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in Problem solving
I can see something about butt not diverting -but after that?????
I bought one of these a few years ago, untiI..........I discovered a place that sold blue barrels in the local ad-mag. £3 each the barrels cost me - so I bought 10 !!! LOL
" Water is draining straight out of the downpipe" - do you mean the tap at the bottom ??? Close the tap, if that's the case !!!
Hmmmmm...downpipe
If I read this correctly the water instead of diverting into the butt is continuing to flow down the downpipe-is that it Miche?
There must be some valve that you need to turn-then when the butt is full you turn it it off to stop it overflowing-that is my guess.
So is there a valve?
At what level is tube coming out from the downpipe compared to going into the water butt? Downpipe end needs to be level or very slightly higher than water butt end.
From their site-but you may have already seen it-there does not seem to be valve-it was a guess-hopefully someone will have a solution for you
http://www.sankeygrowyourown.co.uk/Sankey%20Water%20Butt%20Installation%20Guide.pdf
The way it works is that the diverter has a pipe within a pipe. the inner pipe opening has a loose cowl above it, so that water is diverted outside the inner pipe and out to the butt. When the butt is full water backs up and teh gap between the inner and outer pipe gets full of water which then overflows down into the inner pipe and on down to drain. For this to work the diverter needs to be positioned at a level just below the top of the water butt. too high and the butt will overflow. too low and the butt will only part fill.
If the tube between the diverter and the butt is blocked (or kinked) then water will not divert, so the tube should be checked.
Ahh I see....I don't have mine connected up to that kit.
Plenty of videos on youtube about fitting these kits - not sure how helpful they are to you.
Hope you get it sorted.
Greaatttttttttttttttttt-can you let us know if it works?-I wont settle otherwise
If it hasn't rained for a while I find that the pipe going into the waterbut gets clogged up with gunk from the gutter. The first time it rains after a dry spell I go out in the rain and pull the end of the pipe off the butt and hold it upside down for a minute to let the gunk wash out.
That's handy to know thanks Koalagirl. My water butt pipe is very slightly too low so it does overflow when it's full. I am waiting for a dry spell to emply the butt so I can raise it very slightly where it sits.
Any ideas to clean the water butt? I opened it last week and it was full of smelly gunk from the gutter! When I get around to cleaning it, any ideas? Just reach in and get to what areas I can or add a solution to clean it that wont hurt the plants?
Kjdintown, I put mesh in the gutter over the top of the down pipe and clean it out regularly - therefore removing all gunk before it gets down the down pipe and into my water butt. I have my water butts joined to a single storey down pipe though!
