Central Heating tripping out the Electric

[Pauli11]

In most cases a boiler turns on the pump as soon as there is a demand for heat.

It seems yours is only turning on when the flame would ignite. Thats rather unusual.

Faulty pumps are very common!

Tony

I'm not even sure if thats the case \\tony, the pump is very quiet, and its hard to tell when its on and when its off.

Anyways. After greasing the joints around the pump and electrical box, I reconnected everything, and it ran fine for about an hour. Then the RCD tripped again.

So its off to the merchants tomorrow to get a new pump! I think I had dried the old one out enough to work for a while, but there must be water ingress somewhere I missed. Its going to go sooner or later any way.

Now. The pump is a 10 year old Wilo Gold 60. Powering 13 rads.

Ideally I would like to get a like for like, then I wouldnt have to take off the whole pump, just swap out the front to the o seal. If I cannot get like for like, could anyone recommend a suitable replacement?

I think the 60 is 130mm connection stop to stop. and I think its 1.5" connection? Any advice?

(BTW, thank you all very much for your help thus far. I have learnt a tremendous amount in the last 2 days!!)

 

[Agile]

I am pretty sure the current Wilo 60 pump is head compatible with the older one that you have.

Tony

 

[Pauli11]

It doesnt rain but it pours!!

Went out and got a replacement Wilo Smart pump. Direct replacement for the Wilo Gold 60.

I had hoped to just replace the front without having to unbolt the whole unit from the pipework, but the back fitting is different on the inside and has a circular hole which takes the fan.

Got the old unit off after a struggle (bottom fixing had rusted to the valve nut), and a run again to the diy store to get a 2 inch spanner

The new unit went in easy enough, but on turning the water on again, the connections at both shut off valve nuts were leaking where they meet the pump.

When I removed the unit, it seems the rubber washers are twisting and deforming after tightening, causing the leaks.

I have had the unit off and on 6 times now and can't get a watertight seal!
The unit is the correct fit.

Is it ok to lubricate the rubber seals so that they are less likely to twist and deform after the joint is tightened? If so should I use grease, oil, WD40?

Im sure Im not the first to come across this, any tricks you guys can teach me to get over this very last hurdle??

Can't believe I stripped a whole burner unit down yesterday, and today I cant tighten a bloody nut properly!!

 

[Pauli11]

I'll answer my own question

All sorted. Bought some polythene washers and ditched the rubber ones.

As soon as I tightened both the large nuts to the pump flanges, the rubber washers deformed and failed to seal. Obviously the plastic washers being stiffer, didnt.

2 hours arseing around with the rubber ones, and 5 minutes with the plastic ones, job done. Heating all back to normal now.
Gave the boiler itself a good scraping and cleaning out, so I'm well chuffed and feel able to address most issues that may come up now.

As someone posted elsewhere, when you actually get down to stripping the component parts, there really isnt much to the burner or pump assemblies.

 

[Agile]

Suddenly, without discussion about it you rush out and unilaterally buy a smart pump! That may not be recommended for your boiler!

I have never had any problems with rubber washers deforming and dont understand how that could happen unless you were twisting the pipes!

Never lubricate the washers on pumps otherwise they might slip.

You should lubricate the nut threads and with only silicone grease!

Tony

 

[matt1e]

I have never had any problems with rubber washers deforming and dont understand how that could happen unless you were twisting the pipes!

Tony

Me neither, did you clean up the seating face of the valve and was the nut free to turn on the valve body?

Matt

 

[Jezclayton]

Most plumbers would use rubber pump washers in preference to any other type. I'm guessing pump valve nuts overtightened thus causing movement between pump and valve unions. If the facings are clean, nuts don't need to be much more than hand tight.

Pleased to see the problem is apparently solved (for now) and that the OP has mastered the intracancies of his oil burner. Why bother getting in a qualified oil technician when you can spend hours solving the problem yourself (if indeed solved) and not even have to go to the trouble of minor details such as checking combustion?

 

[Pauli11]

Suddenly, without discussion about it you rush out and unilaterally buy a smart pump! That may not be recommended for your boiler!

You mean the Wilo pump that I mentioned earlier and you replied to?

Far from "Suddenly rushing out", I spent several hours researching pumps, and had a shortlist with exactly the spec of the original. I then visited three plumbing and heating stores, and asked their advice before purchasing.
The Wilo is working perfectly and has been since fitted. There was an urgency, as we have young children at home, and that was I think day 3 without hot water.

I have never had any problems with rubber washers deforming and dont understand how that could happen unless you were twisting the pipes!

Well, erm, I wasn't twisting the pipes. I cleaned both surfaces at the pipe and pump flanges. What I may have been guilty of was overtightening, although I never really tightened the nuts that tight.

How and ever, the plastic washers are fine and there are no leaks. The pump has been on for 2 weeks.

Thankyou though for yours and others advice. It has been very helpful and ultimately got the job done.

 

[Pauli11]

Most plumbers would use rubber pump washers in preference to any other type. I'm guessing pump valve nuts overtightened thus causing movement between pump and valve unions. If the facings are clean, nuts don't need to be much more than hand tight.

Pleased to see the problem is apparently solved (for now) and that the OP has mastered the intracancies of his oil burner. Why bother getting in a qualified oil technician when you can spend hours solving the problem yourself (if indeed solved) and not even have to go to the trouble of minor details such as checking combustion?

Thanks for your post, and its obvious sarcastic content.

I am always a person who wants to have a go at fixing things myself. I'm big and ugly enough to know when I'm out of my depth and to back off, but like most things, it wasn't hard to demystify the workings of the boiler (with some research and valuable help from posters here.)

Unfortunately the last "qualified oil technician" I called in several years ago, came in, tut tutted and wagged his finger a bit, charged me 150 quid, and left. Forgetting to bolt back on the burner unit to the boiler! I only noticed later when I accidentally knocked something against it and it almost fell out.
His reply when I rang him? "Err, sorry about that mate!" So I'll have a go until I feel out of my depth if thats ok with you.

Learning is part of the fun my friend, and if we all sat on our hands, then there wouldn't be any qualified oil technicians either.