old house, old plumbing, lack of a great income forces current situation, on a very old high level cistern, one good pull of the chain ripped the syphon out snapped it at the bottom end. The cistern is painted into location over many years, the long water pipe looks unmoveable . Into this long pipe from the inside of the cistern I need to insert somehow a new syphon.

Has anyone any idea if the bottom end of the syphon is always the same size 1½" ? Rough measurement as best I could, suggests the water pipe that the syphon should fit into is 1½" so ideally something with a smaller neck seems appropriate, I don't even think they exist. . . .it seems it will be unlikely for me to be flushed with success . . .

Replace the syphon with a turbo one it splits in two so changing it at a later date is easy. If your old flush pipe is smaller there is an adapter

When you say “ high level “ do you mean like six foot up the wall with a long lead or copper pipe coming down ? And is the threaded part of the old syphon still in ? 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

yes its an old chain flush up the wall, so still needs to be a chain flush, part of the old syphon is still stuck in there, cant work out if it is screwed over the top of the big pipe coming through the bottom of the cistern, I know on more modern ones a new syphon would drop through the hole, to be fixed into position, I think I have 2 inches of raised pipe !

archie98 wrote:

Replace the syphon with a turbo one it splits in two so changing it at a later date is easy. If your old flush pipe is smaller there is an adapter

Yes it looks exactly like the one in your picture but it splits into two pieces so you don't have to remove it all this allows the diaphragm to be changed easily

I think I have seen them, but, this now reminds me of that old song "there's a hole in my bucket", how do I get the first part screwed into the flush pipe?

You mentioned an adaptor, do you have a link to one of these adaptors ?

Can't find a link but I can post one to you

outside end of the cistern



inside the cistern, the blue ring is now what I am trying to get off the down water flush pipe the pipe is 1½" wide, so even if I get the remnants of the broken syphon off I reckon I will be left with maybe ½" of protruding 1½" pipe to shove a 1½" syphon pipe into,

Click image to enlarge

Remove the syphon then the remaining bits off the flush pipe and fit a new one
It looks like it's a plastic flush pipe so it will come off there is a tapered rubber ring on the pipe

The syphon protrudes from the bottom of the cistern and the flush pipe attaches directly to it. (I.e. the threaded pipe in your 'outside the cistern' pic is the bottom of the syphon, marked 'Here' in the pic in your first post.) So remove the remaining bits of the old syphon, fit a new one, and attach the flush pipe to that.

Your problem is going to be that the flush pipe and the nut attaching it to the syphon are clogged with paint so it won't be easy to attach the flush pipe to the syphon. You'll have to remove some of the paint without damaging the pipe or the nut.

thanks to all for your input, if it gets sorted I will put an update on, if I wasnt cash strapped and tight, I would get a professional in, I always find it odd that I can find a few hundred quid for a car repair, but anything else I dont . . .

As you are getting the two part syphon advised by archie . When you have removed the broken threaded part, it won’t hurt to use silicone seal as well as just the big rubber washers when you reseat the bottom of the new syphon to the inside face of the cistern Better safe than sorry ! Ps it could be worse - the one in my mates house was a nightmare , lead lined wooden tank , with a valve out of the Ark . 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

MartynB, truth is, I do NOT think it is doable, very difficult to get at to remove the last piece of syphon, going to get some quotes for a complete replacement cistern, I don't have the tools to try that myself, I may have plenty time on my hands being retired, but arthritis limits me to little success in repair jobs, all I can do is try but everything these days at 62 is beyond my ability, deformed fingers and fused wrists etc etc

Just managed to fit a HDMI from the TV to the digibox. . . getting down that low is a major issue, getting back up again is even worse

old age yuuk

thank you all for your input, much appreciated.

But I bet you can still open a wine bottle.  3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
5 x FL2 4 manual + 1 auto
Now Discovery Sport P250 MHEV SE

Northcroft wrote:

MartynB, truth is, I do NOT think it is doable, very difficult to get at to remove the last piece of syphon, going to get some quotes for a complete replacement cistern, I don't have the tools to try that myself, I may have plenty time on my hands being retired, but arthritis limits me to little success in repair jobs, all I can do is try but everything these days at 62 is beyond my ability, deformed fingers and fused wrists etc etc

Just managed to fit a HDMI from the TV to the digibox. . . getting down that low is a major issue, getting back up again is even worse

old age yuuk

thank you all for your input, much appreciated.

I’m exactly the same age and retired . I used to laugh at people who had pills in little boxes with days of the week on them .... then nature took it’s course and I even have emergency pills in the car  2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .