How to clear stubborn Airlocks. No hot water

Suddenly you find your hot taps have stopped running. "AIRLOCK"
Visit Al`s plumbing shop for parts at www.amazon.co.u...
Saved some money on calling out a plumber? Use the THANKS button.
Or through Paypal using my site link www.dereton33....
Many thanks Al.

[@PilzE.]

Top Man! I'm a chippie, so when I fitted a shower mixer tap to the bath in our new rented property, turned everything back on, and no hot water in kitchen. Spent an hour going through every iso, stop cock, etc, REALLY scratching my head! Find your video, block kitchen mixed with hand, turn on cold, and after three attempts, BOOM, we got hot water. Thank you so VERY much for sharing your knowledge and skill.

[@dereton33]

No problem.

[@ruarioregan9335]

I've been trying for three days to get rid of an airlock, I've had joints disconnected around the cylinder, I've blown down the downpipe like Satchmo, I even got the garden hose involved, to no avail. 30 secons of holding on to the kitchen mixer and the airlock was gone! THANKS dereton33!!

[@dereton33]

Great.

[@jayobhoy1916]

We had an airlock in our hot water system, and this video was a life saver. thanks a million ! 🇮🇪

[@dereton33]

no problem

[@jamesbloor4419]

Handover the mixer tap trick. Thank you so much. This has been driving me mad for 2 days.

[@dereton33]

No problem.

[@hewittfitness2505]

You've just saved me a call-out for a plumber. £20 in Wickes to make the hose attachments up and sure enough the hot tap is running normally again. Cheers squire!!

[@dereton33]

Glad I could help

[@ryanjarrelladams]

NONE OF THE DIY PLUMBING FIXES ON KZbin SAID THIS: turn off the main water to your home (if you have one), turn on the closest faucet to the main water source, set that faucet to cold, let all of the water drain, set that faucet back to hot, wait 10 minutes, with the faucet still on and set to warm, turn back on the main water line to the home. Fixed my airlock problem, maybe it can fix yours

[@dereton33]

Not a chance.

[@miafrancis9539]

Impressed my husband by getting rid of the airlock, it had been driving him mad, literally 5 seconds of holding on to the mixer tap and the airlock was gone, thank you so much.

[@dereton33]

No problem.

[@cashstrappedjoe3629]

You’re a genius mate. I thought my HWC was buggered and was thinking I was going to need plumber in. Put finger on mixer for 15 seconds and I have HW back. Thanks

[@dereton33]

No problem 😊

[@twostroketom]

Thanks Al, I had that problem and was driving me mad as both hot and cold were fed from the tank and, as you said, there wasn't enough pressure. I managed to get around it by connecting a hose from the tap to the electric pumped shower and it worked a treat. The hozelock fitting for an outside tap fits up on the hose connection from the shower (a Triton), so it's an easy click and go!

[@dereton33]

Thanks for sharing

[@damotron15468]

The thumb over the tap trick has just saved my bacon!! Thank you.

[@johnfoster3185]

Great video with very useful information. Told my son about it and he used the thumb on mixer tap to solve the problem in one minute.

[@dereton33]

Great to hear!

[@trevcrossley9280]

Many thanks for taking the time to fully explain all the different ways to get rid of the airlock.

[@dereton33]

Glad it was helpful!

[@patrickmurtagh8911]

A massive thank you the thumb over the kitchen mixer sorted it strait after I tried 2/3 times

[@dereton33]

That`s great.

[@windspoint]

Awesome solution to a Sunday afternoon disaster! I used the 'push onto the taps' shower we have for bathing the dogs and nipped the pipe going to the shower head it soon resolved the problem. Many thanks!!

[@dereton33]

No problem.

[@robreda9269]

I want to thank you for your knowledge I was loosing my mind I put my thumb on faucet forcing hot water back and bingo thank you so much 🍺

[@dereton33]

You are very welcome

[@TitirangiBaptistChurch]

Thanks - thumb over the end of the mixer tap the worked! Got hot water again.

[@dereton33]

Excellent!

[@Poonslaya]

Plain clear instructional video, straight to the point with issues cheers for the upload sorted our tap out.

[@dereton33]

No problem

[@sixstringcity3931]

This bumbling was clear to you???

[@davebrindley3921]

A great video. I have used the hot and cold supplies to the washing machine a couple of times. You can just take the rubber cold supply hose off the back of the washing machine and after removing the hot side hose just connect the cold to the hot. The best thing about this is the water supplies to the washing machines have little isolating valve on.

[@dereton33]

Thanks for the info!

[@deborahbarnes9645]

Going to try that ! Thanks

[@scottnelson2384]

Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!!!! Worked perfect. Turned on cold, plugged with palm for a minute, budda-bing! My mother-un-law loves me now - she was on the phone with the plumber lol.

[@dereton33]

That`s great.

[@dottydot89]

I love the extra doing the intro and outro 🐶😊🐶👍

[@dereton33]

Ha ha we love her too.

[@kieranirvine7199]

This just saved me a lot of money calling someone out!

[@dereton33]

No problem.

[@kieranirvine7199]

@@dereton33 Hey! This keeps happening to my boiler now intermittently. I tried the fix you suggested again and it doesn’t seem to work. Water is hot for a couple of hours then stops working for a few, and back on again. Any suggestions?

[@mikelincoln8395]

Awesome! Cheers, got the hot water taps going again by forcing the water back in the mixer taps in the kitchen, now going to connect garden hose to mains in kitchen and see if I can get the cold going in the bathroom . Thanks again for your videos

[@dereton33]

Glad it helped!

[@pb9926]

Nice drawing Al - a tap on a bird bath 😁 sorry mate - great video 👍😎 Wet vac is great for sucking out airlocks 👍

[@dereton33]

Thanks PB.

[@brianhenson6141]

Another gentleman mentioned the same technique, thanks I never thought of that, I'll try that

[@gigicoyle4245]

Thank you so much for showing us this solution. You saved me a TON of money... they most certainly would have told me I need a new water heater (it's 17 years old). It is working fine now, and I get to keep my money where it belongs... In MY pockets!!! Thanks again, and... Jesus is on His Way! (Thank God)

[@dereton33]

You are welcome!

[@richie16able]

Good man ,worked in seconds have hot water again 👍👍👍

[@dereton33]

Great 👍

[@MrG.42]

Love the dog at the beginning!

[@dereton33]

Our cutie mo.

[@andrewforde4951]

Thanks for this, worked perfectly. (two taps on block the flow a few seconds)

[@dereton33]

Excellent!

[@Elti979]

Thanks this was a huge help

[@dereton33]

No problem.

[@thefunway123]

I loveee youuu the finger inserting trick worked right off the bat for me. Thanks a tooon.

[@dereton33]

You're welcome!

[@markoreilly7321]

I have outside well pump, got work done on it. Now i have no hot water in house i tried what you showed us, hoe do you do it from hotpress?

[@pawelpelech9171]

You are a legend! Fixed my airlock😊

[@dereton33]

No problem.

[@MrG.42]

And at the end. Love it!

[@dereton33]

Shes the best. Ha ha.

[@meganbentleyart]

It worked immediately. Thank you!

[@dereton33]

You're welcome!

[@traceywareing9429]

Thank you, so easy to understand.

[@dereton33]

You are welcome!

[@samuelburgum3108]

Thank you very much for the video, it worked perfectly 👍

[@dereton33]

You're welcome!

[@micheleg2369]

Thank you for the help, sir!

[@dereton33]

Any time!

[@ICEJosh1987]

Good advice al

[@paulsullivan1010]

Hello mate, i just swapped my shower motor and in the process i drained the cylinder. When i refilled and switched it back on the hot water was not working. i was so stressed i cant tell you. I came across your video and as i have mixer taps in all my rooms i did the thumb over the tap with hot and cold switched on and after 30 seconds hey presto it worked.....what a simple fix if you know what you are doing. Just wanted to say thank you for posting your tips and to let you know that you helped me today...Thank you so much ........

[@dereton33]

No problem Paul.

[@reason5591]

I have this style kitchen faucet and I will never purchase another like it. My cold water will not flow. Any other tips on this or should I try what you are showing here. Thank you!

[@dereton33]

If it is the cold then the tap is at fault.

[@fifimakhubu8732]

It worked instantly... Thank you 🙏

[@dereton33]

You're welcome!

[@vincenthurrell8235]

I hope your well, you’ve got me out of trouble a few times just wanted to say thanks.

[@dereton33]

Glad to help

[@briansheridan6915]

Just had a kitchen monobloc mixer tap replaced, when the tap is turned off approximately 45 seconds later water dribbles out for about 10 seconds. Any ideas what this might be.

[@dereton33]

Pressure try turning the flow of the main stop cock down a bit.

[@ScottyDog345]

i connected the cold water mains fed it onto the hot , cold water gone straight up the hot water expansion straight into the main tank out of the overflow only thing i can think of is to put a stop end on the hot exp pipe

[@dereton33]

You may have a blockage of limescale in the feed on the top of the cylinder. If all taps are not running but you do get a small flow then check that out. Do not block up the exp pipe.

