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Any showere pump/plumbing experts in the house?
tegwin - 3/8/09 at 09:10 AM

Basically my old shower pump is FUBAR!

The old pump sits next to the shower cubicle, some 6 meters from the hot water tank.

It is fed via 15mm pipework from the hot water cyl and cold water header tank.....

I fitted a new pump....which doesnt work, it seems to be picking up air bubbles from somwhere and spinning irratically due to the non uniform flow.

The instruction manual for the pump says it should be installed as close to the hot water tank as possible, and should have 22mm pipework feeding it.....

I can move the pump to next to the tank and give it the 22mm feeder pipes, but..... do you think it would work properly if the outflow from the pump to the shower is only 15mm?

Trying to get 22mm pipework to the shower from the pump would be a nightmare!

I will also be fitting a surrey flange to the cylinder to try and remove any possible air in the system!


Mr Whippy - 3/8/09 at 09:25 AM

After my last house had endless air trapped in the pipes and pump which use to blast out quite dangerously when the boiler was very hot. I did this simple arrangement of the exit pipes from the hot water tank (which is heated by the boilers own circuit) out of 22mm pipe. The long drop lets any air or steam rise out the water before it reaches the pump, so far I have had not one air bubble come out or reach the pump even when the water has been very very hot.




[Edited on 3/8/09 by Mr Whippy]


tegwin - 3/8/09 at 09:28 AM

Yeah, that makes sence, that would be the preferd way of plumbing the cylinder in...

I have a surrey flange though which complicates things slightly

Gives you a feed as you showed, plus a sepperate feed for the shower that draws water out lower down in the tank where there should be less air bubbles...






[Edited on 3/8/09 by tegwin]


eccsmk - 3/8/09 at 09:44 AM

i was going to reply with a technical answer but you have the diagrams and seem to know whats what
so i'll leave you in peace


[Edited on 3/8/09 by eccsmk]


tegwin - 3/8/09 at 09:48 AM

quote:
Originally posted by eccsmk
i was going to reply with a technical answer but you have the diagrams and seem to know whats what
so i'll leave you in peace


[Edited on 3/8/09 by eccsmk]


Haaaha... I have those diagrams, but im still not sure if I can get away with using 15mm outlet pipework from the pump to the shower


Mr Whippy - 3/8/09 at 10:00 AM

as below or tie into the other vent higher up than the DHWS joins the vent if you don't want to run another vent pipe to the header tank. All my showers have their own supply pipes so flushing toilets etc have no effect on them

Description
Description


[Edited on 3/8/09 by Mr Whippy]


eccsmk - 3/8/09 at 10:08 AM

quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
quote:
Originally posted by eccsmk
i was going to reply with a technical answer but you have the diagrams and seem to know whats what
so i'll leave you in peace


[Edited on 3/8/09 by eccsmk]


Haaaha... I have those diagrams, but im still not sure if I can get away with using 15mm outlet pipework from the pump to the shower

you can yes
when we did the local pub there were 5 showers and the chap from a well know shower company came and worked out flow rates etc etc
he said we would need 22mm to the first 2 showers and 15 after that.

but that was mainly due to us using 2 seperate 2 bar pumps which needed the 22mm pipework to work correctly

i didnt go for the detailed answer


tegwin - 3/8/09 at 10:12 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
as below or tie into the other vent higher up than the DHWS joins the vent if you don't want to run another vent pipe to the header tank. All my showers have their own supply pipes so flushing toilets etc have no effect on them

Description
Description


[Edited on 3/8/09 by Mr Whippy]


If you have a surrey flange with internal air bleed... do you really need a sepperate vent for the shower feed?...... Would almost guarantee that the water would be air/surge free I guess!... Assuming that the pump does not suck air down the breather!


Mr Whippy - 3/8/09 at 10:21 AM

you can give one a go, what I fitted works fine and the waters way higher than 65 degs. I'd probably fit 22mm pipe to the pump if it asks for it, 15mm is a bit lame especially if the pumps flow rate is quite high


bmseven - 3/8/09 at 02:46 PM

If your old one worked in that location why won't the new one?

I had a call from a friend who fitted a Salamander pump recently but it was just spluttering.
I asked him if he had primed it he said there is water in it!
Popped round and primed/flushed it as per instructions ( Do not connect the flexible AV outlets to the pipework but run hot and cold through to the pump before connecting)
You might think like he did eh what difference! but believe me it worked and he was a happy chappy.


geoff shep - 3/8/09 at 06:32 PM

Ditto - I think you just need to make sure the pump is full of water before running it.