Hot water cylinder leaking

n111ck

n111ck

n111ck

Soldato
Joined
31 Jul 2008
Posts
7,903
Location
N/A
Came home to find water leaking through living room ceiling - turned out to be from hot water cylinder.

Does anyone know if a knackered cylinder:

- would be covered by nhbc as home is less than 10 years old
- cylinder would be covered by any sort of warranty
- home insurance would cover replacement?

Will be ringing round tomorrow to get definitive answers but anyone's experience would be useful.:)
 
You will probably find that only the damage caused by the leak will be covered by your house insurance. This was the case when it happend to me a few years ago, by the time I had paid the excess (I think it was £150 at the time) then it wasn't worth claiming, as it only caused the ceiling to sag.

If you have a new tank fitted, tell the Plumber that you want to keep the old one. He will probably offer to get rid of it for you, but you will get anywhere from £50 to £100 for it from the local scrap merchants if it's Copper (some tanks are Stainless).
 
Last edited:
As always it depends, though I suspect your insurance should cover it. I am not a plumber by the way.

Your house being less than 10 years old I doubt you have a vented system (cold water and central heating header tank in the loft). This rules out a copper tank.

Unvented systems operate at much higher pressures and require a stronger tank. These days I think regs mean they are all stainless steel and maintenance free. They also tend to carry 20+ year warranties.

In the past you also got mild steel with enamel coatings which were cheaper but suffer from galvanic corrosion due to the different metals (steel cylinder, copper pipe, water as the electrolyte). To combat this they used magnesium sacrificial anodes, basically lumps of magnesium alloy inside the tank. These need checking yearly and replacing when eroded. Failing to do this can lead to the tank corroding then leaking.

Some manufacturers used electronic anodes connected to the mains and I believe are supposed to last the life of the tank. The electronic anode in my Ariston cylinder has failed twice in the last ten years so it's no guarantee. Fortunately I noticed the fault light though it is a pig of a job to replace :(

Your failure could be down to faulty manufacture or lack of servicing.
 
Not had much luck with the warranty as there is no evidence that it has been serviced annually.

However it may not be a leak - plumber thinks that thermostat got stuck on and the water was condensation from the tank overheating. This would run down the inside of the tank and come out of the hole for one of the pipes.

Have switched it back on and checked the water is normal hot temp but there is new condensation under the lid where the expansion vessel is - would that be normal?
 
Can't visualise your description. If you had an overheat condition the temperature and pressure relief valve on the tank should release water through a tundish then drain to an appropriate point through some pipework.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom