The shiny new cistern had a non-standard “inlet” for filling with water, so a flexible hose had to be used to connect it to the central pipe. This is, if someone suddenly does not know, such a thin black rubber tube connecting the cistern with the main water “artery” of the house.
A month has passed. And for some “technical reasons” the hot water was turned off in the house. Business as usual, everyone is turned off. But our young people didn’t think that these “pipe holidays” would give them such trouble: after turning on the water, the tank began to fill up more and more slowly, and then it stopped altogether. Water does not flow, and that’s it. While we were figuring out what was going on, I had to, excuse the detail, flush the contents of the toilet bowl.
The plumber was called. After a while, he came. Pretty muddy. The diagnosis was as simple as a mop: a clogged flexible hose. Well, who could have known that on that happy and joyful day, when hot water is turned on in the house, various nasty things are poured through pipes (both “hot” and “cold”): pieces of rust “streamed” through them, old green plaque and some kind of eerie black sediment! And who could have guessed that the delicate thin body of the flexible connecting hose would not withstand and clog?
The husband, a very hot-tempered and impulsive young man, was genuinely outraged by what had happened. How so?! They just put it on, and here you have a blockage.
The locksmith said that the work is difficult, it will take 2–3 hours, that the tank will have to be removed and everything will be screwed on again. I asked for the appropriate payment – 250 rubles. At the same time, however, he took out a notebook, wrote something in it and handed Verochka a piece of paper. Here, they say, is my mobile number (!), Call in your free time and call. But buy a new flexible hose beforehand.
Here’s the dirty plumber Afonya for you. With a mobile phone. Since when? The husband suggested that, apparently, since they began to take 250 rubles for replacing the hose.
The husband trudged off to the hardware store. And he bought, as the locksmith punished, a hose with a standard tube diameter and 45 centimeters long, in a metal sheath, with shiny nuts at the ends. On the way I met a neighbor. He, having heard the sad story, volunteered to fix the breakdown himself. And in just ten minutes I easily replaced the old hose with a new one, just unscrewing and tightening two nuts. As it turned out, there is no need to disassemble any tank. Everything turned out to be much simpler. After drinking a couple of glasses, the neighbor wished the young people happiness and, satisfied, left.
On this our story could have ended. But the reader is probably interested to know how to still avoid such a nuisance – a clogged flexible hose?
Here is what an experienced plumber Nikolai Donchuk told us:
“Such a problem – a clogged flexible hose – does not happen very often, but it does happen. The trouble is that it is impossible to clean it manually, because the diameter of the inner ring of the tube is only 8-10 mm. Therefore, the only way to solve the problem is to simply replace the old hose with a new one. In order not to face a similar situation in the future, on the day of connecting hot water, simply close the valves on the “hot” and “cold” pipes tightly. Wait until the dirty water drains. And after two hours you can safely “connect” to the all-district holiday called “Dali hot water! “
One common question that readers might have regarding drain tanks is how to prevent them from getting clogged. So, what are some effective ways to avoid clogging the drain tank?