Ballcock Question

[woodchopper]

On the Opella Delchem bottom entry ballcock assembly the re is a "tap" on top of the chamber that houses the diaphragms - what is it for?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OPELLA-DELCHEM-CISTERN-1-2-BOTTOM-ENTRY-ADJUSTABLE-ARM-FILLING-VALVE-B704A-/191389052525?hash=item2c8fad2e6d:g:tykAAOSwjXRXaOiE

Mine takes too long to fill.

[gordon21ups]

It isn't a tap, it's where the water comes out. Turn it to one side or the other to allow the water to run freely into the cistern.

[gordon21ups]

To allow the cistern to fill more quickly, you'll have to swap the flow restrictor inside diaphragm, with the red one that's attached to the ballfloat arm

[woodchopper]

Has the red one in it - think the diaphragm may be dozed - will change it.

[alavahalf]

If you just change the diaphram you may get a dribble developing which fills the cistern and finds it's way into the overflow... try it and see, you might get away with it.

The restrictors are red and white in colour.
The red is for a low pressure supply ( from tank in loft) .. and the white one should be used when a high pressure supply is present ( from mains).
.. and as gordon has rightly pointed out the 'Tap' you desribe basically allows you to divert the flow of inlet water, either down the front or back of the 'diaphram chamber'. Which ever is most suitable depending on what is physically in the cistern.

[woodchopper]

The problem with ours is it takes about 3\4 hr to fill ,- it does have the red cone in the other side - was just wondering if it was possible to insert the diaphragm back to front - has always been slow to fill ever since we moved in.

[alavahalf]

Yes it is possible to fit it back to front , if you look at the diaphram side on, you will see it is slightly dome shaped. The dome points towards the front of the ball valve (the bit where the arm is attached). As the arm lowers then the diaphram springs forward clearing the inlet hole and allowing water to flow in.
... if the cistern takes ages to fill then my first port of call would be to get in the loft with a torch and have a look inside the tank. Make sure that the outlet at the bottom of the tank is not blocked with ***. Take the opportunity to drain it down and clear it out if it if it is. Over the years I have found rats, mice, and even pigeons festering in the tank. All of these breakdown into fragments as they decompose and eventually find their way into the pipe that feeds your cistern. So any tiny fragment will block the hole that you have in your inlet valve. The most difficult one I have ever done had the feathers from a pigeon blocking the pipe, it took a good few blasts with mains pressure from a hose to clear it. Make sure you remove the ball valve in the cistern if you decide to go this far. It will allow the pipe to clear quicly if there is any debris in it.

One more point is to check you dont have a flow restrictor fitted inside the inlet pipe near the cistern.
Good luck !