Hi All
it looks like our old cold water tank is leaking in the loft. I have got
a drip tray under it and will be investigating further, but there is at
least a possibility that a new tank will be needed.

To give an idea of the vintage etc. the houss is around 1950s I think, and
the old tank seems to be at least partially made of zinc-covered sheet
construction, with some soft of compressed straw boards for insulation.

I will be measuring up the old tank properly but I'm guessing it's
50 gallon, maybe a little bigger.

Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself? I am hoping to be able to not modify any of the
piping, and to cut holes in the new tank to match the old. Am I being
delusional?

Thanks
Jon N

jkn wrote:
Hi All
it looks like our old cold water tank is leaking in the loft. I
have got a drip tray under it and will be investigating further, but
there is at least a possibility that a new tank will be needed.

To give an idea of the vintage etc. the houss is around 1950s I
think, and the old tank seems to be at least partially made of
zinc-covered sheet construction, with some soft of compressed straw
boards for insulation.

I will be measuring up the old tank properly but I'm guessing it's
50 gallon, maybe a little bigger.

Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself? I am hoping to be able to not modify any of the
piping, and to cut holes in the new tank to match the old. Am I being
delusional?

Thanks
Jon N

The new one will be made of plastic, and there will be some slight pipe
modifications needed I should imagine though nothing too complicated.

Make sure you can get the new one though the loft hatch as the old one
probably went up there before any ceilings were put up

On 05/02/2017 21:02, Phil L wrote:

The new one will be made of plastic, and there will be some slight pipe
modifications needed I should imagine though nothing too complicated.

The old metal one may have just sat on the joists. The plastic one will
need a solid base under it. When I did this, I cut some timber to go
across the joists. Then some ply on top of that. Probably overkill. It
obviously raises it up a few inches.



Make sure you can get the new one though the loft hatch as the old one
probably went up there before any ceilings were put up

Some of the plastic ones are foldable.

jkn Wrote in message:
Hi All
it looks like our old cold water tank is leaking in the loft. I have got
a drip tray under it and will be investigating further, but there is at
least a possibility that a new tank will be needed.

To give an idea of the vintage etc. the houss is around 1950s I think, and
the old tank seems to be at least partially made of zinc-covered sheet
construction, with some soft of compressed straw boards for insulation.

I will be measuring up the old tank properly but I'm guessing it's
50 gallon, maybe a little bigger.

Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself? I am hoping to be able to not modify any of the
piping, and to cut holes in the new tank to match the old. Am I being
delusional?

Thanks
Jon N


Make sure the loft access will allow passage of the replacement....
--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

In article ,
Phil L wrote:
jkn wrote:
Hi All
it looks like our old cold water tank is leaking in the loft. I
have got a drip tray under it and will be investigating further, but
there is at least a possibility that a new tank will be needed.

To give an idea of the vintage etc. the houss is around 1950s I
think, and the old tank seems to be at least partially made of
zinc-covered sheet construction, with some soft of compressed straw
boards for insulation.

I will be measuring up the old tank properly but I'm guessing it's
50 gallon, maybe a little bigger.

Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself? I am hoping to be able to not modify any of the
piping, and to cut holes in the new tank to match the old. Am I being
delusional?

Thanks
Jon N

The new one will be made of plastic, and there will be some slight pipe
modifications needed I should imagine though nothing too complicated.

Make sure you can get the new one though the loft hatch as the old one
probably went up there before any ceilings were put up

or in the case of our house, before the roof was fitted. Mind you, modern
plastic tanks are flexible and will go through quite small gaps.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

On 05/02/2017 21:12, GB wrote:
On 05/02/2017 21:02, Phil L wrote:

The new one will be made of plastic, and there will be some slight pipe
modifications needed I should imagine though nothing too complicated.

The old metal one may have just sat on the joists. The plastic one will
need a solid base under it. When I did this, I cut some timber to go
across the joists. Then some ply on top of that. Probably overkill. It
obviously raises it up a few inches.



