side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

Cherie Plum wrote:

side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?



I presume the tail of the valve attached to the cistern is plastic. I
also presume that it is the nut connecting the pipe to the fitting, not
the nut holding the valve onto the cistern that is leaking. (If it was
the nut holding the vakve ti the cistern then your problem would
probably be the water level - a separate issue.)


Now if the pipe to the cistern and the nut are also plastic that is a
different issue too - you probably need a new plastic nut and fitting.

But if the nut is metal and part of a so-called tap connector fixed to
the pipe with a solder or compression fitting (and you presumably still
have it on the cut off bit of pipe) then try screwing this nut and tap
connector onto the plastic valve tail *without any washer*. If it
screws up fairly smoothly by hand until the tap connector is held fairly
tightly then you haven't cross threaded it and just check the flat
surface of the end of the tap tail is not scratched or damaged (new
valve, not too expensive, is needed if it is). And check the annular
part of the tap connector on the pipe is nice and smooth where the
washer goes. If so, it should really work if you get the right washer.
It is a 1/2" (almost certainly) tap connector washer (not a tap
washer) and is only about 1.5 mm wide so it fits inside the nut without
interference and over the 15mm pipe. It is called 1/2" but the outside
diameter is about 18mm. Historical reasons!

If however the nut of the tap connecter will not screw up tight on the
plastic tail of the valve by hand, or at most with something to grip it
but not needing a long spanner, then you need a new valve because it is
cross threaded. Seeing you've cut the pipe I'd get a new valve and a
new tap connector, and the relevant washers (for the joint to the
cistern and for the tap connector) although they may be included I'd
spend few pence for spares. With new parts it can't go wrong! Don't
screw up the tap connector with a big spanner, finger tight plus a
quarter of a turn max should do.

It will help if you confirm which parts are plastic and which metal, and
the diameter of the pipe and the valve tail for the next person to
answer.


--

Roger Hayter

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news
side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces are a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room), PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around here

Good luck with it.

bm wrote:

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news
side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces are a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room), PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around here

Good luck with it.

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/connectingtaps.htm


--

Roger Hayter

On 10/11/2017 23:39, Roger Hayter wrote:
Cherie Plum wrote:

side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?



I presume the tail of the valve attached to the cistern is plastic. I
also presume that it is the nut connecting the pipe to the fitting, not
the nut holding the valve onto the cistern that is leaking. (If it was
the nut holding the vakve ti the cistern then your problem would
probably be the water level - a separate issue.)


Now if the pipe to the cistern and the nut are also plastic that is a
different issue too - you probably need a new plastic nut and fitting.

But if the nut is metal and part of a so-called tap connector fixed to
the pipe with a solder or compression fitting (and you presumably still
have it on the cut off bit of pipe) then try screwing this nut and tap
connector onto the plastic valve tail *without any washer*. If it
screws up fairly smoothly by hand until the tap connector is held fairly
tightly then you haven't cross threaded it and just check the flat
surface of the end of the tap tail is not scratched or damaged (new
valve, not too expensive, is needed if it is). And check the annular
part of the tap connector on the pipe is nice and smooth where the
washer goes. If so, it should really work if you get the right washer.
It is a 1/2" (almost certainly) tap connector washer (not a tap
washer) and is only about 1.5 mm wide so it fits inside the nut without
interference and over the 15mm pipe. It is called 1/2" but the outside
diameter is about 18mm. Historical reasons!

If however the nut of the tap connecter will not screw up tight on the
plastic tail of the valve by hand, or at most with something to grip it
but not needing a long spanner, then you need a new valve because it is
cross threaded. Seeing you've cut the pipe I'd get a new valve and a
new tap connector, and the relevant washers (for the joint to the
cistern and for the tap connector) although they may be included I'd
spend few pence for spares. With new parts it can't go wrong! Don't
screw up the tap connector with a big spanner, finger tight plus a
quarter of a turn max should do.

It will help if you confirm which parts are plastic and which metal, and
the diameter of the pipe and the valve tail for the next person to
answer.



Thanks for your very informative reply
It is a copper 15mm pipe screwing onto a plastic ballcock and arm , It
was squeaking a lot as I screwed it on . In bed now so will check it all
out tomorrow after work and will try it without the washer. The tap
connector is an sort of right angled one and connected to the down pipe
I cut with a seized on connector. probably need a vice to get it off
which I don't have. I could I suppose cut a new piece of pipe to fit a
new tap connector or thinking maybe use a flexible pipe I have in toolkit.
Having plenty of spare parts is something I learned today that I should
have kept in store.


---
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On 10/11/2017 23:51, bm wrote:
"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news
side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces are a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room), PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around here

Good luck with it.


