No cold water in shower

shabbyroad

Oh Bugger.

I replaced the taps in the kitchen sink yesterday and turned the water back on. The water tank in the attic had been completely emptied (not sure if that was a good idea but it did refill in about 30 minutes or so)

Water (hot & cold) flows though all taps and appliances as before so all was hunky dory until I tried having a shower this morning.

Our shower has two pumps (a long story - total overkill I know but not my install). One for hot and one for cold. Plenty of scalding hot water coming into the shower but no cold. Not a drop.
When I turn off the pump (electricity-wise) and try to allow regular un-pumped water into the shower there is still no cold water.

I'm sure there's a simple fix for this but for the life of me I can't figure what to do.

Any suggestions before I call in a professional ? Always feel like a right gob****e if i call someone out and it's a simple problem to fix.

tapest

Hi
Air lock on cold line to shower???
Join hot and cold together at shower and use pressure in hot line to push air in cold line back to storage tank.
If you have flexible hose to shower, remove spray head put hose end in light plastic bag(food / lunch bag), open both valves. Try first with both pumps off, then with hot pump on, if needbe.
If you don't have flexible hose I'm sure you find some way to join hot and cold together.
Let's know how you get on
t

hansov

Another hot shower this morning??? :eek:

Stating the obvious I know but have you turned back on ALL the taps (into the tanks etc) that you turned off. I know that if I am doing any water related jobs, I tend to cut everything off - just in case and sometimes it is easy to forget one of the taps. Hope that it worked out okay.

shabbyroad

tapest wrote:

Hi
Air lock on cold line to shower???

Hmm. I think that might be it. Will give it a try this evening. It's a flexible shower hose so I'm sure I'll figure out a way to do it.

hansov wrote:

Another hot shower this morning???

Yes. Scalding :eek: ! And in record time too

hansov wrote:

Stating the obvious I know but have you turned back on ALL the taps (into the tanks etc) that you turned off. I know that if I am doing any water related jobs, I tend to cut everything off - just in case and sometimes it is easy to forget one of the taps. Hope that it worked out okay.

Yup. There's just the ones in the cupboard where the shower pumps are located.
I think hansov might be on to something alright.

GreeBo

shabbyroad wrote:

Yup. There's just the ones in the cupboard where the shower pumps are located.

I had the same problem, I had forgotten to turn back on the tap for the cold feed in the attic for the ensuite shower

shabbyroad

It's a real dog to fix.
The shower control mixes hot+cold at the shower so I don't think I'm going to be able to force the hot water back up through the cold feed. Will try it again.

Might have to try something else. Perhaps a hose from the cold tap in the sink connected to the shower tube with the shower set to full cold.

the pump for the cold water is showing no pressure at all :mad:
... somehow I think I'm going to be calling a plumber on monday morning....

rooferPete

Hi,

Try switching off the pumps, remove the shower head and block the hose with a cloth held tight over the end, then turn on the shower full.

Most shower valves don't have a non return valve so the pressure of the hot water should return up the cold pipe.

Have you checked for a cold supply at the pumps ?

.

tapest

shabbyroad wrote:

It's a real dog to fix.
The shower control mixes hot+cold at the shower so I don't think I'm going to be able to force the hot water back up through the cold feed.


the pump for the cold water is showing no pressure at all
....

hi Remove shower spray , plastic bag over hose /pipe , usually able to screw spray head back on. That's the bit I forgot to say kast time,,,sorry. Or if you can't , small tap washer covered in plastic......ah you know what I mean.
this should clear your cold water pump if it's airlocked.

shabbyroad

Tried that. No joy. pump showing zero pressure.

The airlock might be other side of the pump and I suspect there's a valve that will stop water returning into the pump.

looks like I'm going to have to call someone in - I'm not nearly competent enough to dismantle the plumbing around the pump. Changing taps is about as good as I get.

thanks for the tips.

heffo9

if you have access to the pump, then try loosening the locking nuts on one side (preferably the inlet) , until you either hear air or see water coming out. now dont open them all the way, just enough till you get some action. where you based in anyway. make sure you tighten it as soon as you see water. remember you dont have to take the pipe off.

shabbyroad

that's an idea - I might try that.

