Changing Ball Valve in Header Tank in Attic?

Andy From Sligo

hi there. are there any better (modern) ball valves (ballcock) on the market for header tanks in loft than the trusty Brass ones these days. Something that will operate at full pressure even when its nearly stopping (the brass one just dribbles and drips when it gets to the last couple of inches before shutting off)

and also why are these brass ones fitted to header tanks in the loft and not the side entry plastic ones that are fitted to toilet cisterns, is it because the plastic could break?

Here's a pic of our one:

PK27

That's a normal brass float valve with a plastic ball. Brass doesn't rust and neither does plastic. The arm is brass rather than plastic for strength.
It also slows down to a dribble towards full because as the ball rises the valve gets almost shut off. This is also normal. If the tank was nearly empty and you lifted the arm almost closed, it would still dribble.
If you can hear it dribbling upstairs put a piece of plastic on it like a cool pop wrapper with an elastic band. It will still hiss though as its mains pressure

Andy From Sligo

PK27 wrote: »

That's a normal brass float valve with a plastic ball. Brass doesn't rust and neither does plastic. The arm is brass rather than plastic for strength.
It also slows down to a dribble towards full because as the ball rises the valve gets almost shut off. This is also normal. If the tank was nearly empty and you lifted the arm almost closed, it would still dribble.
If you can hear it dribbling upstairs put a piece of plastic on it like a cool pop wrapper with an elastic band. It will still hiss though as its mains pressure

Thanks for the reply - what is cool pop wrapper? (even googled it ) and where do you get it from, and how/where do you apply it to on the ballcock? cheers

Andy From Sligo

These seem to be good ones for Toilet Cisterns. I wonder if something like this can be got for header tanks but instead side entry instead of bottom entry?

K.Flyer

FluidMaster Pro

John T Carroll

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

These seem to be good ones for Toilet Cisterns. I wonder if something like this can be got for header tanks but instead side entry instead of bottom entry?

The type above was fitted in a downstairs toilet that I got installed in 2008 and it filled the cistern at the full flow rate right up to the top, this is fine in most cases but as I have a mains electric shower upstairs the effect lasted for the full filling period and the shower temperature would rise noticeably but still didnt need adjusting. I changed it shortly after for a bottom entry ball cock and this has little or no effect on the showering temperature during its filling period.

Andy From Sligo

K.Flyer wrote: »

FluidMaster Pro

brilliant , that looks like it would fit the bill . and its for header tanks as well so i see in the description. Shall have to be on the look out for one of them, I bet they are quite a bit more pricier than the standard brass , but there you go I suppose I will have to shell out if that one is better.

freddyuk

Plastic valves have a habit of failing as they are - well plastic! Any build up of scum/debris can affect performance. If you overflow is in place and correctly sized and sealed properly then you have no worry. Having no lid on the cistern would potentially cause the ball valve to stay open as a sagging insulation would stop it rising?? Dump the string and get a proper lid to keep out dead vermin, insects and other detritus. Overflows should have an insect screen to stop bugs crawling up the overflow pipe. Standard By Laws in UK.
The noise is the least of your concerns but as said having a way the water can reach the surface without "dropping" will stop the noise so a plastic tube (popsicle wrapper) or even a piece of that bottle packing net would do the job. Don't let it interfere with the valve operation though as it is bullet proof for many years.

my3cents

I put in a new toilet cistern at home about 5 years ago with a plastic Plymouth valve (think thats the name) in that time I've had to replace the diaphragm and orifice twice and last time noticed the plastic was degrading so next time will need to replace the whole unit. Meantime the old brass ball valve in the header tank hasn't been touched in ten years.

marsbar1

K.Flyer wrote: »

FluidMaster Pro

I fitted something similar back in 1997 in my header loft tank. Its still working fine today. I got it from homebase in the UK. Possiby a fluidmaster too. Blue plastic. No more than £20 probably at the time!