Cheers.
My isolator is like a washing machine tap - compression fitting that
stops water going through the pipe.
I suspect the loud squeal I heard as I tightened the copper nut onto the
plastic pipe was the crossthreading! It looked a bit lopsided but next
time I kept it straight- however damage was probably done.
I will probably buy a new fill valve as the old one is loud and doesn't
cut off for a long time with drips for ten minutes after. I fitted one
upstairs last year, it worked initially but now I have to lift the
cistern lid and poke it to get it to work, not always, sometimes I can
turn a tap on downstairs and it suddenly starts to fill upstairs.
I am not too good at this plumbing game!


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news
side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the
pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces are
a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross
thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room), PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around here


Good luck with it.

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/connectingtaps.htm

You suggest that it's impossible?
To save a few quid i'd produce one.
Why else would I buy sheet rubber (neoprene) from ebay? e.g, -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-NEO...3DAy sqd0xZlA
It's prolly a family thing, if a door handle broke my old chap would spend a
day or so making a replacement.
Us 'olds' don't tend to consider the cost of free time.

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news
On 10/11/2017 23:51, bm wrote:
"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news
side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces are
a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross
thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room), PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around here


Good luck with it.


Cheers.
My isolator is like a washing machine tap - compression fitting that stops
water going through the pipe.
I suspect the loud squeal I heard as I tightened the copper nut onto the
plastic pipe was the crossthreading! It looked a bit lopsided but next
time I kept it straight- however damage was probably done.
I will probably buy a new fill valve as the old one is loud and doesn't
cut off for a long time with drips for ten minutes after. I fitted one
upstairs last year, it worked initially but now I have to lift the cistern
lid and poke it to get it to work, not always, sometimes I can turn a tap
on downstairs and it suddenly starts to fill upstairs.
I am not too good at this plumbing game!

Tell you what, water is a PITA.
I think i'd rather be gassed than drowned

Cherie Plum wrote:

On 10/11/2017 23:51, bm wrote:
"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news
side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces are a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room), PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around here

Good luck with it.


Cheers.
My isolator is like a washing machine tap - compression fitting that
stops water going through the pipe.
I suspect the loud squeal I heard as I tightened the copper nut onto the
plastic pipe was the crossthreading! It looked a bit lopsided but next
time I kept it straight- however damage was probably done.
I will probably buy a new fill valve as the old one is loud and doesn't
cut off for a long time with drips for ten minutes after. I fitted one
upstairs last year, it worked initially but now I have to lift the
cistern lid and poke it to get it to work, not always, sometimes I can
turn a tap on downstairs and it suddenly starts to fill upstairs.
I am not too good at this plumbing game!


In theory maybe it just needs a new washer (the one operated by the
float) on valve but get a new one if there is doubt about getting it
waterproof or cross threading. Do you do solder joints? if not I
would get a new tap connector when you get the bits to repair the pipe
you cut. alternatively you could use a flexible pipe. They do have
rubber washers and you can get one with a compression fitting for your
copper pipe at the other end. They are easy to get water proof (don't
over tighten, just until it's water proof, somewat past finger tight at
the valve end. Quarter turn at the compression joint end after just
tight with a spanner.

As far as tthe valve upstairs that won't open when it's supposed to,
does the float catch on anything in its movement? if so, slightly
rotating the valve body (after slightly looseniing its fixing nuts and
connector nut) or bending the float arm may help. Also if the movement
of the float is not veritcal it may bind. Not much else to go wrong
unless the valve is damaged.



--

Roger Hayter

bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the
pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces are
a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross
thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room), PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around here


Good luck with it.

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/connectingtaps.htm

You suggest that it's impossible? To save a few quid i'd produce one. Why
else would I buy sheet rubber (neoprene) from ebay? e.g, -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-NEO...RUBBER-SHEET-V
ARIOUS-SIZES-THICKNESSES/261338185781?hash=item3cd8f84035:m:m3rMjsUnB8r3DA
ysqd0xZlA It's prolly a family thing, if a door handle broke my old chap
would spend a day or so making a replacement. Us 'olds' don't tend to
consider the cost of free time.

Don't you also have to make up circular punches to cut them? What
thickness neoprene do you suggest and can I borrow your punches?

I don't for a moment suggest it is impossible, just that I've been
unable find them on sale. Along with heat resistant drain-valve
washers.


--

Roger Hayter

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut
and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought
some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back
of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out.
I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe
(how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the
pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces
are
a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross
thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room),
PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it
wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around
here


Good luck with it.

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/connectingtaps.htm

You suggest that it's impossible? To save a few quid i'd produce one. Why
else would I buy sheet rubber (neoprene) from ebay? e.g, -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-NEO...RUBBER-SHEET-V
ARIOUS-SIZES-THICKNESSES/261338185781?hash=item3cd8f84035:m:m3rMjsUnB8r3DA
ysqd0xZlA It's prolly a family thing, if a door handle broke my old chap
would spend a day or so making a replacement. Us 'olds' don't tend to
consider the cost of free time.