I'm in Dublin (Castleknock - near Blanch shopping centre)

heffo9

let us know how you get on.

shabbyroad

I'll give it a lash this evening.
I wonder if I should turn off the cold supply to the pump before opening the inlet to the pump - I'm kinda nervous about water damage.

heffo9

dont turn off the supply, the supply will give the pressure to force the air out.
think of it like bleeding a radiator, dont disconnect the pipes, just open them enough till you either hear air or see water, with the pipes loosened, give them a rattle, lock them as soon as you see water, have a rag/towel spare.

shabbyroad

well, I was able to remove the entire pipe from the inlet to the cold water pump and not a trickle of water came through

checked and both water tanks are full and there's no obvious blockage in the tank so will probably have to call in a professional today.

thanks for all the tips and advice. at least I won't feel too useless when calling someone in :rolleyes:

hansov

Are you certain that you have turned all the taps back on? No water, not even a trickle sounds like something other than a air-block is causing the problem. Go double-check - it might just save you a few bob.

shabbyroad

The (cold water) feed to the shower pump from the water tank in the attic is separate to the feed going to the (cold water) taps. All of the water (hot and cold) to every other part of the house is flowing fine.

I suspect there is a blockage (or a fault in the valve/stopcock that allows me to cut off the supply to the pump) on that cold water feed between the attic water tank and the (cold) shower pump. It's possible that something has gotten into the pipe from the water tank but it's only about 5 years old and looked pretty clean when I checked it last night (plus the other feed coming out of the water tank is working fine).

Plumber due this afternoon. Am now curious to find out what it is that's causing it. Either a physical blockage, a valve/stopcock failure (it's locked closed ?) or the mother of all air locks.

shabbyroad

So. I've just spoken to the plumber and the whole thing has corrected itself overnight. Beats the sh1t out of me.

tapest

shabbyroad wrote:

well, I was able to remove the entire pipe from the inlet to the cold water pump and not a trickle of water came through

So. I've just spoken to the plumber and the whole thing has corrected itself overnight. Beats the sh1t out of me.

That's weird...I'd have to get to the bottom of it...I'd drive me mad
t

shabbyroad

I'm trying to resist the temptation to dig further.

I have a feeling that the valve (which I was stupidly calling a stopcock above) is defective or on the way out. Now this won't be an issue so long as I don't touch it (which won't be likely). Plumber did say it was possible and he was as puzzled as I was.
Another possibility is that with all of the pipe-banging and general mucking about with the pipe I moved the airlock out and it just needed some time to move back up and out of the pipe. (probably talking bollox here...)

bottom line is it works but better still I built a little bit of confidence and knowledge in dealing with the plumbing at home.

tapest

shabbyroad wrote:

I'm trying to resist the temptation to dig further.

I have a feeling that the valve (which I was stupidly calling a stopcock above) is defective or on the way out. Now this won't be an issue so long as I don't touch it (which won't be likely). Plumber did say it was possible and he was as puzzled as I was.
Another possibility is that with all of the pipe-banging and general mucking about with the pipe I moved the airlock out and it just needed some time to move back up and out of the pipe. (probably talking bollox here...)
.

So You think its either airlock or "valve". If "valve" has handle its either
1 flow through valve, handle turning only 1/4 turn for full on / off, unlikely..domestically used for turning on / off rads in c / h system
2 gate valve, round handle ...ok on gravity feed from tank,etc....will not hold against pumped feed,( eg c / h pump...or mains pressure(unless pressure reduced))
Stop cock, straight tap handle, arrow on body to show water direction, will hold against pumped pressure, found "under sink" on mains feeding header tank,etc...MAIN difference is stop cock has rubber washer inside.

If it happens again and you want to eliminate "valve trouble" loosening nuts on both sides , with valve open / shut will tell you if it's ok or not

end of lecture.......
t

shabbyroad

Good information. 'tis a stop cock.

If problem occurs again I'll just replace that.

Hopefully it'll never be an issue.