Draining hot water tank and cylinder

[Mgrant]

Hi when wanting to drain the hot water pipework on a tank and cylinder system. Do people tend to use the gate valve on the cold feed to the cylinder? Or not as this can be prone to stop in the off position when turned off, if they haven't been used for a while.

 

[E4gas]

If it was me . I Drain it down & chage gate valve to lever ,,

 

[gassafe]

Depends what work your doing, if your doing a full drain down may as well drain it all down, of your just changing a washer etc then it's a bit drastic, see if the valve turns at all first & be prepared to change if necessary

 

[lame plumber]

try it gently, if its seized, its your choice whether to break it or close it, just be ready for it to spin when you want it to open 🙂 Just depends when your next appointment is due as to how you want to proceed.

 

[Simon F]

If you have got a set of bungs and the valve gets stuck closed, bung it and you have only got the volume of water in the pipe to worry about.
undue and change as needed.

 

[SJB]

If it doesn't turn by hand first try I strip the wheel off the valve and loosen the next nut, then work the head with a spanner back and forth gently. Not snapped one in ages doing this.

 

[Chalked]

I tend to have a look at the quality of the gate valve. Convex, Prestex or peggler, no prob. But if it's a cheap one, you have to be gentle.
did a cylinder swap last week to a pressurised . Went to turn the gate valve off the complete spindle came out! Luckily it was going in the scrap.

 

[kris]

Sometimes just as quick to drain cold tank aswell using taps while hose onto drain cock , that way theres no risk of jamming but if thinking of changing during works i suppose it depends on how old and what condition the gate valves in.