Don't you also have to make up circular punches to cut them? What
thickness neoprene do you suggest and can I borrow your punches?

I don't for a moment suggest it is impossible, just that I've been
unable find them on sale. Along with heat resistant drain-valve
washers.

Circular punches? Not beyond the wit of man, really.
I forget that you kids need to buy off the shelf.

On 10/11/2017 22:56, Cherie Plum wrote:
side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I crossÂ* threadedÂ* the plastic pipeÂ* (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fittedÂ* that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?


My guess is that pipe and inlet are not truly square to each other when
starting the nut tightening. Either forcefully pull the pipe
up/down/sideways before starting to square it up. Alternatively loosen
the plastic inlet pipe at the point where it enters the cistern to give
more 'wriggle room' and once the assembly is joined tighten up
everything you have loosened.


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

If its one of theme there plastic ones, junk it and get a really good one.
Also make sure you get the one for the pressure of water, not as my plumber
did, a high pressure on for a loft tank gravity fed one, as this sounds a
bit like a babbling brook and now takes 10 minutes to fill.
Brian

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

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news
side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out. I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe (how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?


---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

On Sat, 11 Nov 2017 00:04:47 +0000, Roger Hayter wrote:

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

ISTR that when I fitted my new loo the connection was a face seal and a
shower-hose rubber washer was OK. If the inlet is plastic the tightness is
limited by he thread. To stop it squeaking/binding I used a thin smear of
Bosswhite or similar, so that I didn't over/under tighten due to friction.
It's been OK for about 8 years now.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut
and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought
some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the back
of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing out.
I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe
(how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting the
pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating surfaces
are
a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross
thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's room),
PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it
wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around
here


Good luck with it.

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/connectingtaps.htm

You suggest that it's impossible? To save a few quid i'd produce one. Why
else would I buy sheet rubber (neoprene) from ebay? e.g, -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-NEO...RUBBER-SHEET-V
ARIOUS-SIZES-THICKNESSES/261338185781?hash=item3cd8f84035:m:m3rMjsUnB8r3DA
ysqd0xZlA It's prolly a family thing, if a door handle broke my old chap
would spend a day or so making a replacement. Us 'olds' don't tend to
consider the cost of free time.

Don't you also have to make up circular punches to cut them? What
thickness neoprene do you suggest and can I borrow your punches?

I don't for a moment suggest it is impossible, just that I've been
unable find them on sale. Along with heat resistant drain-valve
washers.

Circular punches? Not beyond the wit of man, really.
I forget that you kids need to buy off the shelf.


Given a fortnight and dire necessity I could probably make a circular
punch. And even harden it perhaps! Traditionally used for leather, I
wonder if you need to make a size adjustment to get the right size hole
in neoprene?




--

Roger Hayter

PeterC wrote:

On Sat, 11 Nov 2017 00:04:47 +0000, Roger Hayter wrote:

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

ISTR that when I fitted my new loo the connection was a face seal and a
shower-hose rubber washer was OK. If the inlet is plastic the tightness is
limited by he thread. To stop it squeaking/binding I used a thin smear of
Bosswhite or similar, so that I didn't over/under tighten due to friction.
It's been OK for about 8 years now.

That works if you use a flexible hose, but is there a brass pipe fitting
like that? I've only seen traditional tap connectors. And I'd use
silicone on the plasic, I don't think the flexifble pipes ever work
loose, and leakage isn't via the thread.


--

Roger Hayter

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut
and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought
some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the
back
of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing
out.
I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe
(how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting
the
pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating
surfaces
are
a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross
thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's
room),
PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it
wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around
here


Good luck with it.

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/connectingtaps.htm

You suggest that it's impossible? To save a few quid i'd produce one.
Why
else would I buy sheet rubber (neoprene) from ebay? e.g, -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-NEO...RUBBER-SHEET-V
ARIOUS-SIZES-THICKNESSES/261338185781?hash=item3cd8f84035:m:m3rMjsUnB8r3DA
ysqd0xZlA It's prolly a family thing, if a door handle broke my old
chap
would spend a day or so making a replacement. Us 'olds' don't tend to
consider the cost of free time.

Don't you also have to make up circular punches to cut them? What
thickness neoprene do you suggest and can I borrow your punches?

I don't for a moment suggest it is impossible, just that I've been
unable find them on sale. Along with heat resistant drain-valve
washers.

Circular punches? Not beyond the wit of man, really.
I forget that you kids need to buy off the shelf.


Given a fortnight and dire necessity I could probably make a circular
punch. And even harden it perhaps! Traditionally used for leather, I
wonder if you need to make a size adjustment to get the right size hole
in neoprene?

