COld water air lock

sunnyday1234

Hi Guys

Having issues with air lock upstairs in sinks and toilets. Tank upstairs is filling fine but every few days the water stops in the cold water taps.

I disconnect the main cold water pipe in the hot press and drain it a little , i can hear the air coming out at the start and then its fine and the issue is gone (for a few days)

My question is , why would this keep coming back ? and is there any way to stop it coming back (i.e. only use one cold water supply upstairs at a time etc)

My mains pressure isnt great but it is filling the tank so not sure where this is coming from

anthonyos

sunnyday1234 wrote: »

Hi Guys

Having issues with air lock upstairs in sinks and toilets. Tank upstairs is filling fine but every few days the water stops in the cold water taps.

I disconnect the main cold water pipe in the hot press and drain it a little , i can hear the air coming out at the start and then its fine and the issue is gone (for a few days)

My question is , why would this keep coming back ? and is there any way to stop it coming back (i.e. only use one cold water supply upstairs at a time etc)

My mains pressure isnt great but it is filling the tank so not sure where this is coming from

Have you had any work carried out recently

Sleeper12

You can only get an airlock if the cold water tank runs low enough to let air into the pipe. So your problem is reduced mains water pressure or a faulty ball valve in the cold water tank. Fingers crossed it's the ball valve. Quick and easy fix.

sunnyday1234

ok thanks. Its council mains water , if i get on to them will they come out and look at the pressure ?


Any idea how i could find out which issue it is ? Do i have to replace the ball valve to see ?

remnant

Hi

Sorry to jump onto this thread but I have the exact same issue. If it is not a faulty valve and is low mains pressure, what might the options be? A bigger tank that hopefully means the water won't go down too low too quickly? Our bathroom taps get air locked regularly, especially in the morning after a lot of showers. It is easy to remove the airlock after an hour or so, but very frustrating.

Thanks

agusta

you could put a second tank beside the tank and connect them together

Wearb

agusta wrote: »

you could put a second tank beside the tank and connect them together

Keep the top of the tanks at the same level, if they are of different dimensions.

Sleeper12

If the mains pressure supply is so that the tank keeps running dry then there is a leak somewhere, either on your property or the councils. This needs to be fixed & you should get on to Irish water. Is the pressure bad at the kitchen sink for the cold? The cold should be much better pressure than the hot at the kitchen sink. Buy a brass ball valve costs less than 10 euro & replace the one in the attic. Or call a plumber

sunnyday1234

Sleeper12 wrote: »

If the mains pressure supply is so that the tank keeps running dry then there is a leak somewhere, either on your property or the councils. This needs to be fixed & you should get on to Irish water. Is the pressure bad at the kitchen sink for the cold? The cold should be much better pressure than the hot at the kitchen sink. Buy a brass ball valve costs less than 10 euro & replace the one in the attic. Or call a plumber

Ok so I thought I had this fixed but it's happened again. Today I disconnected the main cold pipe in hot press and a load of air again , I drained it and again ten mins later there was more air.

Yes the cold water pressure is poor at the kitchen sink but the tank is full to the brim while I am getting my air locks and when I go up I can see it filling fine

So it can't b pressure ?

Sleeper12

The only way air can get in is if the tank runs dry. It can't get in any other way.

sunnyday1234

if there was a tiny hole in the outlet pipe ? I presume i would see a water stain somewhere if this was the case

i have gotten rid of air now today and have cold water everywhere so wont use dish washer or washing machine now for the whole week and see what happens

downstairs bathroom has great cold pressure, much better than kitchen sink - not sure how that works!

Thanks for your help

Sleeper12

Air can't force its way into the pipe the pressure of the water is greater than that of the air outside. Even a leaky pipe or fitting won't let air in. Water will leak out but air can't get in. Change the ball valve in the attic or get a plumber to check the water pressure of the mains water

whizbang

Do you have a shower pump fitted? -or any other type of pump in use i.e pressure washer?

sunnyday1234

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Air can't force its way into the pipe the pressure of the water is greater than that of the air outside. Even a leaky pipe or fitting won't let air in. Water will leak out but air can't get in. Change the ball valve in the attic or get a plumber to check the water pressure of the mains water

ball valve is fine and tank is filling ok - i have checked it over and over again

however interesting thing happened - did my usual trick of opening outlet pipe in hot press to free air , it sorted issue but flow was still weak so just on an off chance i did the trick at the mixer tap in kitchen and main bathroom (that was the always the tap to go dry first) - i opened tap , held hand against it and turned to cold - after that the flow in the cold is much much better.

Wife had a bath yesterday, kept an eye on tank - went down a lot but didnt go near the outlet pipe so no air could get in, flow still grand afterwards

not sure what the above did as it was the cold taps that were affected but its much better now anyway