Hi,
I'm not a plumbing expert, but always like to understand the topic area before i get an expert in ... !
I'm in a modern ~2000 townhouse. I have 2 showers on the top floor with thermostatic valves and fairly standard heads around 7cm in diameter. The pipework for both routes via the ceiling/loft space and around 8-9m of piping back to the hot water cylinder area. (some may reuse older copper pipes with a shorter more direct run)
The cold supply for the 2 installed pumps comes from the loft via 15mm plastic piping . I think there's a stop valve near the tank, and isolators nearer the pump. The final ~20-50cm depending on pipe is in flexible piping.
The hot supply is teed off the top of the cylinder along with the existing taps.
Both pumps are Watermill 1.5bar WASP-50 pumps. I've lived in the house just over two years and both have always been noisy. In the last few months first one pump failed (just wouldn't work one day) then yesterday the other (smell of plastic burning, and a few glitches in supply - I switched off)
In recent months I believe the hot water cylinder has been overheating which I toned down temporarily by reducing the hot water temp boiler side (it's summer)
So I have a few issues
- The pumps themselves have failed. I need to replace. I could get 2 drop-in replacements, though an "upgrade " to something like a salamander RSP-50 may be a better idea. Brass may be overkill
- The cause of the failure may be any of: old/cheap/worn out pump, air getting into the feed, over-temp hot water coming in. To have 2 failures in short order may suggest a common cause
My initial thought was to do a simple replacement - it's only 8 isolatable pipes and 2 electric feeds after all, plus a new cylinder stat.. but I hate plumbing/water. Coming to terms with this I'm also concerned the hot water supply may be a big factor -- who knows what flange is at the top of the cylinder. could that cause air?
So I'm now wondering if it might be better to get an expert in and, depending on his/her advice, consider sorting out the hot inlet via a new flange (not that tricky for an expert?) + pipework (short run), and also whether in fact it makes sense to install a single, slightly more powerful/better pump (maybe brass), rather than 2 seperate ones, slightly reducing the cost. This would require some pipework mods. In particular the existing cold feed from the tank being 2x15mm might be a concern - though would a plumber just tee together and run parallel to get the capacity needed & avoid replumbing from loft (and £)
WHat sort of price (excluding pumps) would you think this might be (I know it varies). I'm thinking in the £100-£200 range?
I expect I'll be here another 2 years, tough to say beyond that..
Any questions, comments very welcome!
Oh quick final question -- is the output likely to be improved as a short term measure if I "short circuit" one of the pumps cold & hot with an appropriate connector? Just until I get a plumber in? Presumably the impellors will be restricting flow now? Or do they tend to run freely anyway?
Thanks
Nigel.
I'm not a plumbing expert, but always like to understand the topic area before i get an expert in ... !
I'm in a modern ~2000 townhouse. I have 2 showers on the top floor with thermostatic valves and fairly standard heads around 7cm in diameter. The pipework for both routes via the ceiling/loft space and around 8-9m of piping back to the hot water cylinder area. (some may reuse older copper pipes with a shorter more direct run)
The cold supply for the 2 installed pumps comes from the loft via 15mm plastic piping . I think there's a stop valve near the tank, and isolators nearer the pump. The final ~20-50cm depending on pipe is in flexible piping.
The hot supply is teed off the top of the cylinder along with the existing taps.
Both pumps are Watermill 1.5bar WASP-50 pumps. I've lived in the house just over two years and both have always been noisy. In the last few months first one pump failed (just wouldn't work one day) then yesterday the other (smell of plastic burning, and a few glitches in supply - I switched off)
In recent months I believe the hot water cylinder has been overheating which I toned down temporarily by reducing the hot water temp boiler side (it's summer)
So I have a few issues
- The pumps themselves have failed. I need to replace. I could get 2 drop-in replacements, though an "upgrade " to something like a salamander RSP-50 may be a better idea. Brass may be overkill
- The cause of the failure may be any of: old/cheap/worn out pump, air getting into the feed, over-temp hot water coming in. To have 2 failures in short order may suggest a common cause
My initial thought was to do a simple replacement - it's only 8 isolatable pipes and 2 electric feeds after all, plus a new cylinder stat.. but I hate plumbing/water. Coming to terms with this I'm also concerned the hot water supply may be a big factor -- who knows what flange is at the top of the cylinder. could that cause air?
So I'm now wondering if it might be better to get an expert in and, depending on his/her advice, consider sorting out the hot inlet via a new flange (not that tricky for an expert?) + pipework (short run), and also whether in fact it makes sense to install a single, slightly more powerful/better pump (maybe brass), rather than 2 seperate ones, slightly reducing the cost. This would require some pipework mods. In particular the existing cold feed from the tank being 2x15mm might be a concern - though would a plumber just tee together and run parallel to get the capacity needed & avoid replumbing from loft (and £)
WHat sort of price (excluding pumps) would you think this might be (I know it varies). I'm thinking in the £100-£200 range?
I expect I'll be here another 2 years, tough to say beyond that..
Any questions, comments very welcome!
Oh quick final question -- is the output likely to be improved as a short term measure if I "short circuit" one of the pumps cold & hot with an appropriate connector? Just until I get a plumber in? Presumably the impellors will be restricting flow now? Or do they tend to run freely anyway?
Thanks
Nigel.
