I've been having a problem where our hot water gets
progressivly smeliier with an metallic smell - The last time it got
bad, I got around it by draining off the HW cylinder and cold water
tank, but it's starting again.

One thing I've noticed is We have a small copper cylinder
(about 10 ins high and 5 ins dia) which when the central heating
switches off deposits a small amount of water back in the cold water
tank - It's got SPARTAN Automatic Recovery Tank on the side of it (and
Bray Thermal Systems) and has an even smaller cylinder, with a screw
on top, on the side of it (10 Bar max operating pressure)

I'm wondering it this is the cause of my smelly water,
redepositing water from the CH circuit back in the cold water tank ?

Any ideas anyone ?

On 10 Dec, 19:56, Jimbo wrote:
I've been having a problem where our hot water gets
progressivly smeliier with an metallic smell - The last time it got
bad, I got around it by draining off the HW cylinder and cold water
tank, but it's starting again.

One thing I've noticed is We have a small copper cylinder
(about 10 ins high and 5 ins dia) which when the central heating
switches off deposits a small amount of water back in the cold water
tank - It's got SPARTAN Automatic Recovery Tank on the side of it (and
Bray Thermal Systems) and has an even smaller cylinder, with a screw
on top, on the side of it (10 Bar max operating pressure)

I'm wondering it this is the cause of my smelly water,
redepositing water from the CH circuit back in the cold water tank ?

Any ideas anyone ?

http://www.screwfix.com/talk/thread....0 7516#707516

http://www.screwfix.com/talk/thread....0 4572#504572

Search the Screwfix plumbing forum.

Like this,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ff/Fortic1.jpg

Onetap wrote:
Like this,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ff/Fortic1.jpg

Kin'ell, it's Stephenson's Rocket!

"dave" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:39:15 -0000, "Steve Walker"
wrote:

Onetap wrote:
Like this,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ff/Fortic1.jpg

Kin'ell, it's Stephenson's Rocket!


Worth scrapping for the value of the copper

On Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:56:46 +0000, Jimbo wrote:

I've been having a problem where our hot water gets progressivly
smeliier with an metallic smell - The last time it got bad, I got around
it by draining off the HW cylinder and cold water tank, but it's
starting again.

One thing I've noticed is We have a small copper cylinder
(about 10 ins high and 5 ins dia) which when the central heating
switches off deposits a small amount of water back in the cold water
tank - It's got SPARTAN Automatic Recovery Tank on the side of it (and
Bray Thermal Systems) and has an even smaller cylinder, with a screw on
top, on the side of it (10 Bar max operating pressure)

I'm wondering it this is the cause of my smelly water,
redepositing water from the CH circuit back in the cold water tank ?

Any ideas anyone ?

My suspicion is that you have some sort of system that allows the primary
water to gain access to the DHW.

I suspect that the rest of the plumbing and heating system is similarly
past it's prime. So the best answer is to upgrade. For now it might be
that draining as you did before cures things for the moment.



--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html
Choosing a Boiler FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/BoilerChoice.html

Onetap wrote:

Like this,

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ff/Fortic1.jpg

If it is like that, then I think i know what could cause that - we had
such a cylinder in our old house.
The hot water is getting too hot, and causing the central heating water
to get mixed up with the hot water.
Ours was connected to a Parkray coal fire, which would pump out too much
heat on occasion, and you would hear the cylinder bubbling every so
often. The only remedy was to empty off quite a bit of the hot water
down the sink, otherwise it would just keep bubbling, and the DHW would
get a brown tinge to it - very noticable when you run a bath, indicating
the DHW and central heating water had mixed up a little.
Alan.
--
To reply by e-mail, change the ' + ' to 'plus'.

Jimbo wrote:

One thing I've noticed is We have a small copper cylinder
(about 10 ins high and 5 ins dia) which when the central heating
switches off deposits a small amount of water back in the cold water
tank - It's got SPARTAN Automatic Recovery Tank on the side of it (and
Bray Thermal Systems) and has an even smaller cylinder, with a screw
on top, on the side of it (10 Bar max operating pressure)

Does this help? - copied from
http://forum.plumbingpages.com/hydro...lp-vt6823.html

[Begin quote]
Hi, in response to your question, I worked in the Design & Technical
dept for Hydro Spartan when I left college back in the early 90s. The
company closed about 16 years ago but I kept some old brochures and
leaflets, which I still have. If you would like copies, please let me
know and I will scan and email them to you.

