The gate valve on the feed from my cold water tank to my hot water cylinder is stuck firmly 'open' - as I discovered when I needed to shut it in an emergency :-(

All attempts to shift it have failed. It is located right behind the tank in a very tight space with virtually no room to swing a wrench on it, tho' I have tried hard. I have even considered replacing it with a new one, but having drained down the syetm found that (a) I could not get enought grip to undo the compression nuts (the limited space for wrench again) and (b) the new gate valve seems shorter than the old and therefore the pipework probably will not align properly anyway.

Can anyone suggest any way to free up the old valve, or will I just have to call in a plumber ???

Chris, January 2008

Thnaks for your comments Lloyd. I agree that trying to use too much force on the old valve would probably just snap it off.

Fitting a new valve in the loft is not ideal, as then it is not accessible in an emergency - no loft ladder! However there /might/ be space to fit one downstream of the old one close to the bottom of the tank - I'll look into that.

Chris, January 2008

dont bother trying to repair the old valve it will probably snap inside;you could try and fit a new valve in the loft, bottom pipe out of the larger tank,consider fitting a lever valve (much more reliable) but a bit more expensive hope this helps

lloyd, January 2008