Water Drinker Problems

[cj-123]

i havent used my stables automatic water drinker in a little while and it is all fixed and set up, i turned it on today and it filled but the would not stop fillling so it started overflowing? i dont understand what it could be?

can anyone help me?
thanks

 

[flirtygerty]

It sounds like your ball cock is sticking, I think it is the same as a toilet cistern
when the water reaches a cetain level a small ball rises and stops the flow,
(how I'm not sure) when the level drops so does the ball opening the water pipe, I would ring a plumber for advice it might just need eased
Good luck

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Eeeek! You don't need to get a plumber out to adjust the ballcock! Gently prise the cover off the ballcock. The ballcock is on a hinged arm and you can play around with the angle of the hinge to set it to turn off at the right height of water. Stand and watch it - it works because the ballcock is a very light sort of rigid balloon so it floats on water. As the water level rises, it pushes the ballcock higher and higher until eventually it shuts the water off. When you think you've got it right scoop the water out a couple of times (as if you were a horse and had drunk from it) to check it refills properly. It may need some further refinement! Having said all that, I hate the damn things. They break down, freeze, jam up, overflow, get rusty and unless you religiously check them twice a day (scoop some water out to make sure it fills back up correctly, not just look at it) you can never be certain that they're working. The full livery yard I used to be on had them fitted, but not for the horses' comfort, purely as a labour saving device! The staff didn't check the drinkers EVER as far as I know and in one stable the drinker jammed up somehow. The horse went without water for 2 or 3 days and god knows what would have happened if the owner hadn't accidentally discovered it wasn't working. And of course the final thing is that you can never be sure if/how much your horse is drinking. Ditch it and buy a bucket would be my advice!!!