No need to harden, how many dozen do you need? Just a piece of wood
underneath.
If you sharpen your pipe so it cuts on the outside, neoprene pretty much
comes out right.

bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...
bm wrote:

"Cherie Plum" wrote in message
news side entry inlet on cistern was slightly leaking. I undid the nut
and
could see a broken washer so after googling and studying I bought
some
fibre washers and screwed it all up and water rushed out of the
back
of
the nut. I redid it lots and once it almost held before gushing
out.
I
tried teflon tape but that was worse
more googling and I wonder if I cross threaded the plastic pipe
(how
would I know visually?)
Off I went and bought an isolator and fitted that even cutting
the
pipe
myself! Now I could have my water on.
Tomorrow I will have another go.
Whats the odds of two fibre washers working?
A rubber one?
or will I need to buy a new fill valve?

Personally I'd go for rubber, fibre are a tad hard if mating
surfaces
are
a
touch off kilter.
By isolator do you mean a "stop-end"?
Plastic pipe i've never used but surely you would have felt a cross
thread?
As a last resort I'd try maybe 2 rubber washers (3 if there's
room),
PTFE
tape and careful tightening.
Plastic (new fill valve) is fairly expensive -

I had a cistern prob last weekend with a remote flush button, it
wouldn't
flush.
Looked on google images, found the correct image which gave me the
manufacturer.
Phoned and collected a new one, bingo.
~£36 for a chromed plastic button + gubbins.
Oh Crikey (Billy Bunter), that equates to ~7 x fish'n'chips around
here


Good luck with it.

I'd dearly love to see a rubber washer for a (metal as opposed to
plastic) tap connector. Where on earth do you get such a thing?

http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/connectingtaps.htm

You suggest that it's impossible? To save a few quid i'd produce one.
Why else would I buy sheet rubber (neoprene) from ebay? e.g, -
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-NEO...-FOAM-RUBBER-S
HEET-V
ARIOUS-SIZES-THICKNESSES/261338185781?hash=item3cd8f84035:m:m3rMjsUn
B8r3DA ysqd0xZlA It's prolly a family thing, if a door handle broke
my old chap would spend a day or so making a replacement. Us 'olds'
don't tend to
consider the cost of free time.

Don't you also have to make up circular punches to cut them? What
thickness neoprene do you suggest and can I borrow your punches?

I don't for a moment suggest it is impossible, just that I've been
unable find them on sale. Along with heat resistant drain-valve
washers.

Circular punches? Not beyond the wit of man, really.
I forget that you kids need to buy off the shelf.


Given a fortnight and dire necessity I could probably make a circular
punch. And even harden it perhaps! Traditionally used for leather, I
wonder if you need to make a size adjustment to get the right size hole
in neoprene?

No need to harden, how many dozen do you need? Just a piece of wood
underneath.
If you sharpen your pipe so it cuts on the outside, neoprene pretty much
comes out right.

That's useful to know. Have you tried a concentric dual punch for
washers - might be better for very narrow ones?

--

Roger Hayter

"Roger Hayter" wrote in message
...

That's useful to know. Have you tried a concentric dual punch for
washers - might be better for very narrow ones?

Nope, I haven't.

On 11/11/2017 00:54, Roger Hayter wrote:

Do you do solder joints?

No. No yet ....

Anyhow popped back here to let you all know of my success today, a great
sense of achievement when I had finished.
It was a cross thread.I took the arm and ballcock out of the cistern
which was difficult as the outer holding/spacer nut squeaked and stuck
trying to get it off. I cleaned everything and tried a random nut and it
went on the thread fine, I then tried the tap connector nut on a spare
screw thing and it went on so that puzzled me. Then I put the originals
together and I could see it was straight and fairly easy to screw on so
I wondered if undoing the holding/spacer nut had cut a new thread.
Anyway putting it all back it worked! no leak!

Thanks all for the advice.

Cherie Plum wrote:

On 11/11/2017 00:54, Roger Hayter wrote:

Do you do solder joints?

No. No yet ....

Anyhow popped back here to let you all know of my success today, a great
sense of achievement when I had finished.
It was a cross thread.I took the arm and ballcock out of the cistern
which was difficult as the outer holding/spacer nut squeaked and stuck
trying to get it off. I cleaned everything and tried a random nut and it
went on the thread fine, I then tried the tap connector nut on a spare
screw thing and it went on so that puzzled me. Then I put the originals
together and I could see it was straight and fairly easy to screw on so
I wondered if undoing the holding/spacer nut had cut a new thread.
Anyway putting it all back it worked! no leak!

Thanks all for the advice.

That's a very satisfactory outcome. Agree, taking the nut back over the
thread is a standard way of cleaning up minor damage to a thread, say
after cutting a bolt.. Very good job, and didn't cost too much! As a
lesson, it shows the importance of being very careful not to cross
thread especially plastic threads with a metal nut. Unless of course it
was the person who originally put the nut on who cross threaded it,
which is quite possible.

--

Roger Hayter

On Sun, 12 Nov 2017 23:46:30 +0000, Roger Hayter wrote:

Cherie Plum wrote:

On 11/11/2017 00:54, Roger Hayter wrote:

Do you do solder joints?