Make sure you can get the new one though the loft hatch as the old one
probably went up there before any ceilings were put up

Some of the plastic ones are foldable.


Yes, you fold them and tie a rope to keep it that shape.

Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself? I am hoping to be able to not modify any of
the piping, and to cut holes in the new tank to match the old. Am I
being delusional?

Thanks
Jon N


Make sure the loft access will allow passage of the replacement....

Make sure you have a suitable surface to put it on that will spread the
load.

On Sun, 05 Feb 2017 20:46:10 +0000, jkn wrote:


Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself?

A galavnised iron tank will heavy even when empty. It was probably
installed before roof and/or ceilings were in place, the loft hatch
may be to small. So either you just drag it out of the way and leave
it or cut it up, very hard work by hand, very noisey by machine be
that a jigsaw with metal cutting blade or angle grinder (watch were
the sparks are going...).

A plastic tank will require firm well supported and solid base. 22 mm
code 3 (I think that is the water proof grade) OSB or maybe 18 mm WBP
ply.

I am hoping to be able to not modify any of the piping, and to cut holes
in the new tank to match the old. Am I being delusional?

If you don't have to modify the pipework, watch out for the pink
flying elephants...

--
Cheers
Dave.

Can you get the old tank out of the loft?
I could not so ended up with two smaller tanks instead. Ours went till the
late 60s from 1939, and was galvanised steel with what looked like rivets. I
could have got somebody in to cut it up and remove it but so many people had
done this and nearly burned down their houses I left it up there.
Apparently according to an old bloke who was around at the time the houses
were put up the tanks were put in before they made the roofs, then the hatch
to the loft was made just too small to get it out.
So you see daftness is not a new phenomenon!
Brian

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

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"jkn" wrote in message
o.uk...
Hi All
it looks like our old cold water tank is leaking in the loft. I have
got
a drip tray under it and will be investigating further, but there is at
least a possibility that a new tank will be needed.

To give an idea of the vintage etc. the houss is around 1950s I think, and
the old tank seems to be at least partially made of zinc-covered sheet
construction, with some soft of compressed straw boards for insulation.

I will be measuring up the old tank properly but I'm guessing it's
50 gallon, maybe a little bigger.

Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself? I am hoping to be able to not modify any of the
piping, and to cut holes in the new tank to match the old. Am I being
delusional?

Thanks
Jon N

jkn wrote:
Hi All
it looks like our old cold water tank is leaking in the loft. I have got
a drip tray under it and will be investigating further, but there is at
least a possibility that a new tank will be needed.

To give an idea of the vintage etc. the houss is around 1950s I think, and
the old tank seems to be at least partially made of zinc-covered sheet
construction, with some soft of compressed straw boards for insulation.

I will be measuring up the old tank properly but I'm guessing it's
50 gallon, maybe a little bigger.

Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself? I am hoping to be able to not modify any of the
piping, and to cut holes in the new tank to match the old. Am I being
delusional?

Thanks
Jon N

Your pipe work may be iron threaded stuff which could well be corroded
to the extent making it difficult to reseal old fittings or if copper,
will be imperial sizes. If you have to change any fittings then 1/2 and
15mm pipe will usually fit OK into compression fittings but 22mm/3/4"
does NOT so you will need conversion olives to replace the standard ones
in new compression fittings. The conversion olives are often marked in
green.
of you are soldering you can get conversion straight couplers for
3/4-22mm. 1/2"-15mm solder might be a bit tight - I can recall which is
slightly bigger of the sizes.
For your info.
Imperial pipe was sized on the bore and metric is sized on the OD.

In article ,
jkn wrote:
Is there anything I should particularly need to know when considering
replacing this myself? I am hoping to be able to not modify any of the
piping, and to cut holes in the new tank to match the old. Am I being
delusional?