The Spartan expansion vessel came in 2 standard sizes, ET50 & ET100, the
numbers representing the water capacity of the heating system, that the
vessel could be used with. I think Spartan is an acronym for €œSelf
Priming Automatic Recovery Tank€�.

Basically the Spartan is in 2 sections, split top and bottom. Water from
the domestic side of the system is piped through one of the side
fittings, into the top chamber. In the middle of the top chamber is an
upstand pipe. Once the water level reaches the top of the upstand pipe
it overflows into the bottom chamber. The bottom chamber is connected to
the central heating system, this water from the DHW system is used to
fill the central heating system.

The functions of the Feed and Expansion Tank in a normal open vented
system, are taken care of within the Spartan. Basically the head of
water in the DHW header tank and the internal layout of the Spartan
prevent water in the 2 separate systems from mixing under normal conditions.

Its pretty simple, as long as the Purgomat (Automatic Air Vent), which
is connected to the bottom of the chamber of the Spartan is working ok,
it shouldnt cause too many problems, as there are no other
working/moving parts to worry about. I hope this is helpful, if you need
any more info please ask and I will try my best to answer them.
[End quote]

I'm wondering it this is the cause of my smelly water,
redepositing water from the CH circuit back in the cold water tank ?

So perhaps your Purgomat needs attention... :~)

--
Andy

On Dec 12, 12:24 am, Andy Wade wrote:
Jimbo wrote:
One thing I've noticed is We have a small copper cylinder
(about 10 ins high and 5 ins dia) which when the central heating
switches off deposits a small amount of water back in the cold water
tank - It's got SPARTAN Automatic Recovery Tank on the side of it (and
Bray Thermal Systems) and has an even smaller cylinder, with a screw
on top, on the side of it (10 Bar max operating pressure)

Does this help? - copied fromhttp://forum.plumbingpages.com/hydro-spartan-help-vt6823.html

[Begin quote]
Hi, in response to your question, I worked in the Design & Technical
dept for Hydro Spartan when I left college back in the early 90's. The
company closed about 16 years ago but I kept some old brochures and
leaflets, which I still have. If you would like copies, please let me
know and I will scan and email them to you.

The Spartan expansion vessel came in 2 standard sizes, ET50 & ET100, the
numbers representing the water capacity of the heating system, that the
vessel could be used with. I think Spartan is an acronym for "Self
Priming Automatic Recovery Tank".

Basically the Spartan is in 2 sections, split top and bottom. Water from
the domestic side of the system is piped through one of the side
fittings, into the top chamber. In the middle of the top chamber is an
upstand pipe. Once the water level reaches the top of the upstand pipe
it overflows into the bottom chamber. The bottom chamber is connected to
the central heating system, this water from the DHW system is used to
fill the central heating system.

The functions of the Feed and Expansion Tank in a normal open vented
system, are taken care of within the Spartan. Basically the head of
water in the DHW header tank and the internal layout of the Spartan
prevent water in the 2 separate systems from mixing under normal conditions.

It's pretty simple, as long as the Purgomat (Automatic Air Vent), which
is connected to the bottom of the chamber of the Spartan is working ok,
it shouldn't cause too many problems, as there are no other
working/moving parts to worry about. I hope this is helpful, if you need
any more info please ask and I will try my best to answer them.
[End quote]

I'm wondering it this is the cause of my smelly water,
redepositing water from the CH circuit back in the cold water tank ?

So perhaps your Purgomat needs attention... :~)

Was Hydro Spartan started by a dog owner called Wallace, by any
chance?

MBQ

replying to Andy Wade, john Lavery wrote:
Hello,I would be obliged if you cold send me any diagrams you may have on the
spartan tank, my young engineers think its from space! Thank you

--
for full context, visit http://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy/...or-442530-.htm

On Tue, 23 Aug 2016 13:14:01 +0000, john Lavery
wrote:

replying to Andy Wade, john Lavery wrote:
snip

Oh dear...

Yes another case of the dodgy portal to this group obviously.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Geo" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Aug 2016 13:14:01 +0000, john Lavery
wrote:

replying to Andy Wade, john Lavery wrote:
snip

Oh dear...

