crud back through the tank outlet pipe.

A little bit more complicated than I thought!

Traditional

i wouldent try that trick ! just in case u go through the rafters

stinkupuss

A trick I found if you have a mixer tap in the kitchen. Unscrew the spout if it comes off and cover with pressure with a rag else wrap up the end of the spout with a team towel and in order to contain the flow of water as much as possible. If you have someone to help have them (while you are applying pressure to prevent water flow) first turn on Hot tap then slowly the Cold tap building up the pressure. Keep it going for as long as possible, then shut off Cold first then Hot. Release your grip covering the spout. Hopefully that will push out the air lock.

xboxdad

It's only the toilets that are affected for me. No tap hot or cold is affected. How can I clear the airlock in this case? Thank you.

ART6

You refer to "toilets", which suggests that you have more than one. If that is the case then it would be very unlikely to either or both would be airlocked, particularly since the cisterns are supposed to be supplied direct from the mains supply, where the pressure would be too much to permit airlocks. It's much more likely that the cistern feed is blocked or stuck in some way, and that depends upon what filler valve you have.


If it (or they) are the old-fashioned ball-cock type known as a "syphon" type, then turn off your mains water, open the cistern and remove the split-pin that holds the float arm in place. That will permit you to remove the valve plunger (a little brass cylinder with a rubber disc on the end of it). If it pops out easily then momentarily turn on the mains tap again, but only for a second or two, to flush out any dirt in the system. If it doesn't simply pop out, then that's your problem -- it's become stuck with grit or something, a not uncommon problem with Irish water supplies. In that case you will need to work it out by rotating it back and forth a little until with the mains stopcock barely cracked open until it's free then repeat the last step. That type of cistern is usually identified by a flushing lever on the side of the tank.


Alternatively you might have the far more modern flapper flush valve cisterns (used to be called, as I recall, the American system), where there are two buttons on the tops of the cistern, each to deliver different amounts of flushing water. These work on a plastic column up and down of which a float travels until it sinks low enough to shut off the flush. If yours will not fill in the first place then, possibly, the float is stuck in its upper position and won't allow the cistern to fill. So then take off the cover of the cistern and check that the float can move up and down the column and clean it if it can't (but again, turn the mains water off first unless you want some unpleasant surprises!).


There are all sorts of possibilities why your system won't flush, but these are the most common. Take a look at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flush_toilet#Tank_fill_valve. It might help you to identify your system.

xboxdad

ART6 wrote: »

You refer to "toilets", which suggests that you have more than one. If that is the case then it would be very unlikely to either or both would be airlocked, particularly since the cisterns are supposed to be supplied direct from the mains supply, where the pressure would be too much to permit airlocks. It's much more likely that the cistern feed is blocked or stuck in some way, and that depends upon what filler valve you have.


If it (or they) are the old-fashioned ball-cock type known as a "syphon" type, then turn off your mains water, open the cistern and remove the split-pin that holds the float arm in place. That will permit you to remove the valve plunger (a little brass cylinder with a rubber disc on the end of it). If it pops out easily then momentarily turn on the mains tap again, but only for a second or two, to flush out any dirt in the system. If it doesn't simply pop out, then that's your problem -- it's become stuck with grit or something, a not uncommon problem with Irish water supplies. In that case you will need to work it out by rotating it back and forth a little until with the mains stopcock barely cracked open until it's free then repeat the last step. That type of cistern is usually identified by a flushing lever on the side of the tank.


Alternatively you might have the far more modern flapper flush valve cisterns (used to be called, as I recall, the American system), where there are two buttons on the tops of the cistern, each to deliver different amounts of flushing water. These work on a plastic column up and down of which a float travels until it sinks low enough to shut off the flush. If yours will not fill in the first place then, possibly, the float is stuck in its upper position and won't allow the cistern to fill. So then take off the cover of the cistern and check that the float can move up and down the column and clean it if it can't (but again, turn the mains water off first unless you want some unpleasant surprises!).


There are all sorts of possibilities why your system won't flush, but these are the most common. Take a look at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flush_toilet#Tank_fill_valve. It might help you to identify your system.

Thank you very much for your detailed answer. Yes, I have the "American system". I recognize it from your description.

There are 3 toilets in the house and none of them fill up in a sane amount of time now. The one on the ground floor fills up in about a half an hour (instead of the original like 30 secs). The other two (higher up in the house) won't fill up at all.

The toilets are fed from the cold water tank, not the mains directly. The bathroom taps are fed from the cold water tank as well and they do work, but they're on a different valve in the hot press. (labeled as cold water feed to bathrooms while the toilets' one is labeled cold water feed to toilets)
I checked all valves and they're all open.

Sleeper12

xboxdad wrote:

The toilets are fed from the cold water tank, not the mains directly. The bathroom taps are fed from the cold water tank as well and they do work, but they're on a different valve in the hot press. (labeled as cold water feed to bathrooms while the toilets' one is labeled cold water feed to toilets) I checked all valves and they're all open.

Only the drinking water at the kitchen sink should come off the mains supply. Everything else should come off the cold water tank in the attic.

On the inlet you'll find a restrictor. Depending on the type of filler valve you have this should be replaced with one with a bigger opening or just removed altogether.

Can you post photos of the inside of the cisterns. Especially the filler valve itself.

Your downstairs cistern should fill in about 30 seconds or so. Upstairs ones will be a little slower as there is less pressure upstairs but still fill in a minute

xboxdad

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Only the drinking water at the kitchen sink should come off the mains supply. Everything else should come off the cold water tank in the attic.

On the inlet you'll find a restrictor. Depending on the type of filler valve you have this should be replaced with one with a bigger opening or just removed altogether.

Can you post photos of the inside of the cisterns. Especially the filler valve itself.

Your downstairs cistern should fill in about 30 seconds or so. Upstairs ones will be a little slower as there is less pressure upstairs but still fill in a minute

Would you believe it - all toilets started working a few minutes ago for no apparent reason. Hmmm... That piece of air or whatever else must have worked itself out in 24 hours. Thanks for all your help!

gctest50

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Only the drinking water at the kitchen sink should come off the mains supply. Everything else should come off the cold water tank in the attic.

.......

The cold taps in bathroom sinks should come off the mains too

Sleeper12

gctest50 wrote:

The cold taps in bathroom sinks should come off the mains too

Not in Dublin they won't. Its against the building regulations. You should only have mains water at the kitchen tap.

In Dublin if you install a combi boiler it needs to fed from the attic tank & pumped to the boiler rather than using mains water to the boiler. Attic tank is the better job anyway.