Pin sized hole in the immersion tank

LeBash

I have a pin sized hole in the immersion tank. It's a copper tank. It's coming through the ceiling.

I have turned off the mains and drained the tank as much as possible but the hole is at the bottom of the tank so it's still coming. There is still quite a bit of water in the tank as the water is firing about 4 inches out of the tank.

Called a plumber who said he would come but at 8 he gave an excuse and bailed.

I'll call a few people tomorrow and get it sorted.

Any advice to stop the water for the mean time so I'm not up all night emptying a pan is appreciated.

I tried duct tape and I have quick steel but the water is coming through both.

Atlantic Dawn

Is it occuring at one of the pipes connecting to it or is the leak on the cylinder itself?

exaisle

Make a hole in the ceiling where the water is dripping down to let it escape....then your plasterboard MAY not have to be replaced.....

Any chance you can remove the element and drain the tank by using a siphon?

LeBash

exaisle wrote: »

Make a hole in the ceiling where the water is dripping down to let it escape....then your plasterboard MAY not have to be replaced.....

Open the hot tap in your bathroom and in your bath if you have one(and any other taps that are fed by that tank) and let them run....that should hopefully drain the tank...

The tank is on top of a wooden board so the water is running through the ceiling. It's dropping in 5 different places.

Hot taps everywhere are on and no water coming out. Basic the hole is below where the the outlet on the tank is. Really just need something to seal the hole for the night

LeBash

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Is it occuring at one of the pipes connecting to it or is the leak on the cylinder itself?

On the cylinder itself.

omegab

Hi,

As said above, can you siphon the water out? Remember the water from a cylinder comes out the top, hence why the taps are not flowing.

1) Take out immersion and siphon water with a pipe
2) Try to loosen the inlet pipe and drain it quicker (not advised if not comfortable with this)
3) Take a self-tapping screw wrapped in PTFE (white plumbing tape) and try and screw it into the hole in the cylinder - I have seen a radiator leak fixed like this.

pablo128

The only way to stop it filling is to turn off at the mains. That, or get the biggest screw you can find and screw it into the hole.

LeBash

omegab wrote: »

Hi,

As said above, can you siphon the water out? Remember the water from a cylinder comes out the top, hence why the taps are not flowing.

1) Take out immersion and siphon water with a pipe
2) Try to loosen the inlet pipe and drain it quicker (not advised if not comfortable with this)
3) Take a self-tapping screw wrapped in PTFE (white plumbing tape) and try and screw it into the hole in the cylinder - I have seen a radiator leak fixed like this.

I'd be more comfortable with the 3rd option. Have ptfe tape here. Around the hole is green, pretty badly corroded. Would it be taking a big chance putting a screw in?

Littlehorny

An experienced plumber might be able to solder the pin hole, happened to a tank in my old lads house. The area must be dry for the solder to take though.

LeBash

pablo128 wrote: »

The only way to stop it filling is to turn off at the mains. That, or get the biggest screw you can find and screw it into the hole.

The mains is off. It's a case of the water will be draining for hours and I'm pretty tired. Because the hole is so low in the tank I can only catch it with a shallow pan. It needs to be emptied every 30 mins or so.

bennyineire

Turn of the mains and turn on all you hot taps till the water runs out, should only take about 15 to 20 minutes. Leave mains off for the night.
Then tomorrow get a soldering Iron and solder to "patch" it up.
That'll get out for a few days at least and probably more.

I personally wouldn't be putting a screw in this time of nigth, think the worst at this time of night

Willfarman

If you have found the pin hole the a small piece of bicycle tube and a self tapping screw.

LeBash

Have a really big soldering iron here lads. Will try it out.

Genuinely appreciate the advice lads.

Sweetemotion

LeBash wrote: »

Have a really big soldering iron here lads. Will try it out.

Genuinely appreciate the advice lads.

Brassing rod is what you need, soldering iron will melt it.

LeBash

Sweetemotion wrote: »

Brassing rod is what you need, soldering iron will melt it.

I'm kind of limited in what I have available to hand. Would a soldering iron really go through a copper tank. It's a pretty old tank. Seems seriously thick.

bennyineire

Soldering Iron won't work with running water IMHO, best thing to do is turn of mains and let the hot taps run until all water is gone, then dry the area off and then use the soldering iron, Speaking from experience as this happened to me last year

LeBash

bennyineire wrote: »

Soldering Iron won't work with running water IMHO, best thing to do is turn of mains and let the hot taps run until all water is gone, then dry the area off and then use the soldering iron, Speaking from experience as this happened to me last year

All that has been done. The hole is at the very bottom of the tank and is firing about 4 inches from the tank into a pan which I would say means there is still quite a bit of water in the tank. It's not coming out at a fast rate. A frying pan is taking 30 mins to fill.

It is literally a case of not babysitting this all night.

Sweetemotion

LeBash wrote: »

I'm kind of limited in what I have available to hand. Would a soldering iron really go through a copper tank. It's a pretty old tank. Seems seriously thick.

Copper is a soft metal, dosen't take too much heat to go through.

Sweetemotion

LeBash wrote: »

All that has been done. The hole is at the very bottom of the tank and is firing about 4 inches from the tank into a pan which I would say means there is still quite a bit of water in the tank. It's not coming out at a fast rate. A frying pan is taking 30 mins to fill.

It is literally a case of not babysitting this all night.

Try some water proof epoxy.

Wearb

Is it an open vented cylinder with a large tank feeding it from the attic? If so, with the mains off and the hot taps on, that (attic tank) tank should be empty. If it is, then you cant siphon it by using a hose in the immersion hole (difficult to remove sometimes) or by opening the pipe on the top center of the cylinder and siphoning from there. Otherwise you will just have to keep catching it from the leak until the approx 150L is gone.

Don't open the top of the cylinder if the large tank isn't empty.

LeBash

Thanks for all the help lads. In the end I just went with a screw and ptfe tape. It held for over an hour now. I'll get someone in asap to change the cylinder.