no water coming in

Zeppi

Hi all,
I don't have clue as regards plumbing and heating, so what I figured is that I have no cold water coming the kitchen tap and also no water is filling the water tank in the attic, so it seems that I have the outside pipes frozen, is my thinking correct?.

Another question that I have is regarding central heating: I was told that I have a "closed system".

setup is as follows, it is oil central heating, with a medium size copper tank in the press and the pressure gauge has two markers one red & one black, the red one is reading 1.5 mark and the black is at zero. If I fill half of the attic tank (with the help of my neighbor) and we don't use any taps and not flush any cisterns is it safe to switch on the central heating?.

regards
Zeppi

Victor

Zeppi wrote: »

Hi all,
I don't have clue as regards plumbing and heating, so what I figured is that I have no cold water coming the kitchen tap and also no water is filling the water tank in the attic, so it seems that I have the outside pipes frozen, is my thinking correct?.

Conserve water!

What is your council saying about water supplies. Are there any obvious leaks or frozen pipes?

What make and model are you boiler?

Zeppi

Hi Victor,
It has nothing to do with water conservation because out of nine houses me and another house two doors down that we have the same issue the rest they have normal water supply. It is definitely the pipe that is connecting from the main to the house.

The boiler make is Fire bird.

regards
Zeppi

heinbloed

Zeppi asks:

I don't have clue as regards plumbing and heating, so what I figured is that I have no cold water coming the kitchen tap and also no water is filling the water tank in the attic, so it seems that I have the outside pipes frozen, is my thinking correct?.

Very likely, yes.

I was told that I have a "closed system".

Was this a plumber?

I wonder because a tank in the attic is usually installed for an open system.

It is not safe to run a wet central heating system on zero pressure. It won't work. And zero pressure means there is zero water above the gauge.
With a reading of -for example- 0.1 bar you would have 1 meter of water above the gauge.
If the red hand shows 1.5 bar you should fill the system to 1.5 bar, the actual pressure is shown with the black hand. A pressure of 1.5 bar is usually impossible with a header tank (standard 2 storey house), it would need 15 meters of vertical difference to create a pressure of 1.5 bar.
So find out how your heating system is designed, how it works.
Get a real plumber in, ask him how to handle the system. Write it down.

Zeppi

cheers, that I'll be doing as soon as the plumber is back to work.

ebbsy

Check the pipe from your kitchen sink to your drain.

Buford T Justice

heinbloed wrote: »

Was this a plumber?

I wonder because a tank in the attic is usually installed for an open system.

It is not safe to run a wet central heating system on zero pressure. It won't work. And zero pressure means there is zero water above the gauge.
With a reading of -for example- 0.1 bar you would have 1 meter of water above the gauge.
If the red hand shows 1.5 bar you should fill the system to 1.5 bar, the actual pressure is shown with the black hand. A pressure of 1.5 bar is usually impossible with a header tank (standard 2 storey house), it would need 15 meters of vertical difference to create a pressure of 1.5 bar.
So find out how your heating system is designed, how it works.
Get a real plumber in, ask him how to handle the system. Write it down.

I've picked this up as a closed system, and the tank in the attic as the cold water storage and not the F&E for the system.

The pressure is too low in the system, and does need to be topped up yes.

I think this is a closed system. I've never come across anyone ever fitting a pressure gauge on an OFCH when its open. Its completely pointless as there would be nothing to read, as any extra pressure will go into the OSV pipe.

Top up the system if you can OP, or call a plumber in.

Zeppi

Fingers McGee wrote: »

Top up the system if you can OP, or call a plumber in.

Hi Fingers,
Thank you for your input, my next door neighbor told my wife that it is a closed system that we have in place and it has nothing to do with the tank in the attic. Can you tell how can I top up the system?

regards,
Zeppi,
NB we are still without water waiting for the pipes to thaw.

Buford T Justice

You will need to find the filling valve, usually in the boiler house or in the hot press. There should be a valve there beside the pressure gauge that you turn to fill, and off when its topped up. You can't do it at the moment though, as you have no water.

Zeppi

cheers mate for your help, much appreciated.