Lilian, a long-time supporter of the
column, has the following problem:
Q:
Some weeks back, we experienced
a mains system water
leak in our road. Residents were
kept in the dark and we were not
informed it had occurred. My geyser
was switched on throughout the
time it took to repair the leak.
After that event, I turned on the
hot tap in my shower but nothing
happened.Eventually
the water
started to flow. Then I found the
water temperature was becoming
so hot it almost burnt my hands. I
called in a plumber and he turned
down the thermostat down to 650C,
but it was still too hot. The plumber
took the tap to pieces and scraped
it, but afterthis
it slipped when
turning it on and off.
The plumber returned four times
as the shower still did not function
when opening the tap. The bill was
about R1 400.
He also removed the existing
thermostat and replaced it.
This
week the water is still far too hot,
and the shower head still does not
flow when turned on. The wait is
growing longer and longer.
I called in a new plumber and
he turned down the thermostat to
550C.
He removed the hot tap and
cleaned it thoroughly. This morning,
it’s the same story. I turn on the hot
tap in the shower and nothing happens.
I have to wait for ages before
it starts working.
Please advise.
A:
Sorry, I do not have much-
learned advice to offer on
plumbing, but a plumbing friend
offers the following advice.
Unfortunately, the council is not
obliged to give reports of repairs to
mains. However, the client could try
to get them to cover the cost of a
plumber call out to clean the pressure
reducing valve (prv
) on the hot
water cylinder.
Firstly, the hot water cylinder
had to partially refill with water.
The thermostat most likely needed
replacing (wear and tear), thus turning
it down would not have helped,
especially if it was already faulty.
The thermostat can be turned down
to between 500C and 550C (the
average household temperature).
If you have a solar installation,
the water could get too hot, but the
solar installation should have a heat regulating
valve which serves to
introduce cold water into the system
when it gets too hot, thus bringing
down the temperature in this way.
There could also be a water starvation
problem, which means
insufficient supply and too much
demand. This could be due to
a blocked or faultyprv
valve or
because of a lack of pressure from
the council side.
As we all know, there are plumbers
and plumbers, and we end up
paying in many cases for investigatory
work, which is not correct, and
which is yet another example of why
proper training is so important.
*Handy Mac, aka Don MacAlister, is our expert on household DIY issues. If you have a question for him, please send it to [email protected] or SMS only to 082 446 3859. Find Don on FB: