I changed a pair of taps for a customer a few weeks ago, and ever since,
they have complained about the lack of flow from the hot tap.
I've gone through everything to check I have done nothing wrong, but
found no fault at all.
The flow from the basin tap is also pretty poor, but no overly so.
The downstairs kitchen hot tap does flow better.
All cold taps are connected direct to the mains, and run fine.

I'm coming to think that the main fault is lack of head from the HW
cylinder, combined with a poor arrangement, where the HW pipe is 22mm
from the cylinder for around 2 metres, then changes to 15mm pipe for the
last 2 metres to the bathroom.
The HW cylinder sits at floor level upstairs, with the feeder tank just
above it, so not a lot of head above the sink level really.

I've suggested they get rid of the 15mm pipe, and run 22mm at least
until the bath tap, and that should help.
The nagging doubt in the back of my head is that when I do this, the
flow rate will still not improve markedly, so I'll look an idiot doing
the job, but getting no result.

Has anyone done such a thing?
And did it improve matters?
Thanks
Alan.
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A.Lee brought next idea :
I changed a pair of taps for a customer a few weeks ago, and ever since,
they have complained about the lack of flow from the hot tap.
I've gone through everything to check I have done nothing wrong, but
found no fault at all.

Have you used the correct tap type? Some are designed for and need
mains pressure hot water to achieve a full flow.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

On 2008-03-25 18:16:00 +0000, (A.Lee) said:

I changed a pair of taps for a customer a few weeks ago, and ever since,
they have complained about the lack of flow from the hot tap.
I've gone through everything to check I have done nothing wrong, but
found no fault at all.
The flow from the basin tap is also pretty poor, but no overly so.
The downstairs kitchen hot tap does flow better.
All cold taps are connected direct to the mains, and run fine.

I'm coming to think that the main fault is lack of head from the HW
cylinder, combined with a poor arrangement, where the HW pipe is 22mm
from the cylinder for around 2 metres, then changes to 15mm pipe for the
last 2 metres to the bathroom.
The HW cylinder sits at floor level upstairs, with the feeder tank just
above it, so not a lot of head above the sink level really.

I've suggested they get rid of the 15mm pipe, and run 22mm at least
until the bath tap, and that should help.
The nagging doubt in the back of my head is that when I do this, the
flow rate will still not improve markedly, so I'll look an idiot doing
the job, but getting no result.

Has anyone done such a thing?
And did it improve matters?
Thanks
Alan.

Did you fit taps of continental design?

Many of these are designed for pressurised HW systems and have
relatively narrow water pathways.

There is a different standard for taps intended for UK low pressure HW
systems. If it was working OK before then this is likely to be the
cause. Changing pipes would nt make much difference if so.

Solutions a

- Change taps to a type suitable for low pressure

- Put header tank in loft

- Introduce pump between cylinder and tap

- Change HW system for mains pressure type.

I changed a pair of taps for a customer a few weeks ago, and ever since,
they have complained about the lack of flow from the hot tap.
I've gone through everything to check I have done nothing wrong, but
found no fault at all.

Could it be an airlock as a result of the drain-down?

Try blowing it out with backflow of mains pressure with a hose
connected from hot to cold tap?

On Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:16:00 +0000, (A.Lee) wrote:

I changed a pair of taps for a customer a few weeks ago, and ever since,
they have complained about the lack of flow from the hot tap.
I've gone through everything to check I have done nothing wrong, but
found no fault at all.
The flow from the basin tap is also pretty poor, but no overly so.
The downstairs kitchen hot tap does flow better.
All cold taps are connected direct to the mains, and run fine.

I'm coming to think that the main fault is lack of head from the HW
cylinder, combined with a poor arrangement, where the HW pipe is 22mm
from the cylinder for around 2 metres, then changes to 15mm pipe for the
last 2 metres to the bathroom.
The HW cylinder sits at floor level upstairs, with the feeder tank just
above it, so not a lot of head above the sink level really.