No. No yet ....

Anyhow popped back here to let you all know of my success today, a
great sense of achievement when I had finished.
It was a cross thread.I took the arm and ballcock out of the cistern
which was difficult as the outer holding/spacer nut squeaked and stuck
trying to get it off. I cleaned everything and tried a random nut and
it went on the thread fine, I then tried the tap connector nut on a
spare screw thing and it went on so that puzzled me. Then I put the
originals together and I could see it was straight and fairly easy to
screw on so I wondered if undoing the holding/spacer nut had cut a new
thread. Anyway putting it all back it worked! no leak!

Thanks all for the advice.

That's a very satisfactory outcome. Agree, taking the nut back over the
thread is a standard way of cleaning up minor damage to a thread, say
after cutting a bolt.. Very good job, and didn't cost too much! As a
lesson, it shows the importance of being very careful not to cross
thread especially plastic threads with a metal nut. Unless of course it
was the person who originally put the nut on who cross threaded it,
which is quite possible.

Rather coincidentally, I've been having cistern problems the past couple
of days. It's a conventional siphon flush cistern but low level (bottom
of the cistern mounted about a foot or so above the toilet bowl rim). It
had originally used a conventional ball cock filling system until I
"upgraded" it (along with the downstairs toilet and the attic header
tank) with "Fluidmaster"(tm) valves about 7 or 8 years ago. Actually, the
one in the attic, afaicr, was a different brand but the same servo
controlled valve system with a float riding up and down the stem pipe
which muffles the sound of the discharge into the tank.

When I first fitted these filling valves to the downstairs shower room
toilet and the half landing toilet. I was quite pleased with the initial
result. Mind you, you have to carefully align them up to avoid the float
fouling the siphon bell or cistern side - there's very little wriggle
room.

All that aside, after maybe some 6 to 12 months of service, first one,
then the other suddenly took to ****ing water out of (what I assume to
be) the air breaker vents, spraying jets between the top of the cisterns
and their lids resulting in minor flooding. My solution was the rather
pragmatic use of used aluminium pie cases as deflectors to divert the
spray away from the gaps between the lids and their cisterns - a sort of
"tinfoil hat" if you will.

About two years after the initial fit, we had the downstairs shower room
completely revamped which resulted in the existing loo being scrapped.
Luckily, I'd had the presence of mind to recover the Fluidmaster valve
and store it back in its original packaging, instruction sheet and all,
which I'd had the presence of mind to retain (I only kept one lot of
packaging but one was enough). At the time, my family thought I was a
little mad to be saving the valve from being scrapped but what do
families know, eh?

Anyway, the one remaining Fluidmaster (with its tinfoil hat to make up
for its major design flaw) performed pretty well flawlessly until almost
a week ago when I found myself having to replace the flush handle on
account of the hole on the clamped on rusty iron bar through which the
brass siphon linkage hooked had rusted through becoming a slot, allowing
the siphon linkage to escape. I'd have rotated the rusty cross bar to
save on the expense of parts except for the fact that the only way to
free it off involved a pair of bolt cutters and molegrips to break the
clamp apart. It was sadly beyond redemption so I found myself at the
"Plumb Centre" trade counter blowing the best part of a fiver on a
replacement handle kit. I only mention this on account of the fun that
followed a few days after successfully completing the repair.

The disturbance due to fixing the flush handle mechanism upset my finely
moulded tinfoil hat spray deflector and the 'angle of dangle' of the
fluidmaster which took me a few days to settle down (as I prematurely
thought). I was having difficulty in readjusting to avoid failed refills
and failed shut offs.

Eventually, I gave up on the tinfoil hat and tried wrapping the air
breaker vents with SA tape. This actually seemed to do the trick without
apparent compromise to the valve's operation, leading me to wonder why
such an air break had been deemed necessary in the first place (a
question to which, even now, I'm still not quite sure of the answer[1]).

Anyhow, two or three days later, having got used to the occasional need
to encourage the fluidmaster valve to admit water, I discovered the half
landing toilet floor awash due to the valve sticking on a few minutes
after my missus had flushed it. I could see water escaping from the
overflow joint as well as a copious leak past the flush handle spindle
(added to by the water level overtopping the back of the cistern which
was, for no good reason, cursed by a 15mm reduction of the rim height
over a section of about 4 or 5 cms slap bang in the middle.

My first concern was the massive overflow drainage failure followed by,
not only that but badly sealed joint of same into the cistern and the
woefully inadequate flush handle spindle seal. Only then did I ponder the
fill valve failure which, in normal circumstances wouldn't be considered
a major fail when you have an effective overflow outlet to make the
system completely 'failsafe'.

When I disassembled the overflow pipework to check for blockages, I
noted the use of a single thin polyethylene washer on the external face
with a thick coating of what looked like some jointing compound (Boss
White?) slapped over the plastic retaining nut. The overflow pipe was as
clean as a whistle so I cleaned the gunk off the outlet threads discarded
the polyethylene washer and fitted a rubber washer under the retaining
nut to properly seal the connection.