[@ScottyDog345]

@@dereton33 I've found tge problem we had some work done in the loft 5 to 6 years ago and one if them must have stood on the expansion pipe.Tgus caused the air lock at tge top of the cylinder. You don't expect pipework to move

[@markoreilly7321]

I have well pump have got work done on it, now i have no hot water i trird to unlock it from mixer taps, i unlocked cold from hotpress, which pipe do i bliw up to unlock hot?

[@dereton33]

Straight up any hot tap in the house.

[@markoreilly7321]

Thanks very much

[@crystalclarke6692]

When I turn on my tapes in the kitchen it's Luke warm at first goes boiling hot than goes back to Luke warm than stays Luke warm it happens every time I turn on the tapes this is only in the kitchen and bathroom.

[@dereton33]

Depends if you have a combi boiler of F and E system. This sounds like a faulty 3 way valve on a combi boiler though.

[@user-un3jz2yl2m]

Hi ive been doing some alterations in our main house bathroom and had to alter the plumbing here and there, i have hot and cold downstairs and hot and cold in the main bathroom, but in my ensuite bathroom which is on the same floor as the main bathroom ive no cold water coming out of the tap and also the toilet isn't filling back up,im pretty sure its an airlock, Which would be the best way to get it off its a gravity fed system the ony place there is 2 single taps is in the ensuite,where there is no cold water

[@dereton33]

Connect a hose from the the cold main and connect it onto your closet cold tap, get some one to hold the hose on the closet tap, while you hold the mains tap, get your partner to turn on the tap, then you turn on your cold mains tap, this will push the air out.

[@carawilliams09]

What if you have a combi boiler - only mixer tap in bathroom which is the ONLY tap which gives me hot and cold water. Kitchen sink only hot water tap runs - if you leave cold water tap on for an hour it will start running. Also the temperature for the hot water in the whole house is being controlled by the shower thermostat- ie if someone has turned the shower temp to cold the hot water in the kitchen will be cold until you turn it back up.

[@dereton33]

You have faulty sink taps, The shower is mixing back down the cold feed and needs non return valves fitted to both cold and hot inlet pipes.

[@ronyponyrony]

Thank you!!!!

[@dereton33]

No problem

[@waheedjalali1618]

Realy informative Thanks sir

[@dereton33]

Most welcome

[@richteabiscuit1854]

What causes a buildup of air above a water cylinder....I appreciate the air is most likely caused by the tank heating element but why wouldn’t it clear naturally through the air vent?....fortunately an electric pump exists on the hot water supply which easily clears it....the reason the pump is not powered up permanently is because it’s noisy....water runs fine for around 4 days then starts to slow due to the airlock.....any ideas?

[@dereton33]

Without seeing your system I dont know.

[@sharonletchford9375]

What if your taps are separate from one another?

[@dereton33]

Use a small piece of hose to join them up.

[@davidoshea1536]

Another great video, love the new intro👍⭐

[@dereton33]

Yay! Thank you! David.

[@tonywhite1952]

Another way is using a washing machine pipe from your washing machine and connect it to the two washing machine valves and give a quick blast

[@dereton33]

Great idea as long as you can get to them. Good tip though Antony.

[@TexLfc]

Brilliant tip Antony.i will remember that one

[@martinashaughnessy1800]

My tap is dribbling out tried it before worked fine but this time it’s not working 😢air lock keeps coming back since we had a new boiler fitted it’s a nightmare. Any ideas would be appreciated thanks

[@dereton33]

If it is just one tap and the others are ok then it is a problem with the tap itself, if all the hot taps are the same then it may well be an airlock. If you have an F and E system pop up into the loft and check the main tank is filling properly. If is a combi boiler you have, then there is a problem with it.

[@whodouthinkuare]

What part of Ireland you from Martina?

[@martinashaughnessy1800]

@@whodouthinkuare I am from Co Roscommon but living in London

[@YOU-niter]

@@dereton33 So the boiler could be causing my problem? No water coming from any of my hot water taps?

[@Sash_Window]

The way I do it is to connect a wet vacuum to the outlet and suck it through. >.

[@dereton33]

Thanks for the tip.

[@JamesPond-cd3tp]

Fitted a new kitchen mixer tap now no hot water. Tried hose pipe trick and nothing. Tried the cut off mains and open taps slightly and then fully trick having let all water out of taps and toilets and still no joy. Still slow or little flow on hot water. It's a gravity feed system. Not sure what to do tbh.

[@dereton33]

Have you tried holding your thumb over the spout of the mixer tap and turning on the cold with the hot open, to blast it out.