I've suggested they get rid of the 15mm pipe, and run 22mm at least
until the bath tap, and that should help.
The nagging doubt in the back of my head is that when I do this, the
flow rate will still not improve markedly, so I'll look an idiot doing
the job, but getting no result.

Has anyone done such a thing?
And did it improve matters?
Thanks
Alan.


Most likely it's the design of the taps. Many modern taps require a
head of 0.5 to 1 bar to provide decent flow. From your description
you've got 0.2 bar max. I've got exactly the same problem, flow was
great with my original 'contract' taps, now it takes 10 minutes to run
a bath with my new 'fancy' taps. If there's space in the attic you
could always raise the cold water feed tank. 1 metre (0.98m for the
pedants) = 0.1 bar pressure.

"A.Lee" wrote in message
...
I changed a pair of taps for a customer a few weeks ago, and ever since,
they have complained about the lack of flow from the hot tap.
I've gone through everything to check I have done nothing wrong, but
found no fault at all.
The flow from the basin tap is also pretty poor, but no overly so.
The downstairs kitchen hot tap does flow better.
All cold taps are connected direct to the mains, and run fine.

I'm coming to think that the main fault is lack of head from the HW
cylinder, combined with a poor arrangement, where the HW pipe is 22mm
from the cylinder for around 2 metres, then changes to 15mm pipe for the
last 2 metres to the bathroom.
The HW cylinder sits at floor level upstairs, with the feeder tank just
above it, so not a lot of head above the sink level really.

I've suggested they get rid of the 15mm pipe, and run 22mm at least
until the bath tap, and that should help.
The nagging doubt in the back of my head is that when I do this, the
flow rate will still not improve markedly, so I'll look an idiot doing
the job, but getting no result.

Has anyone done such a thing?
And did it improve matters?
Thanks
Alan.

Bought a set of taps once from Homebase. Fitted them. Cold water ran fine
but no hot water at all. Searched and double checked everything - no joy.
Took the tap off completely and took it apart expecting to find something
wrong with the washer or workings - no, not that. Then tried to feed a
length of wire through the tap outlet -- the damn thing was completely
choked up with slag (?) from the casting process. Took it back to Homebase
and they exchanged it no problem.

In ,
Neil Ross typed:
"A.Lee" wrote in message
...
I changed a pair of taps for a customer a few weeks ago, and ever
since, they have complained about the lack of flow from the hot tap.
I've gone through everything to check I have done nothing wrong, but
found no fault at all.
The flow from the basin tap is also pretty poor, but no overly so.
The downstairs kitchen hot tap does flow better.
All cold taps are connected direct to the mains, and run fine.

I'm coming to think that the main fault is lack of head from the HW
cylinder, combined with a poor arrangement, where the HW pipe is 22mm
from the cylinder for around 2 metres, then changes to 15mm pipe for
the last 2 metres to the bathroom.
The HW cylinder sits at floor level upstairs, with the feeder tank
just above it, so not a lot of head above the sink level really.

I've suggested they get rid of the 15mm pipe, and run 22mm at least
until the bath tap, and that should help.
The nagging doubt in the back of my head is that when I do this, the
flow rate will still not improve markedly, so I'll look an idiot
doing the job, but getting no result.

Has anyone done such a thing?
And did it improve matters?
Thanks
Alan.

Bought a set of taps once from Homebase. Fitted them. Cold water
ran fine but no hot water at all. Searched and double checked
everything - no joy. Took the tap off completely and took it apart
expecting to find something wrong with the washer or workings - no,
not that. Then tried to feed a length of wire through the tap outlet
-- the damn thing was completely choked up with slag (?) from the
casting process. Took it back to Homebase and they exchanged it no
problem.

I got caught with a couple of pairs of taps which gave a poor HW flow, it
turned out that they were Eurotaps & designed for mains pressure.

Don.