The problem with the overflow is simply that it can't cope with the
binary operation of a Fluidmaster when it fails to shut off the flow due
to a lack of fall in the 2 foot of overflow pipe which has to pass
through a solid one foot thick brick wall (Victorian built property).
I've no doubt it would have been able to cope with the dribble of a
conventional ball cock valve which tends to fail to entirely shut off
rather fail stuck in full flow.

Anyway, by taking the appropriate care in refitting the plastic overflow
parts and fit an actual sealing washer where it counts, on the inside.
I'd eliminated just one of the annoying leaks that only happen under
'failsafe' conditions. I then had to see what, if anything could be done
about my recently purchased flush handle and its rather ****y spindle
bearing. In short, nothing could be done so I looked to the original
flush handle which I'd kept hold of (the rusted through bar and its
wrecked clamp I'd consigned to the garbage but the actual handle looked
retrievable so considered worth hanging onto - I hate burning my boats).

The 'corrosion' on the spindle was essentially lime scale, presumably it
had been forged out of chrome steel, unlike the attached bar and clamp,
so it took just 5 or 10 minutes to dress it up with a file and some wire
wool. It didn't need to look pretty, just smoothed down enough to push
into the rectangular hole in the plastic siphon operating lever from the
new flush handle kit. The old handle spindle was a much better fit in its
nylon bearing, enough to reduce the copious ****ing down to more of a
weep.

At this point, I could see that the overflow simply couldn't cope with a
stuck on Fluidmaster, however, after scrutinising the instruction leaflet
and the spare valve, I hoped against hope that I'd removed the flow
restrictor when I'd fitted it to compensate for the reduced pressure of a
half landing toilet location compared to the downstairs toilet which I
remembered specifically fitting (or, as it turned out, not removing).
Unfortunately, reducing the flow by refitting the flow restrictor wasn't
an option since it hadn't been removed in the first place.

If needs must, I reckon I can fill in some of the restrictor fluting
with hot melt glue to further reduce the flow rate to a point where the
existing overflow can cope. However, I'm thinking of filling in the low
section at the back of the cistern with some sort of epoxy filler to
raise the over-topping level another half inch or so to increase the
overflow drainage rate. If it works, I'll still have to contend with the
dribble of leakage from the flush handle bearing. I might be able to fix
this with application of a very thick nylon friendly grease. I guess I
should google for the grease resistant properties of nylon (I know the
standard lubricant for nylon bearings is water but, for obvious reasons,
this is not an option).

One of the major issues with Sunday's bout of 'plumbing work' was the
lack of a seperate isolator valve to save me having to run up and down
the stairs between the toilet and the basement stop cock. I've dug out a
brand new, unused half inch valve which proves to be blessed with 15mm
olives (14.98mm ID according to my Workzone electronic caliper) which
matches the 15mm (actually 15.08mm OD according to the same caliper)
pipework feeding the cistern.

I think my very next job is to install this valve before doing any more
'experimental' work on eliminating the flooding hazard of a stuck on
Fluidmaster valve. I'll be able to use it to restrict the flow by way of
an experiment to prove whether such a remedy would render the system
failsafe with the existing overflow setup. The result might see me
fitting an old fashioned ballcock valve which does at least, fail to stop
the flow in a more overflow friendly fashion. Upgrading the overflow to
cope with a Fluidmaster valve failure would require drilling another exit
hole in the wall at a 45 degree angle in order to speed the flow
sufficiently to avoid being overwhelmed by valve failure of the
Fluidmaster kind.

[1] I landed up using the spare Fluidmaster valve which I'd modified by
drilling a passage via the blind small bore plastic hose connector (think
windscreen washer hose nipple) that was present on the blue plastic 'air
breaker' top and sealed the vents with careful application of hot melt
glue as an alternative to my use of SA tape on the original valve.

Initially, I didn't fit the short 5 inches or so of plastic tubing that
I thought might be needed when I turned the water supply back on which
proved to be a mistake since despite the greater throw across almost the
whole width of the cistern, the resulting jet of water was enough to
raise enough spray to soak the toilet seat (cistern lid off) in the
minute it took me to return from the basement stopcock.

That problem was solved swiftly enough using a short length of curved
windscreen wash tubing to divert the flow at an angle against the side of
the cistern and deflect it downwards into the water. That dead ended
plastic hose connector 'ornament' on the blue plastic 'air breaker' had
been a constant source of puzzlement. Having a 'spare' to experiment on
gave me the luxury of drilling the blockage out to verify my suspicion
that it did indeed offer an alternative 'venting' route, allowing me to
block the original vents without fear of upsetting what may or may not
have been a vital part of the valve's operation.