On Tuesday, 23 August 2016 17:32:03 UTC+1, Brian Gaff wrote:
"Geo" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 23 Aug 2016 13:14:01 +0000, john Lavery
wrote:

replying to Andy Wade, john Lavery wrote:
snip

Oh dear...

Yes another case of the dodgy portal to this group obviously.

Yes - but it's very effective at getting people here. We just need to let them know how to access the newsgroup sanely.


NT

On 23/08/2016 14:14, john Lavery wrote:
replying to Andy Wade, john Lavery wrote:
Hello,I would be obliged if you cold send me any diagrams you may have
on the
spartan tank, my young engineers think its from space! Thank you



Another reply to a 9 year old post
See
http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php/Home_owners_hub


--
mailto: news {at} admac {dot] myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

john Lavery wrote:
replying to Andy Wade, john Lavery wrote:
Hello,I would be obliged if you cold send me any diagrams you may have
on the
spartan tank, my young engineers think its from space! Thank you

Now that you have done it, why not post a picture?

On Monday, 10 December 2007 19:56:46 UTC, Jimbo wrote:
I've been having a problem where our hot water gets
progressivly smeliier with an metallic smell - The last time it got
bad, I got around it by draining off the HW cylinder and cold water
tank, but it's starting again.

One thing I've noticed is We have a small copper cylinder
(about 10 ins high and 5 ins dia) which when the central heating
switches off deposits a small amount of water back in the cold water
tank - It's got SPARTAN Automatic Recovery Tank on the side of it (and
Bray Thermal Systems) and has an even smaller cylinder, with a screw
on top, on the side of it (10 Bar max operating pressure)

I'm wondering it this is the cause of my smelly water,
redepositing water from the CH circuit back in the cold water tank

You need to clean out the cold water tank finishing off with bleach.
Also clean out the pipework and hot water cylinder with a bleach solution by letting it run through from the loft tank.
This tank should have a closely fitting lid and be insulated to keep the water cool in hot weather.

The lid should be near airtight.
A vent can be purchased and fitted which has a screen to keep insects out.

This sort of problem is made worse if the throughput of water is small or the tank is over sized.

You might even find a dead bird in the loft tsnk if there's no lid.

On Wednesday, 24 August 2016 06:52:06 UTC+1, harry wrote:
On Monday, 10 December 2007 19:56:46 UTC, Jimbo wrote:
I've been having a problem where our hot water gets
progressivly smeliier with an metallic smell - The last time it got
bad, I got around it by draining off the HW cylinder and cold water
tank, but it's starting again.

One thing I've noticed is We have a small copper cylinder
(about 10 ins high and 5 ins dia) which when the central heating
switches off deposits a small amount of water back in the cold water
tank - It's got SPARTAN Automatic Recovery Tank on the side of it (and
Bray Thermal Systems) and has an even smaller cylinder, with a screw
on top, on the side of it (10 Bar max operating pressure)

I'm wondering it this is the cause of my smelly water,
redepositing water from the CH circuit back in the cold water tank

You need to clean out the cold water tank finishing off with bleach.
Also clean out the pipework and hot water cylinder with a bleach solution by letting it run through from the loft tank.
This tank should have a closely fitting lid and be insulated to keep the water cool in hot weather.

The lid should be near airtight.
A vent can be purchased and fitted which has a screen to keep insects out.

This sort of problem is made worse if the throughput of water is small or the tank is over sized.

You might even find a dead bird in the loft tsnk if there's no lid.

I have just managed to down load your pix, it was very slow, took 10min.
I see you have a combination tank.
The problem with these is the water in the top tank is warmed by the bottom tank so creating the deal environment or bacteria to thrive. The insulation is in very poor condition.

You need to improve the insulation on the bottom tank and get insulation between the two tanks.
Also if the lower (hot water tank) spends long periods with no throughput or warm rather than hot this makes the problem worse.

If there are old/young people in the house, the situation could be health threatening.

On 24/08/2016 07:05, harry wrote:

On Monday, 10 December 2007 19:56:46 UTC, Jimbo wrote:

As harry leaps into action with a 9 year old question...


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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It may have been a nine year old post but to see Ed Sirretts name pop up brought on a touch of nostalgia.

Richard

replying to Andy Wade, L WRIGHT wrote:
Really Helpful Andy
Thank you

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...or-442530-.htm