quick shower pump question!!

Oh f*** me would you stop that! You've added rotten eggs to the tub. :eek:
 
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dear softus or anyone else concerned
i passed on the necessary info to the chap involved

outcome:

2 x 22mm hot water pipes running into pump in parallel, exit pipes from pump direct into hot side of mixer. mains cold water going directly into shower mixer. non return valves placed on both exit pipes + on the cold water + a pressure balancer prior to mixer.
result:
a shower which only works when u turn the nozzle on the mixer to hot.
on top of that, the shower head needs to be lowered and held in ur hands for the pump to activate!!!
how undesirable is that!!!

i came up with a little suggestion of mine, to possible connect both mains pressure cold and tank fed hot to pump, but introduce a pressure reducing valve on the cold prior to the pump. Pipes exiting the pump will then have a pressure equaliser. This then would activate the pump when the mixer is turned on...
ideas please!!! cheers
 
dynomo said:
i passed on the necessary info to the chap involved
Er, who is that?

mains cold water going directly into shower mixer.
That's not right.

non return valves placed on both exit pipes
Nor is that.

BTW, have you fitted full bore NRVs?

+ on the cold water + a pressure balancer prior to mixer.
So, cold mains not directly into the shower valve then? I am confused.

result:
a shower which only works when u turn the nozzle on the mixer to hot.
on top of that, the shower head needs to be lowered and held in ur hands for the pump to activate!
What's the vertical distance between base of cold storage cistern and shower head (i.e. the bit that sprays)?

i came up with a little suggestion of mine, to possible connect both mains pressure cold and tank fed hot to pump, but introduce a pressure reducing valve on the cold prior to the pump.
You would almost certainly breach The Water Regulations in doing this.

Pipes exiting the pump will then have a pressure equaliser. This then would activate the pump when the mixer is turned on...
ideas please!!! cheers
That sounds crackpot.

You need to solve the problem, not introduce new ones.

The biggest mystery is why the mains cold won't flow when you turn the valve to cold. Have you double-checked that the hot and cold inputs to the equaliser are the right way round? And to the shower valve?
 
sorry buddy
rushed in the previous post
the 'chap', i.e. the one who is doin ma head in about all this!!

cold works fine...it stems from the mains, through a double non return valve, through a pressure balancer and then into the mixer valve.

it is the hot side that is creating issues. to activate the pump, u need to turn the nozzle to complete hot on the mixer, but this is only achieved with the shower head held below the tank. (tank sits 1m off the ground) the actual pump sits approximately 2m from the tank beneath the tub. the shower head, is at the same distance. however the hot water pipe from the tank runs for approximately 5m before it reaches the pump itself, from here it is t'd off to feed bath and basin taps etc.
could this distance be the issue???

to narrow this down a little, the guy im trying to help here, is not willing to move the pump, ive seen his setup and it isnt possible. nor can he bring in additional pipes. y cant we limit the pressure of the mains prior to the pump, surely this will work. that way, we will have continuous flow in the pump which will then activate when the lever on the mixer is either on hot or cold....
 
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Before we go off down a blind alley, and I know you've already said that there's no cold water 'tank' (which I would call a cistern, BTW), but what is supplying cold water to the hot tank (aka copper cylinder)?
 
I like this :)

As a non-plumber, the position appears to me that:

- the homeowner has an incorrectly fitted system

- he won't agree to changes that would make it work

- so the outcome is going to be that it won't work :rolleyes:

and no doubt you will get the blame for it. I hope you're being well paid.
 
Sorry, having re-read your post I just have to respond to a couple of points...

dynomo said:
cold works fine...it stems from the mains, through a double non return valve...
Why a double NRV?! :eek:

it is the hot side that is creating issues. to activate the pump, u need to turn the nozzle to complete hot on the mixer, but this is only achieved with the shower head held below the tank. (tank sits 1m off the ground)
The height of the HW tank is pretty much irrelevant; it's the height (or pressure) of water feeding the tank that's important.

the actual pump sits approximately 2m from the tank beneath the tub. the shower head, is at the same distance. however the hot water pipe from the tank runs for approximately 5m before it reaches the pump itself, from here it is t'd off to feed bath and basin taps etc.
I don't see how the pump can be 2m from the tank, and yet the pipework runs for 5m to get there. This is merely one droplet that I don't understand, in a whole ocean of things you're writing that I don't understand.

could this distance be the issue?
Frankly, I'm losing the plot here. Whilst I have absolutely no confusion about how to install a pump, and a tank, and cistern, and a shower, and a bath, and a basin, and the pipework, I'm having no end of trouble relating how it should be done to how you (or someone) has actually gone about doing it.

to narrow this down a little, the guy im trying to help here, is not willing to move the pump, ive seen his setup and it isnt possible.
Why is his willingness a factor if the pump cannot be moved? Don't take this personally, but nearly every statement you make seems to take us a little bit further away from the land of sanity and reason.

nor can he bring in additional pipes. y cant we limit the pressure of the mains prior to the pump, surely this will work.
If you're asking if this will work, then I would say "no".
If you're asserting that this will work and that it will be legal, then I would say that you're dreaming.

that way, we will have continuous flow in the pump which will then activate when the lever on the mixer is either on hot or cold....
Nope, you've lost me there - once again I've opened the door into the room full of dancing penguins led by Gordon Ramsey dressed in nothing but my mother's favourite gingham apron and a bowler hat.

Wibble.
 
lol

s*d it guys
the geezer was doing my nut in, i tried my best but in truth have no time for his rubbish home and plumbing setup!!!! the council have visited and say he is due a new water system in the property along with new electrics. i advised him that this would be a good time to get them to locate the pump below the hot water tank and run new pipework into the bathroom. ive just installed a thermo mixer for a customer today, running off a combi, worked a treat!! cant be ar*ed with these storage tanks!!
cheers softus
sorry to have messed with ur head!!
 

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