Growly motor noise under bath

[Florine]

The saga with the bath/shower in our new home continues ...

I ran the bath last night, and decided not to fill it very full at all because I was tired and wanted to go to bed. The amount of water in the bath wasn't even enough to cover my body when lying down. When I got in (with the water turned off), a very "growly" motor noise started from underneath the bath - sounded like a motor on its way out to me. I got up. It stopped. I sat down again - you guessed it, it started up again. And so on. Nothing like this has ever happened previously - I didn't even know there was a motor under the bath, as opposed to the pump behind the "taps"/controls. This is obviously way beyond my DIY skills, but I wonder if anyone has any idea what's going on here?

For context: It's a moulded plastic P-shaped walk-in bath with combined thermostatic rain shower/bath controls, operating off a pump. We inherited it when we arrived, but have no idea of manufacturer or anything like that, or any literature. If it's at all relevant, I'm not excessively heavy - weigh about 11 stone, I should think.

I'll pop into the local bath store and ask for advice, but if anyone has any idea of what could be happening I'd welcome (I think ...) knowing. Not looking forward to having to get underneath the bath, as I can't work out where access is.

 

[Mottie]

Sounds like you have a noisy growler.

 

[denso13]

Not looking forward to having to get underneath the bath

That's the first step in troubleshooting unfortunately. You really take a look and see if there is anything obvious.

 

[JBR]

Do you have a cat?
Could it have found some way in under the bath?

 

[Florine]

That's the first step in troubleshooting unfortunately. You really take a look and see if there is anything obvious.

Is there a standard way of getting into that type of bath, do you know? I just can't see where to do it - there are no obvious joins. Sounds to me as though the motor may be failing.

I note that this site is now offering me a thread https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/is-a-shower-pump-regulated-underneath-the-bath.441731/ which it wasn't doing earlier, so obviously you can have a pump underneath the bath - it's just that I've always heard the noise of the pump behind the taps/controls previously, not coming from underneath, so assumed the pump was located in the wall. This definitely sounds like a motor rather than an actual pump.

 

[Madrab]

It may be a whale gulper evacuation pump you can hear, that is a drainage pump rather than a shower pump. They sound very different, though you would usually hear it every time the bath would drain.

 

[Florine]

Thanks. I didn't know those existed - and I'm not sure we've got one. Whatever it is, it's a sort of wheezy motor sound rather than an actual pump sound.

Anyway, I've been pondering on this a bit more. From the photo in the thread I linked to, I can see that it may be possible that there is some sort of motor-containing contraption underneath, but I still can't work out why applying pressure to the bottom of the bath - which is effectively what's happening - would cause this motor suddenly to make a noise, which stops again when you relieve the pressure. Either way, it sounds as though it's about to give up the ghost. I've just tried running the water again, and it still runs, but there was a ,new, rushing sound behind the controls which I didn't like the sound of, so I've turned it off again.

I fear it may be time to call a professional in ...

 

[Florine]

For context: It's a moulded acrylic P-shaped walk-in bath with combined thermostatic rain shower/bath controls, operating off a pump.

Can't edit my original post now, but wanted to correct the above. See e.g. https://www.heatandplumb.com/acatal...ETIfhLZ4xi7Y4ey_gLbnL6FruJaVF2uxoCUNYQAvD_BwE but with a walk-in door added. And attached to the wall on 2 sides only.

 

[Koolpc]

Just take the panel off of the bath and have a look!!

 

[Madrab]

This is what a gulper pump sounds like

 

[Florine]

Just take the panel off of the bath and have a look!!

As you can see from my message No. 5, I can't see where to get in to have a look. Obviously the installation was done so well that I can't find the joins.

This is what a gulper pump sounds like

Thanks, but no, it's definitely not that.

Also, and I don't know whether it's related, but I tried turning the water on this morning to check whether the pump was still functioning, and immediately got a rushing (gushing?) sound behind the controls which I haven't heard before, and don't like the sound of, so am going to call in a professional at this point anyway.

 

[Florine]

Even took the professional 15 minutes or so to get into it - and he knew where to look and what to do! He reckons the pump is on its way out - and is obviously an old one - but pointed out that the bath support leg on the other side from where the pump is has collapsed and that therefore the weight of the contents of the bath could be pressing on part of the pump mechanism and putting it under undue stress. That doesn't explain why it was doing it while the water was off, though.

And I couldn't get the rushing water sound to replicate, of course. Just like the pain that goes away once you're actually in the dentist's chair.

Neither problem would actually be covered by our homecare agreement, of course, because of the pipes being in the wall and the pump not serving the whole house

 

[Florine]

Hmm, and now someone else has reported that it occurs when you put your feet down - at the plug/tap/shower end of the bath, well away from the pump. So it doesn't seem likely that the collapsed support leg/pressure being put on the pump is the cause. Unless a leg has collapsed at the other end too, maybe.

EDIT: Except that I tried it last night, and although it did initially seem that putting your feet down at the tap end was causing it, I did realise that what caused it to stop was sitting up and moving my back away from the "reclining" slope of the bath, so I guess it probably is pressure on the pump piping which is causing it. With the rear access panel unsealed, the "growly" sound comes over as a less-clear sort of "grumble", or at least it did last night. Either way, it still doesn't explain why the pump is making any sort of noise when it shouldn't be operating at all.

 

[Florine]

A picture of the situation behind the bath, in case anyone's interested:


You can see the functioning bath support strut at rear left - I believe the one which has collapsed is attached to that block of wood at bottom right. As you can see, the piping is very close to the shell of the bath.

 

[ChrisJP]

With the pump now exposed perhaps someone should sit in the bath with the pump running so that the growly noise starts, and then locate where its coming from (which is presumably the pump) and push and pull the pipework around the pump to see if it stops. Then devise some further supports to keep the pump in the position where the noise stops.
I guess you'll need water in the bath to be able to run the pump, so the bath occupant will probably need a swimmimg costume unless everyone is close family!