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Discuss Silly me: got cylinder replaced to help pressure - was I duped? in the Plumbing Jobs | The Job-board area at PlumbersForums.net

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Hi all,

I've been quite stupid I think. I put an ad out asking for quotes for replacing the cylinder in my flat. A direct combination one.

When the trader came over I told him I was doing it to improve the water pressure in my bathroom taps (which I have now learned is not how this works at all). He agreed to do it for £750, cost of cylinder included.

Now after the installation is complete, the pressure is actually a bit worse (I assume due to the cylinder being a bit smaller?). I feel duped, like I've spent £750 for no reason.

I know my original ad said I want a cylinder replaced but when telling him why should he not have advised it wouldn't achieve the result? Feeling angry at myself mostly but also feel a little misled. Is the matter worth pursuing with the guy at all?

Best regards,
Andrei Goea
 
Any pictures?
What is the new cylinder?
 
Got the cheapest Telford we could find together for it (attached). We've been discussing this job for about 3 weeks so I think there was plenty of opportunity to warn me!

IMG_40911.jpg
 
Do you have 1/4 turn taps in your bathroom? you could well have high pressure taps on a low pressure system.
 
I believe I do. Attached pics of the taps at maximum right. Don't know if it matters but the cold water pressure is very good.

20171103_213619.jpg


20171103_213935.jpg
 
These are high pressure taps not suited to low pressure hot. Cold will probably be off the mains. You probably could have just changed the taps.

If your cold water pressure and flow is good, you may have been able to have an invented cylinder.

A good plumber should have checked the situation. Not all so called plumbers know what they are doing.
 
Am I right in feeling misled here? There's probably nothing I can do with regards to the 'plumber' is there?

I expressed my frustration to him and he just told me to get a water pump installed. Didn't seem to care at all.

Screenshot_20171103-214817.jpg
 
This sounds fair. Guess I'll have to chalk this up to a very expensive life lesson :D

Thank you very much for your advice on this!

Best regards,
Andrei Goea
 
do you have any gas eg gas boiler?
 
your best option if your mains cold water is ok is an unvented cylinder as you cant pump them cylinders sorry to say
 
This sounds fair. Guess I'll have to chalk this up to a very expensive life lesson

If you are in a flat I would think twice before trying to fix the problem by installing a pump. They can be noisy enough to annoy the neighbours. Consider some of the other solutions that have been suggested.
 
Ouch! Sounds like just burning the £750 would have given me better value out of them!

I don't know why I didn't just post here to begin with! You guys are awesome. Very helpful.

your best option if your mains cold water is ok is an unvented cylinder as you cant pump them cylinders sorry to say
 
Ouch! Sounds like just burning the £750 would have given me better value out of them!

I don't know why I didn't just post here to begin with! You guys are awesome. Very helpful.

sorry to say yes, unless you can work something out with your old plumber

there very bad for hot water pressure as theres no head (eg height of the water tank)

you cant install a pump as theres no volume you need about 50 gallons
 
I do not know, why people just walk in customers homes not listening at all what the customer is complaining about. I definitely disagree on that fact that he did what you wanted him to do, because if he had listen properly he would have picked up that you have an issue with the hot water pressure being low. If that's the case he would make a survey and assess the job right.

I would not just swallow that, you had to literally spend a lot of money for nothing. I would try to find a solution with him together and not causing more damage to your pocket. Really, he had made mistake by not listening to you at the beginning. Because, I do no think that someone will call you up and ask you to install just a tank ... there is always the question coming what the reason behind that is. That's a natural thing to ask why you want to install this and that.
 
I agree matchless, but as you've seen from the texts above the guy doesn't really care.

Other than give him a review so others are aware as well I don't know what to do.
 
Other than give him a review so others are aware as well I don't know what to do.

Consult the Citizens Advice Bureau or your local Trading Standards Dept. There's an argument to be made that your plumber did not exercise 'reasonable skill and care'. The flow rate (not 'pressure') of hot water looks to be well below the minimum specified in the applicable standards and you could argue that a competent plumber should have predicted this and clearly warned you that replacing the tank would not cure this problem.

I strongly recommend that you don't start publishing bad reviews anywhere until you have consulted CAB. You may well find that they will prejudice your case.
 
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If it makes you feel any better .......................
Booked the van in for the mot with the instruction that the handbrake needed looking at FIRST. Then when I went to collect the van it had failed the mot on the handbrake not working correctly and they didn`t have time to look at it!
I`ve looked into the matter and been told there is nothing I can do, so I`ve spread the word around town verbally.
 
As others have said a pump wont work as the header wont keep up, if you the change taps make sure that you install non return valves as the higher pressure mains fed cold will win the battle and cause header to overflow, quite common.
 
As others have said a pump wont work as the header wont keep up, if you the change taps make sure that you install non return valves as the higher pressure mains fed cold will win the battle and cause header to overflow, quite common.

Need to be dual flow taps mate
 
On top of everything the new immersion heater seems to be turning on every 2 hours with this cylinder. With the old one it would be closer to every 20 hours. Is this normal at all?

Also when it turns on it makes quite a loud hissing noise whereas the old one was a lot more silent.
 
[T]he new immersion heater seems to be turning on every 2 hours with this cylinder. With the old one it would be closer to every 20 hours. Is this normal at all?

No, not really. Such tanks should be controlled by a time-switch set up to have the heater on for the minimum period(s) needed to make sure you have hot water available at the times you use it.
 
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