[@JamesPond-cd3tp]

@@dereton33 really appreciate your fast reply especially at the weekend! We're out of hot water atm :( So, I've tried that as well as ran hose from outside tap to upstairs bathroom to hot tap and ran it through with cold water. Still no joy. Gone in loft and CWST is fairly full with float valve working as expected. Is there a way of clearing it out in loft (a release valve or something like you'd do on radiators?). Thank you again! (to add also ran short hose from none mixer taps cold to hot and ran it through still no flow anywhere apart from downstairs kitchen tap which sits next to boiler) .

[@ICEJosh1987]

Anyone tell me why i can't see Al's replys ?

[@louise2725]

What are the tap connectors on the end of the hose called, i am trying to but but cant find anything that looks like the video???? any help please? x

[@dereton33]

Straight swivels.

[@igorkulik354]

Thank You very much sir u save my day !

[@dereton33]

No problem.

[@davidhett8883]

Do you leave all of the taps in the house open?

[@dereton33]

No

[@jackbrunton2592]

Thanks

[@dereton33]

No problem. Thanks for the Sub.

[@WorldOfMikeThePartworkWrangler]

Great video love the dog is that your dog sir do u have a email adress I want to install a push plug for bathroom sink but they installed a copper pipe not a flexi pipe so it appears to be extremely old fashion and not sure how I can install it I was hoping to send u a picture of it

[@dereton33]

Yes and yes, just e mail me at [e-mail]

[@WorldOfMikeThePartworkWrangler]

dereton33 thanks emailed u

[@shelleycharlesworth5177]

I have a 4 year old kitchen faucet with swivel handle. Last week no hot water at all. What can I do ?

[@dereton33]

If you have hot water from the other taps then it is a problem with the tap. If you have no water to all the taps then you have an airlock.

[@mohammadbilal8642]

Can this be done when you have a combi boiler?

[@dereton33]

No.

[@paularora5086]

Thank you so xxx

[@dereton33]

No problem Paul.

[@MissOnelove28]

Thank you 😊

[@dereton33]

You're welcome 😊

[@eddieblackmore3188]

Hi I have a vented cylinder hot water system I keep getting air lock's in it every day I clear it with the thumb over the mixture tap method it clears it but next day it back its been this way from the day we moved in years ago, please help I've run out of ideas.

[@dereton33]

Check the roof tank is filling properly.

[@cbing4036]

What about slowly running hot tap in kithen on a combi boiler ? The hot water in shower and bath is fine though ?

[@dereton33]

The hot tap is faulty if it is running slow, check the amount of turns it has. Also check there are no isolation valves half closed.

[@cbing4036]

@@dereton33 yes think it needs a new insert ! Cheers

[@Land-of-reason]

You could attach a length of hose and give it a good suck.

[@dereton33]

Are you taking me for a sucker ha ha.

[@Liamr2023]

I've just been told by a plumber that how water isn't coming through my bath taps because of the taps 😂 although it does come through. When we moved into the house since we've had to put the central heating setting on the boiler for the water to run hot in bath but it takes a while and sometimes it is stubborn. Has anyone got any suggestions to what this could be please ?

[@dereton33]

If you have as combi boiler the bath tap will always be slow to run and fill a bath.

[@Liamr2023]

@@dereton33 oh ok no problem. Thanks 👍🏼

[@themovingdance2744]

Done

[@dereton33]

Great

[@jackieallen4866]

I went to take a shower. No water coming out when I turn on hot water tap. When I turn on cold water tap, hot water comes out

[@dereton33]

Faulty shower mixer.

[@jackieallen4866]

@@dereton33 no It was some kind of issue between tinaco and hot water heater. It affected shower as well as vanity sink...which are the only hot water outlets

[@philipgunnell108]

Not so good if you live in a bungalow with taps that are mixer ones everywhere ..

[@dereton33]

Hold your hand over the spout , open the hot one, then the cold one forcing the water up into the tank to clear the airlock.

[@JohnsPlumbingServices]

Hi I've been following you quite sometime and could you please upload one on a bib tap. Cause here in Fiji its mostly PVC pipes connected to bib taps. Thanks Sir 🫡

[@dereton33]

Great suggestion!

[@waheedjalali1618]

Dear sir I have worked as a plumber mate for three months And did some diy to my bathroom I manged to send u the pictures on to your email I would really appreciate if u c and reply of how have me and my wife done the job Regards Meraj

[@dereton33]

I will check it out

[@gerardschuitema9205]

you sound like glenn hoddle lol

[@dereton33]

O well he`s a good man.