Fordham Flush Panel: warning about failure in old model

[Parsimonious]

The cisterns in both my loos are Fordham Flush Panels (Model Aquasave AC 2613). They looked quite old when I moved here in 1995 but they continued to work well. The only failure until recently was of a halter unit, which snapped. I replaced this without realising that more important plastic components might also fail because of age. Recently, while turning off a cold tap (mains supply), I heard a loud knock in the pipes and then found water cascading from under the lid of one of the cisterns. The plastic feed unit in between the inlet and the ball valve had split neatly in two, releasing the full flow from the 15 mm copper inlet pipe. The same thing happened yesterday with the other panel (which I use much less often). The currently available Fordham ball valve assemblies can't be used as a replacement. Anyway, this is a warning that old plastic plumbing parts might suddenly fail, with potentially disastrous consequences.

 

[JCplumb]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the heads up.
It's a good job you used an arrow to point to the failure in that pic, I would have never spotted it otherwise 😛

 

[Parsimonious]

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the heads up.
It's a good job you used an arrow to point to the failure in that pic, I would have never spotted it otherwise 😛

Yes, I know that it's a bit obvious:yes:. But you're an expert. The break is almost so clean that a mere novice like me might have thought that the pic showed two separate parts!

 

[Reg Man]

Plastic fatigue. It goes all powdery and brittle.

 

[turnpin]

If you auction that Woolworth ruler you may have enough money to upgrade both cisterns lol......regards turnpin😀

 

[Parsimonious]

If you auction that Woolworth ruler you may have enough money to upgrade both cisterns lol......regards turnpin😀

I hadn't thought of that, but I'd better go ahead before it also develops plastic fatigue:broken_heart:. Anyway, it's no good for drawing a straight line, since it's developed a permanent curve.

 

[stevetheplumber]

ah the good old flush panel probably 30 years old

 

[Dannypipe]

The quality of that photo is pretty good!!

 

[zzzjim]

Plastic lasts longer without sunlight !

(just hate the stuff when its old and brittle---or Cold and more brittle)