It has been quite some time since I made an update on my refurbishment of Sabina
It has been a bit of a traumatic time, as I intimated in posts in the "No sun up in the sky" thread I have been having some problems.
Work has been slow as to be honest, I have trouble maintaining enthusiasm at this time of year .... I am definitely not a winter person.
I continued building the shower cubicle (which was quite time consuming) and I have been pleased with the overall results
100_0101 by
mudlarker2, on Flickr
access to the plumbing and the tank was through what will be a cupboard door in the new bedroom
100_0015 by
mudlarker2, on Flickr
With the drain plumbed in and the pump wired it was time to fill the tank ..... opened a single hot tap (galley) turned on the main valve in the cupboard
and then went and turned on the pump (switch in the galley) dashed back to the cupboard to check there were no leaks immediately visible.... all ok
With the size of the tank there was a lot of filling so I did it in stages as I didn't want the water pump to overheat from running too long.
Eventually water started coming out of the hot tap in the galley so after all spluttering of air from the pipe stopped I turned it off.
Obviously I expected the water pump to stop fairly quickly after that ....... but it continued to run.
First thought was that either I had left a tap on in the shower or one of the stop valves on the ends of the pipes ready to feed the new handbasin .
No, both were dry ...... I then realised I could hear water .... lots of water. Dashed back to the galley and turned off the pump.
Went in to the other room where the tank cupboard was and found water everywhere. Ok I knew there were no leaks up to the main stop valve there
so I closed that and went back and turned the pump back on, it pressurised the cold system and stopped. I then cautiously opened the main stop valve
So I could see what was leaking, water then began pouring out of the outer casing of the tank, I checked all of the connections and they were all dry.
It was the tank itself leaking. By this time it was about 7 pm on Friday evening, so there was nothing I could do until probably Monday morning.
So I made myself a cup of coffee and opened the rum bottle.
Over the weekend I vacuumed up the floodwater and measured to see if I could get the tank out through the cupboard, the proposed bedroom area and
along the corridor ..... If it wouldn't then the only option was going to be cut a damned great hole in the deck and lift it out
There was no way I was going to take apart the new shower cubicle, that would end up destroying a couple of hundred pounds worth of gear !!!
Fortunately I worked out that if I demolished the door frame of the cupboard and removed the top layer of insulation in the bedroom adjacent and
then demolished the rest of the wall between the old bathroom and the corridor it should ..... just fit
Monday I was on the phone .... the retailer was full of "you've got to go to the manufacturer etc etc etc .... Now I am well aware of consumer rights
and if it had been something smaller and easier to deal with I would have just insisted that they dealt with it, under the circumstances I took the path of least resistance
and contacted the manufacturer with the number that the retailer provided ...... the reaction of the manufacturer was first what was the problem,
I explained and they then asked where I had bought it, there was a bit of a pause and then they asked for the serial number. there was again another pause.
They then told me that they did not have that model in stock (by this time I was getting a bit suspicious) but they then said they would have to make one
as double coil tanks were not common. I then explained that I would be very happy if they supplied a smaller tank as getting the old one out
was going to be a marathon and I suspected that trying to plumb in a replacement in that space would be an absolute nightmare.
(I explained about the 250 litre tank being on special and cheaper than the size I was actually planning for) So they said "fine we will make you a 180 litre version
it will take about a week and we will deliver it and collect the old one" They also said that it would be a "bare" tank and not supplied with an installation kit.
That afternoon I started pumping out the water in the tank removing the plumbing, and over the next day, the door frame and part of the wall of the corridor.
Two friends came to help remove the tank and with many cups of tea, head scratching and swearing eventually they got it out without bashing it up
(We didn't want it to looked knocked about when it was returned)
A week later the new tank arrived and the old tank taken away. It was noticeable that it was one man with a tail lift and a pallet truck and the unit was
well packed and strapped to a solid pallet ..... a contrast to the original delivery just in a cardboard box by two guys in a Luton Transit.
a couple of days later my friends helped again and the new tank was carried in and put in the cupboard, I then spent a day re-plumbing it
(of course all the pipe runs needed altering ) but it went in
100_0103 by
mudlarker2, on Flickr
still some pipe clips/Wiring and tidying needed but at least it's in and working
(Incidentally although it was meant to be a "bare" tank there was actually a complete new fitting kit included in the packing)
I checked everything and filled the tank, no leaks (well apart from a little drip from one joint that just needed nipping up)
I had a nice hot shower that evening !!!
The next morning I was going to phone the Manufacturer (Kingspan) but they rang me first !!! making sure everything was alright !!!
While they were on the phone I told them that they had sent a new fitting kit with the tank
and would they like me to send it back or keep it until one of their drivers were this way, the answer was no, just keep it as spares !!!
I was impressed by how the manufacturer dealt with the problem, no fuss, no drama and I thought the phone call to check if everything was ok was good.
But my word, I really could have done without that
