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airlock

An airlock, air-lock or air lock, often abbreviated to just lock, is a compartment with doors which can be sealed against pressure which permits the passage of people and objects between environments of differing pressure or atmospheric composition while minimizing the change of pressure in the adjoining spaces and mixing of environments. The lock consists of a relatively small chamber with two airtight doors in series which do not open simultaneously.
An airlock may be used for passage between environments of different gases or different pressures, or both, to minimize pressure loss or prevent the gases from mixing.
An airlock may also be used underwater to allow passage between an air environment in a pressure vessel and the water environment outside, in which case the airlock can contain air or water. This is called a floodable airlock or an underwater airlock, and is used to prevent water from entering a submersible vessel or an underwater habitat.
Air-locks are used in space flight, saturation diving accommodation, hyperbaric chambers, submarines, some underwater habitats, cleanrooms, and pressurised caissons and tunnels. Depending on the pressure difference, when people use an airlock to transfer from higher to lower pressure, it may be necessary to follow a decompression schedule to avoid decompression sickness. A similar arrangement may be used for access to airtight clean spaces, contaminated spaces,or unbreathable atmospheres without necessarily having a pressure difference. In these cases a decontamination procedure and flushing takes the place of pressure changes.
The procedure of entering an air-lock, sealing it, equalising the pressure, and passing through the inner door, is known as locking in. Locking out is to unseal the outer door after equalising pressure and exit the lock compartment to the ambient environment. Locking on and off refer to transfer under pressure where the two chambers are physically connected or disconnected prior to equalizing the pressure and locking in or out.

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  1. C

    Kitchen airlock? (+pics)

    Hello all, The kitchen sink in the property we are renting drains really slowly, and I was hoping to remedy or alleviate this with some educated advice. In addition to draining slowly, the sink also back fills when the washing machine pumps water out. I have had the initial undersink work...
  2. J

    Nightmare airlock in F&E system

    Hi all, Got a nightmare situation with a central heating system I recently adopted. It's an open vent system with a combined F&E pipe, with a Worcester greenstar danesmoor 18/25 oil boiler. Covers 10 radiators mostly large double panels, some towel rails and smaller rads too, as well as an...
  3. G

    Clearing airlock from multiple pumped showers

    I have a negative head twin impeller Stuart Turner pump feeding hot and cold to three showers, one bath, plus hot to three basin's from my gravity fed, loft cold water tank and airing cupboard hot water tank. Occasionally the pump operates for a couple of seconds without demand for water. More...
  4. S

    C plan system airlock

    Hi guys, we moved into a place last Dec with an old Grant Euroflame oil boiler with 4 pipes, one set with a Grundfos pump on it and the other set running upstairs to a HW cylinder. We've never been able to get HW generated from the boiler for a sustained period, the water doesn't seem to flow...
  5. R

    Airlock forming in water pipe from the overhead tank

    Hi folks, I have a problem with an airlock forming every time the overhead tank becomes empty. Even when I fill the overhead tank to the brim, the water in the household outlets comes at a very low speed. By experimenting, I found that there are two ways to fix the problem each time there is...
  6. S

    Help possible airlock in hot water shower pump Salamander ct50.system

    Good evening everyone. I am after some advice with regard to our hot water system before I call out a plumber if necessary. So about 3 times since Easter we have had what looks an airlock. I have done the trick with a mixer tap which seems to fix it eventually, usually left overnight. I am...
  7. T

    Airlock problem. Please help

    Water is not flowing in any of the taps in my flat. My neighbors all have water running at good pressure but I have nothing. I do not have a hot water system. All of the taps are cold single water taps. I think it is an airlock but all of the solutions I have found online involve a hot water tap...
  8. P

    Clearing airlock from open vented system

    Hello, I would like to ask for a bit of advice. I was helping my friends with their bathroom renovation as they are in a rush, expecting a baby soon. Unfortunately we ended up having no hot water. They have an open vented system with water cylinder beside the boiler and big and small tank in the...
  9. T

    Triton Digital Shower - airlock

    Hi new member and first post. I've just installed a Triton Home digital shower (low pressure version twin outlet). Having ran the commissioning mode for several minutes I then turned the shower on but am getting hardly any water coming out the shower heads. Flow rate into the pump is c 6ltrs /...
  10. T

    Why is my boiler condensate not emptying into the pipe?

    Previously no issues but now when I disconnect the condensate pipe from the boiler there is an audible air escape from the condensate pipe then the boiler happily drains into the pipe and you can hear it drain into the mains waste. Is this an air lock issue?
  11. M

    Help with Rayburn airlock

    I have a Rayburn connected to hot water cylinder indirect with radiators which turn on when at certain temperature. The system has been working for many years with no issues, but when I drain the system I get an air lock which sometime sorts itself out when the temperature gets to 90 deg. I...
  12. M

    Airlock/low pressure power shower problem.

    Hi there, Our power shower has had very poor pressure for a long time, so I decided to bleed any air out of the system (which there was a lot). it works great to start with but gradudually the pressure falls and there is more air in the hot water system. I have done this about 6 times now, so I...
  13. Q

    No water from shower until i give the sink tap a quick blast.

    Hello, We have a pretty standard gravity fed system. Two cold water and one expansion tank in the loft and vented cylinder in the airing board airing cupboard on 1st floor. Pressure is terrible on both ground and first floor so we have a 4 bar pump that blasts both hot and cold water around...
  14. Bogart

    Airlock in twin radiator.

    Twin rad with only waterways at bottom. Each half has its own bleed valve. Back heats up front does not surely must be a blocked bleed valve?
  15. Dark Eyes

    UK Trying to get rid of an airlock

    Every year or so, I seem to need to clear the gunk out of my kitchen sink waste pipes, which also take the waste feeds from the washing machine and dishwasher (see attached photos), which I do, after advice from a plumber, by removing the trap under the sink and sucking out the water and gunk...
  16. C

    My new walk in shower draining slowly but not all the time. Is it an airlock?

    Hi there. I have had a new shower fitted with a low Profile shower tray by Merlyn Truestone. About three or for times a week it drains slowly and overflows the low form tray. Once we use the plunger on it it’s fine. Does this suggest an airlock and if so what do I do? The drainage pipes from...
  17. P

    Easy job then nightmare airlock

    Went to sort out two dripping kitchen taps for an old lady on my way home yesterday thought 10 mins for job and half hour chat etc, the plumbing was 30-40 years old gravity system. The taps were the ones with the flat lockshield style headgear not splines, I turned off the stoptap and did the...
  18. S

    Constant Airlock in 1 feed pipe

    Hi Guys. I'm having a consistent Airlock problem with 1 Radiator Feed Pipe, causing 1 Rad not to get hot. It happens about every 10 days or so, until i push it out by turning all other rads off apart from 1 which doesn't get hot. I hear a gurgle and then it pushes water through. I then bleed...
  19. R

    Airlock and water hammer

    hi I’ve recently turned the water back on in the house and suddenly it stopped flowing. It stopped in the kitchen first. After messing about with taps it came back on in the kitchen and has now transferred to the first floor bathroom where it has lost pressure, although improved a bit after...
  20. C

    Shower Pump or Airlock

    Good morning All, I am looking for some assistance if I may. Over the past 3 weeks the shower has not been operating correctly. Our shower is downstairs and the Mira pump PPT3 is upstairs. When operating the value on the shower to cold the pump works normally and sounds normal. When changing...
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