Presumably this 'air breaker' incorporates a one way valve to prevent
spray back. It's rather unfortunate that my experience with two examples
of this valve type have led me to conclude that its design left rather
too much to be desired, ie reliability. However, blocking the vents and
drilling out the pipe connection does offer a reasonably neat work around
to this annoying shortcoming. Presumably, there must have been some
reason why the design included such a venting route, subsequently one has
to assume, to be superceded by the 'spray back' prone vent ports.

The important lesson from this experience is that anyone upgrading from
a conventional 'tried and tested' ball cock float valve to one of these
new fangled servo operated float valves is to make sure that the overflow
can cope with the effects of a shut off failure.

--
Johnny B Good

On 13/11/2017 04:27, Johnny B Good wrote:


The important lesson from this experience is that anyone upgrading from
a conventional 'tried and tested' ball cock float valve to one of these
new fangled servo operated float valves is to make sure that the overflow
can cope with the effects of a shut off failure.



Are you sure the correct restrictor was fitted in the first place? Often
two alternative restrictors are supplied and/or there is an adjustment
for the inlet water pressure.

IMO many of the faults with the valves your describe may be due to a
inlet water pressure too high for the device.

You could use the new service valve as a restrictor to see if if a lower
inlet flow cures some of the obvious problems. The hole on a restrictor
is usually a small fraction of the diameter of a 15mm pipe so a full
bore service valve was probably unnecessary.

I've had ball-cocks (temporally) fail open when the water utility
company have been undertaking local works and grit/dirt has entered the
supply and has prevented the value from closing properly. I've found the
new style of valve to be no more unreliable than the older ball cock
type valve.

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

Johnny B Good wrote:



Presumably this 'air breaker' incorporates a one way valve to prevent
spray back. It's rather unfortunate that my experience with two examples
of this valve type have led me to conclude that its design left rather
too much to be desired, ie reliability. However, blocking the vents and
drilling out the pipe connection does offer a reasonably neat work around
to this annoying shortcoming. Presumably, there must have been some
reason why the design included such a venting route, subsequently one has
to assume, to be superceded by the 'spray back' prone vent ports.

The important lesson from this experience is that anyone upgrading from
a conventional 'tried and tested' ball cock float valve to one of these
new fangled servo operated float valves is to make sure that the overflow
can cope with the effects of a shut off failure.

AMI the vents at the top, like the common collapsible down tube, are
probably to prevent back siphonage. This is necessary to meet water
regulations. So your mods probably make it illegal. Personally I
would not lose an enormous amount fo sleep over this, just for interest,
as I say.


--

Roger Hayter

On Mon, 13 Nov 2017 07:15:58 +0000, alan_m wrote:

On 13/11/2017 04:27, Johnny B Good wrote:


The important lesson from this experience is that anyone upgrading
from
a conventional 'tried and tested' ball cock float valve to one of these
new fangled servo operated float valves is to make sure that the
overflow can cope with the effects of a shut off failure.



Are you sure the correct restrictor was fitted in the first place? Often
two alternative restrictors are supplied and/or there is an adjustment
for the inlet water pressure.

Yes, there was only the one restrictor mentioned in the instruction
leaflet and only referred to the removal of a pre-fitted flow restrictor
to improve filling performance on low pressure supplies.


IMO many of the faults with the valves your describe may be due to a
inlet water pressure too high for the device.

You can also have problems with very low pressure preventing the valve
from shutting off the supply (but this situation is less of a problem for
the overflow). In any case the flow restrictor doesn't effect the static
water pressure which would be the key element with their use on
excessively high pressure supplies.


You could use the new service valve as a restrictor to see if if a lower
inlet flow cures some of the obvious problems. The hole on a restrictor
is usually a small fraction of the diameter of a 15mm pipe so a full
bore service valve was probably unnecessary.

Aside from the much needed convenience of fitting an isolator valve,
using it to test the effect of additional flow restriction was also a
consideration as to why it would be worth the extra trouble of fitting
one before attempting any more fettling to eliminate the risk of more
toilet floods.

The restrictor takes the form of a tapered fluted plug in the Fluidmaster
valves whilst, if memory serves, the other make of servo float valve in
the loft header tank took the form of a tapered spiral which I removed to
compensate for the drop in supply pressure due to the higher altitude
(hence my actually seeing said flow restrictor gizmo on this brand of
valve as opposed to not seeing the ones pre-fitted to the Fluidmasters).


I've had ball-cocks (temporally) fail open when the water utility
company have been undertaking local works and grit/dirt has entered the
supply and has prevented the value from closing properly. I've found the
new style of valve to be no more unreliable than the older ball cock
type valve.

The major difference is that such ball cock float operated valves tend
to allow a trickle of water through rather than remain jammed fully open.
This greatly minimises the risk of the overflow becoming overwhelmed in
its failsafe task of dumping the excess water out of the fabric of the
building. The servo operated float valves can, for any number of reasons,
fail to shut off, resulting in an unabated filling of the tank or cistern
that the overflow might be unable to keep pace with. When the diaphragm
fails to properly seal (wear or grit) in a servo float valve, the
resulting leakage is easily dealt with by the overflow as per the similar
situation with conventional float valves.