I'd say it would be very difficult indeed to cut the new holes to match
the old pipework perfectly.

Easier to make sure you have the bits needed to modify the pipework before
starting. Basically, all new from the tank to a convenient place to joint
to the old.

--
*I'm not a paranoid, deranged millionaire. Dammit, I'm a billionaire.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 06/02/2017 07:56, Brian Gaff wrote:
Can you get the old tank out of the loft?


You can with an angle grinder.


--
Adam

On 06/02/2017 17:58, ARW wrote:
On 06/02/2017 07:56, Brian Gaff wrote:
Can you get the old tank out of the loft?


You can with an angle grinder.



I understand. The sparks from the angle grinder set fire to the roof,
thus creating a nice big hole to get the tank out of.

In article ,
ARW wrote:
On 06/02/2017 07:56, Brian Gaff wrote:
Can you get the old tank out of the loft?


You can with an angle grinder.

In our previous house - over 40 years ago, therefore - I used a jig saw.
Less sparks than an angle grinder, so less fire risk.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England

jkn wrote:
Hi All
Thanks a lot for all of the useful info. I have learned a lot and
been able to check some more details. In no particular order:

- I appreciate that the tank will need strong support. The current one
is lifted up on a strong (4x2 or so) table. The top is slatted, so it
looks like I will have to put some WPB on top to support the plastic
tank.

- The measurements of the old tank are very close to those of the
Polytank 25Gallon tank - it looks like that is the replacement to go
with. I am pretty sure this will go through the access hole.

- I appreciate all the comments about having to cut the old tank up,
or leaving up there etc. I will probably leave it up in the loft to
begin with, to await a rainy day...

- The inlet and outlet pipes are copper, at least some are 28mm I
think. I am now resigned to having to rework the pipework at least a
little. I will spend some time working out any change in layout and
what fittings this might need. I guess I want to be doubly sure that I
have everything in place before setting out on this work, I don't want
to be a washer short on a Sunday afternoon...

A couple of further questions:

- what does one use to cut holes in the tank for the tank connectors
etc. Yeah, I know, a 'Tank Cutter'. I have a 'step' drill bit which
goes up to 30mm or so, would that do?


one of these is what's normally used:
http://cdn.toolstation.com/images/14.../800/23014.jpg

- I have read that one should put gate valves in the outlets (cold
water taps and DHW). is this recommended by the team?


It's not set in stone, it's up to you, but I can think of a lot of good
reasons why you should fit them and the only reason not to is to save a few
quid

In article ,
jkn wrote:
- The inlet and outlet pipes are copper, at least some are 28mm I
think. I am now resigned to having to rework the pipework at least a
little. I will spend some time working out any change in layout and
what fittings this might need. I guess I want to be doubly sure that I
have everything in place before setting out on this work, I don't want
to be a washer short on a Sunday afternoon...

You need to find out the exact sizes. Old pipework may be imperial, and
may need adaptors to metric tube.

22mm (the old 3/4") is the common size for the outlets. The cold water
feed usually 15mm.

--
*Never test the depth of the water with both feet.*

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 07/02/2017 10:22, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
jkn wrote:
- The inlet and outlet pipes are copper, at least some are 28mm I
think. I am now resigned to having to rework the pipework at least a
little. I will spend some time working out any change in layout and
what fittings this might need. I guess I want to be doubly sure that I
have everything in place before setting out on this work, I don't want
to be a washer short on a Sunday afternoon...

You need to find out the exact sizes. Old pipework may be imperial, and
may need adaptors to metric tube.

The only way I know to establish the size is to cut the pipe and see
whether a metric fitting fits.

It's hardly a big expense to get a few 3/4" olives on the off-chance
they'll be needed.





22mm (the old 3/4") is the common size for the outlets. The cold water
feed usually 15mm.

You could put the new plastic tank inside the old metal one.

You will need new pipe, (blue plastic?), and fittings to attach to the existing pipework.


[george]