shut off water to replace a tap - now 2 of 3 toilets arent filling up anymore

murfilein · 02-10-2022 12:52am #1

as per title, i shut off water to our house because i wanted to replace a tap

after replacing the tap and turning water back on, water starts flowing again after a while.

everything is ok now, except the 1st and 2nd floor toilet, which are fed by the attic water tank. while the 2 upstairs showers and taps work fine, the 2 toilets dont fill up anymore. whats going on? everything upstairs is fed by the water tank. but why isnt any water refilling the toilet tanks? what can i do to find out what the issue is?

i think i'll try to restart the water pump at the tank, but i dont think this will do anything as the showers and taps are working fine and i can hear the pump working away. only the toilets dont want to fill up anymore.

by the way is it normal in ireland that there isnt a shut off valve at every single water outlet and toilet? i have lived i a couple countries, incl. in south asia, and nowhere did i not see valves at every single water outlet. only in ireland i have to shut water off to the entire house and empty the water tank just to work on a single tap. thats beyond ridiculous. i hope thats just the houses/development we live in, not a nationwide thing...

the_pen_turner · 02-10-2022 1:01am

what did you turn off and where was it

was the tap a mains fed or tank fed

cold or hot and cold

was the mains off for long

were people using the toilets while it was off

is there crap in the bottom of the tank that could have blocked the pipe

is anything else off the tank working

are you sure you turned everthing back on

unfortunitly it is common for no isolating valves to be fitted. they should always be fitted in my opinion. very handy but they do add cost and extra joint that could leak

greasepalm · 02-10-2022 1:09am

Did you shut off water outside your property or via the usual tap in kitchen which shuts off the mains feeding your house.

Is it switched on fully ?

My toilets are fed from Mains and not water tank as far as i know. Rethinking ensuite had a tank fed and outside tap had no pressure because it was not mains fed.

Does your kitchen tap have good pressure?

When getting my kitchen replaced i got water valves to turn to reduce or shut off water.

Have you checked water level in tank.

It would be handy if getting upgrades of getting valves fitted to switch that one you want to work on.

I dont think they thought about shut off valves .

I do remember plumber had to charge a line because of airlock so mains water was attached to outside tap in on position to get rid of air lock in system that fed that toilet.

murfilein · 02-10-2022 1:10am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119691047#Comment_119691047

i turned off the mains water to our house from outside, the little cover on the street that says water. I'm not aware of a way to shut off water from within my house.

the tap i replaced is fed by the attic water tank

hot and cold, heated by the boiler on the first floor

mains was of for like 2 hours i think

no one used the upstairs toilets, only the ground floor one which is mains feed (only flushed once with the water that in it already, and it of course didn't fill up until i turned water on again)

there is nothing that can block the pipe. the pipe that goes to the toilet feeds into a plastic piece and the water comes out from the top of that

yes 2 basins and showers upstairs are working fine. just the 2 upstairs toilets don't work

I'm sure i turned everything back on, as the only thing i turned off was the mains water from the circular cover on the street in front of the house

seanrambo87 · 02-10-2022 1:16am

Sounds like an air lock. Do you have a mixer tap in your kitchen? If you do put the handle in the center i.e. to mix hot and cold, next grab the spout on the tap and block it before you turn on the tap, then turn it on and hold tight. This should rec5ify it immediately, pm me if you need to.

Regards,

SeanRambo

greasepalm · 02-10-2022 1:18am

Having shut off outside feed and before changing tap you would have had to drain tank ? My tank has a tap to stop it draining on the bottom feed.

chooseusername · 02-10-2022 8:22am

What taps did you turn on to empty the tank, and did you flush the toilets to speed up the process?

murfilein · 02-10-2022 9:45am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119691069#Comment_119691069

will give it a try in a bit!

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119691071#Comment_119691071

ours doesn't, at least i haven't seen anything like it when i went up...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119691220#Comment_119691220

we opened all the taps and i believe we did insect in fact flushed the toilet once too

the_pen_turner · 02-10-2022 11:59am

definetly air locked the pipes. you will have to either back feed the pipes or open the fittings near the airlock to clear it

murfilein · 02-10-2022 12:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119691677#Comment_119691677

what do airlocks and the fitting look like? where and how do i do that?

can i post an image of something if that helps?

the_pen_turner · 02-10-2022 12:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119691795#Comment_119691795

an air lock is just a bubble of air trapped in the pipe. the pressure down from the water isnt enough to push the air out. you cant see it. usually happens when there is a rise up in a pipe before dropping down again or at fittings doing the same.

the fittings are probably compression fittings.

hard to know what to ask for a pic of without knowing your house. how is the water ran to the effected areas.

i have heard of people using a plunger to clear them i havnt tried it. last time i did it i used a garden hose and held it down in the outlet of the tank and open the other end a bit (with someone there to tighten it). same thing going back the other way from the toilet into the pipe

murfilein · 02-10-2022 2:13pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119691840#Comment_119691840

lol ok i thought you were talking about a piece on the toilet as the airlock

so this is what the water inlet looks like in our toilets:

PXL_20221002_131103772.jpg

my wifes idea was to somehow disassemble it so we have access to the pipe the water comes through and suck on it (how remains to be determined) to remove the air. makes sense to me but i don't want water shooting out of it and me not being able to close it up again...

either way, would that be worth a try?

murfilein · 02-10-2022 2:16pm

i just did this:

16647165554276582607644815400064.jpg

now the question is how do i suck on it lol

murfilein · 02-10-2022 3:46pm

unexpected twist:

i was in the attic looking at the pump, trying to see if there is an issue there

meanwhile, my wife found a pipe, like a straw, that fit the disassembled water inlet in the cistern perfectly. she put it on, and sucked and blew into it (no naughtiness intended), when i can hear and see the water tank suddenly topping up water, and my wife happily screaming that the toilet is filling up again

so this is the end of the story i guess.

thanks for all your replies guys!

the_pen_turner · 02-10-2022 4:37pm

congratulations .

where is the fun if you cant have some naughtiness.

murfilein · 02-10-2022 4:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119692853#Comment_119692853

ain't that the truth ;)

Nicks delight · 02-10-2022 5:13pm

It sound to me like you have an airlock. run all the taps in the house and flush the working toilet. it might work.

If you have flexi-pipes somewhere make sure they do not have raised parts where the air can create locks.

seanrambo87 · 02-10-2022 10:29pm

Glad you got it sorted lad

shut off water to replace a tap - now 2 of 3 toilets arent filling up anymore

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