As it happened, I did see some weepage after swapping out the valves
which over some 2 or 3 hours eventually raised the level to that of the
overflow which was able to limit any further rise in level. The problem
seemed to slowly disappear with some intermittency and now seems to have
finally settled down.

I suspect it was all the removal and refitting of the diaphragm trying
to figure out whether the actuator pin was supposed to poke through to
the other side of the diaphragm or not before I finally spotted the tiny
hole in the central shank part that the pin was sliding past, prompting
me to take a much closer view of the actuating pin itself to discover a
'waisted' section that acted as a slide valve against the tiny hole. It's
this arrangement that gives the servo action a toggling effect utilising
the water pressure to rapidly "turn the tap off and on". Unfortunately,
it's the very small dimensions of the slide valve components that makes
them susceptible to grit particles in the water supply.

I haven't worked out whether a blockage by a particle of grit results in
a failure to open (failsafe) or a failure to close (unsafe failure). I'd
like to be able to think that the valve will fail safe in the event of a
grit induced blockage but that at the moment is merely a pious hope based
on faith that the designers knew what they doing. If they *did* know what
they were doing, I'd expect mention of this failsafe behaviour in the PR
materials so a look at FluidMaster's marketing bull**** on their website
might offer some reassurance on this point.

However, aside from the failed one way air breaker valves and the
unintended water spray, the valves did function fine with at least one
working for a good 7 or 8 years without failure, so they seem reliable
enough if you ignore the issue of backspraying via the air breaker vents.

I'm guessing the ornamental hose nipple is a fossil of an earlier design
sans the one way valve and additional vents where the modified version
did away with a seperate drilling out step and the fitting of a piece of
plastic tubing. My modification most likely restored the missing stages
of production with the blocking of the vents cancelling the design change
made in the moulding.

I suspect that storing the other valve (with the SA tape removed) in a
container full of lime scale remover for a few weeks or months, will
'cure' the spray back fault. Whether I'd want to use such remedial
treatment, beyond satisfying my curiosity, as a regular scheduled
maintenance action seems most unlikely since the drill/hot glue fix looks
like the least effort for a more permanent solution. I'd rather avoid
swapping valves over every 6 to 12 months just to rotate them through the
bath of lime scale removal solution.

--
Johnny B Good

On Mon, 13 Nov 2017 10:14:43 +0000, Roger Hayter wrote:

Johnny B Good wrote:



Presumably this 'air breaker' incorporates a one way valve to prevent
spray back. It's rather unfortunate that my experience with two
examples of this valve type have led me to conclude that its design
left rather too much to be desired, ie reliability. However, blocking
the vents and drilling out the pipe connection does offer a reasonably
neat work around to this annoying shortcoming. Presumably, there must
have been some reason why the design included such a venting route,
subsequently one has to assume, to be superceded by the 'spray back'
prone vent ports.

The important lesson from this experience is that anyone upgrading
from
a conventional 'tried and tested' ball cock float valve to one of these
new fangled servo operated float valves is to make sure that the
overflow can cope with the effects of a shut off failure.

AMI the vents at the top, like the common collapsible down tube, are
probably to prevent back siphonage. This is necessary to meet water
regulations. So your mods probably make it illegal. Personally I
would not lose an enormous amount of sleep over this, just for interest,
as I say.

Well, the simple act of sealing off the vents with SA tape would
certainly have made it non-compliant but the more considered drilling and
hot melt glue mod to the spare unit would appear to have kept it all
legit.

My best guess for the adornment of a non-functional tubing nipple is
that the design was altered to save the cost of the drilling out stage[1]
and the additional expense of a piece of plastic tubing. Indeed, the
reason as to why the tubing nipple still existed is most likely because
it's easier to machine out an existing mould to incorporate the extra
vents just above what must have been the original domed top and the
minuscule savings in plastic feedstock costs not considered worth the
expense of making a new mould from scratch. Any additional internal
changes to accommodate a one way anti-spray valve would most likely would
have involved changes to a separate smaller plastic moulding used to
complete the final build.

[1] Second guessing here but it's entirely possible that there wasn't a
drilling out stage to begin with. The 'gallery' may have been moulded in
from the start and all that was required to 'blank it off' was a minor
grinding back of the corresponding spigot used in the mould.

Whatever the reason for such an adornment, you can stake your life that
it was driven by economics. A case of let's not burn our boats just yet
before we've proved that what looks like an elegant design solution on
the drawing board doesn't turn out to be a white elephant out in the real
world. The fact that the one way anti spray back valves failed so early
on lends some credence to the belief that it was a design at the early
stages of its transition to a nippleless version.

--
Johnny B Good