Hot water tap in bathroom barely working

jasonb

Hi there,

I live in a bungalow, and while the cold water tap works fine in the bathroom, the hot water tap is basically just a dribble, and sometimes not even that. The hot water tap in the kitchen works fine.

I got someone to look at it once and they did this thing of putting the hot water tap on and then putting the tap on in the kitchen and pressing their hand up against the spout, stopping the water coming out. I'm guessing it was to try to build up pressure? Anyhow, it worked a little, but only a little.

Any ideas where I should even start looking at this issue and how easy might it be to fix? Could I do it myself, or do I need a plumber (money is tight).

Thanks...

J.

sullzz

Is your tap a mixer or is it a single tap , it could be the spindle that needs replacing , or it could be an airlock , I hope you didn't pay the lad that tried to fix it .

enfield

I have the same problem, but I know whats causing it. The immersion tank is full of lime and where the hot water comes out of the top is nearly closed in with the stuff. The time will come when the hot water will just stop flowing and I will have to change the feckin thing and put in a new one.
Cheers.
Tom.

sullzz

enfield wrote: »

I have the same problem, but I know whats causing it. The immersion tank is full of lime and where the hot water comes out of the top is nearly closed in with the stuff. The time will come when the hot water will just stop flowing and I will have to change the feckin thing and put in a new one.
Cheers.
Tom.

That wouldn't be the the original poster issue though as the hot water is fine at his kitchen

sullzz

enfield wrote: »

I have the same problem, but I know whats causing it. The immersion tank is full of lime and where the hot water comes out of the top is nearly closed in with the stuff. The time will come when the hot water will just stop flowing and I will have to change the feckin thing and put in a new one.
Cheers.
Tom.

So your expansion is almost blocked , mightn't be a great idea to wait till it blocks completely , where is the expansion of the water going to go , also I'd doubt the cylinder is full to the top with lime prob just the fitting on the top or at the bottom at the cold feed connection

jasonb

Thanks for your replies...

It's a mixer tap. Normally when I turn on the tap we get a little water and then it stops. Does the fact that we get some water mean that it's probably not the tap itself?

I read online about attaching a hose from the hot to cold tap in the bathroom, opening the kitchen hot tap and then opening both taps in the bathroom, effectively forcing cold water up the hot tap pipe to try to clear an airblock. As I've a mixer tap I did this, but I didn't need a hose (I just needed to hold my hand over the spout to create a seal). Anyhow, I did it for a couple of mins, but the hot water tap in the kitchen didn't splutter at all. Then when I turned off the two bathroom taps, and then tried the hot tap in the bathroom again, I got some water coming out (I'd guess this was the cold water I'd forced up that way) but then it dried up again...

J.

sullzz

jasonb wrote: »

Thanks for your replies...

It's a mixer tap. Normally when I turn on the tap we get a little water and then it stops. Does the fact that we get some water mean that it's probably not the tap itself?

I read online about attaching a hose from the hot to cold tap in the bathroom, opening the kitchen hot tap and then opening both taps in the bathroom, effectively forcing cold water up the hot tap pipe to try to clear an airblock. As I've a mixer tap I did this, but I didn't need a hose (I just needed to hold my hand over the spout to create a seal). Anyhow, I did it for a couple of mins, but the hot water tap in the kitchen didn't splutter at all. Then when I turned off the two bathroom taps, and then tried the hot tap in the bathroom again, I got some water coming out (I'd guess this was the cold water I'd forced up that way) but then it dried up again...

J.

The easiest way I find to clear an airlock is to suck it out with a wet vac , do you know anyone who would have one , there are another couple of ways to clear it but its not something you could really do yourself , did you try forcing the cold water back up the hot on this tap itself leaving all other taps off , sometimes if the cold pressure is good enough it would work , hold it in between hot and cold for a couple of mins .

jasonb

Don't have a Wet Vac I'm afraid. Is there a difference between doing what you're saying (basically turning on both bathroom taps and covering the spout) and what I did (the same, but leaving the hot tap in the kitchen running)? Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't the trapped air need somewhere to 'go', hence leaving another tap open?

J.

sullzz

jasonb wrote: »

Don't have a Wet Vac I'm afraid. Is there a difference between doing what you're saying (basically turning on both bathroom taps and covering the spout) and what I did (the same, but leaving the hot tap in the kitchen running)? Pardon my ignorance, but doesn't the trapped air need somewhere to 'go', hence leaving another tap open?

J.

The trapped air needs to go up the vent ( expansion) , dont leave any other taps open !

jasonb

Cool... I'll give that a go, thanks...

J.

jasonb

No luck I'm afraid. Tried it for 5 mins but it made no difference. So I guess that means either it's not an air block or there wasn't enough pressure from the cold tap...

J.

sullzz

jasonb wrote: »

No luck I'm afraid. Tried it for 5 mins but it made no difference. So I guess that means either it's not an air block or there wasn't enough pressure from the cold tap...

J.

Have you got an isolation valve on the supply up to the hot tap

jasonb

You mean on the pipe coming from the floor in the bathroom to the tap? I don't think so, I think I would have spotted it, but I'll double-check...

J.

P.S. Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply to this thread, I appreciate it!

Dtp79

jasonb wrote: »

You mean on the pipe coming from the floor in the bathroom to the tap? I don't think so, I think I would have spotted it, but I'll double-check...

J.

P.S. Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply to this thread, I appreciate it!

I had this trouble on a job very recently. I turned off hot supply and took spindle out of the troubled tap. When I looked into it there was a small stone jammed in the pipe!!

jasonb

Well, there doesn't seem to be any valve on the pipe up to the hot tap, so I assume I'll have to turn the hot water off somewhere else before I have a look at the tap itself. Any idea where I can turn off the hot water tap? I assume in the hot press somewhere?

J.

Dtp79

jasonb wrote: »

Well, there doesn't seem to be any valve on the pipe up to the hot tap, so I assume I'll have to turn the hot water off somewhere else before I have a look at the tap itself. Any idea where I can turn off the hot water tap? I assume in the hot press somewhere?

J.

Yes it should by right be in the hotpress. If you follow the pipe from the bottom of your cyclinder, ( the one that rises to the attic ) there should be a valve on that

jasonb

Thanks for that. Yet another stupid question for you... Am I right in thinking that the tank in the actic feeds the cylinder, which heats the water and then sends it around the house? The pipes going to the bathroom sink go down into the floor, are they routed through the floor to the hot press, or do they go up into the actic?

Thanks...

J.

Dtp79

jasonb wrote: »

Thanks for that. Yet another stupid question for you... Am I right in thinking that the tank in the actic feeds the cylinder, which heats the water and then sends it around the house? The pipes going to the bathroom sink go down into the floor, are they routed through the floor to the hot press, or do they go up into the actic?

Thanks...

J.

Yes and yes. They shouldn't go into the attic.

jasonb

Excellent, thanks for clearing that up! I'll have a look at turning off the hot water and then checking out the tap itself...

J.