GRcade

Any plumbers out there? A pipe coming off my Cistern is leaking. Ive told the landlord and he's on it but I wondered if I could fix it myself

Is it the feed pipe, the flow pipe or the overflow pipe?


and no I'm not a plumber, just nosey.

If it is the overflow pipe, you need to mess about with the ballcock so that the level of water coming into the cistern is reduced. There should be a bit you can adjust on it...

hold one a sec whilst I google to see if I can find a diagram.....

Actually, just wait and let the landlord sort it out. He may get this plumber in to do it for you.



or if your really lucky, this guy.



Ok, I got distracted on my google search for a diagram of a ballcock. I'm just glad I typed it as one word or you'd be getting a whole different set of pictures.

The leak is definitely coming from the cold water supply pipe but I can't be sure as to whether its the actual joint to the Cistern or the nut underneath. I tried tightening the nut but this had no effect (and the thread is upside down so i'm not sure exactly which way to go) so I assume the washer inside the Cistern needs replacing and if it does, this is a job for my landlord. I don't want him charging me for a plumber if I balls it up.

Is there some sort of short term *external* measure I can take to stem the dripping beyond constantly replacing soaked towels and using a container to catch water? Would plumbers tape to the job in the interim or some pipe joint compound help?

if you have an isolation valve just close it off if not you're pretty much screwed.

Haven't done any plumbing in a while. But yeah, just turn the isolation valve to cut off any water getting into the cistern until your land lord sends a plumber to do the rest for you. The valve may look a bit different to what it looks in the diagram, there are multiple arm types or it could resemble a screw.



Should look something like that.

strawberry floating love that comic.

You know what most non-nerdy virgins would do? Call a plumber, maybe it will be a woman. Maybe you will get laid. Don't hold your breath though...

If you're turning it and its not tightening then you're either turning it the wrong way or the bit its screwing into is also turning. If you can find the isolation valve then shut off the water to the cistern, flush it a couple of times to drain the cistern and then try tightening the nut up with the lid off so you can see what is happening on the inside. It could be that you could hold the inside with some pliers/molgrips and then tighten the nut. Applying PTFE is something I wouldn't recommend as you'll need to completely decouple the inlet pipe.

I sure this thread with be flush with helpful ideas.

Plumber called. Coming in morning.

You called him or your landlord. Make sure you're not paying!

Typical. A plumbing thread appears, my big chance to help the GRCade community and it's all done and dusted before I get the chance to give my in-depth advice.

Would've just said to call someone out anyway.

Denster wrote:You called him or your landlord. Make sure you're not paying!

This obviously too, make sure you're not paying. Landlords tend to react a bit quicker to leaks than say, if you're heating is not working as there's potential there for some damage for the floor below if you're a first floor (or higher) flat. You did well to get someone next day, I'm booked up till Christmas.

You can almost hear the plumber starting to suck air now for when he gets there tomorrow.

Well, next time I'm in need of a local plumber I will definitely keep Bangalore, India in mind.

KKLEIN wrote:Well, next time I'm in need of a local plumber I will definitely keep Bangalore, India in mind.

Thank plumbing, indeed. Poor Carlos has waited seven years for a proper answer to his leak. He probably drowned.