Replacing Wilo Central Heating Pump

[StevG]

Good afternoon,

My 16 year old Wilo Gold pump packed up yesterday. Whilst I know everyone seems to recommend Grundfos, I purchased another Wilo on the basis it was the same dimensions as my existing pump and would save me having to drain the whole system down and cut the pipework to accommodate a Grundfos.

The pump I purchased is this one. http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wilo-Yonos-PICO-25-1-6-Glandless-Pump/p/106630

Having carefully removed my defective pump in the last hour I have come to connect the replacement and hit a problem. On my old pump the direction of flow arrow was vertically downwards. When I connect the new pump with the flow arrow vertically downwards, the control box as pictured on the link above is upside down and the electrical connection is on the top.

In the user instructions for the new pump it states that this is not an acceptable position as the motor must always be installed horizontally and the electrical connection must never face upwards. The instructions also state that you can rotate the motor head if necessary to achieve the correct orientation but don't tell you how to do this.

Have a bought a pump that I cannot use or is there a simple way to rotate the control box so that it is in the correct orientation when the direction of flow arrow is pointing downwards?

There are four allen type bolts on the body of the pump but I don't want to undo these in case I'm doing something wrong.

I've not allowed water to flow into the pump yet so any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.

Steve.

 

[cowley]

Undo the four Allen type bolts and rotate the head to the desired position, if the head is stuck when you have removed the bolts a little tap to the side of the head will free it.
MIck.

 

[ollski]

Take the 4 Allen bolts out and turn the head round whichever way you want it.

 

[ollski]

Too late, BTW you know pump sizes are standard?

 

[Dan Robinson]

IIRC these pumps don't like pumping downwards any more than a standard pump.

 

[StevG]

Thank you all for the very prompt advice.

I have done as you suggest and revolved the head through 180 degrees which was very easy. Now have head and direction of flow arrow in correct orientation.

Having opened the isolation valves and fired up the heating the pump is working but have a small leak from one of the pump isolation valves where it compresses onto the 22mm copper. I guess I must have loosened it when tightening up the unions on the new pump.

I'm now trying to nip it up a tad without disturbing all the other joints.

I'll be back if I can't stop it but thanks again for all your advice.

Steve.

 

[Brijen Hathi]

Hello everyone,

My Wilo pump - same as Steve's mentioned above - has been running for a few years with its head fitted upside down. Clearly a plumber in rush did not read instructions and I wish to correct this error.

Would there be any leaks or adverse effects if I were to remove the four Allen key bolts and rotate the head? Given that water has flown through it, do I need to close the two upstream & downstream gate valves before making this change??

Thanks,
Brijen

 

[ianmcd]

you really should start your own post it is against site rules to H-jack old posts, yes you have to isolate the pump before touching the bolts, post a pic of your isolating valves some you really should not touch

 

[Brijen Hathi]

Thanks Ian,

I didn't realise I had to start a new thread for the same topic, apologies I am newbie to these postings but find all the chats useful, especially if clubbed into the same thread.

I managed to rotate the control head by :
(1) first closing the two valves shown in the image below (takes many rotations cw till lock with an adjustable spanner),
(2) unplugging the electric plug (by pressing a small latch on the blind side while slowly pulling off the plug)
(3) undo the four Alan key bolts (only two visible in the image below) while keeping a thick towel bundle wrapped around the lower pipes to trap water. There was a bit of suction to overcome in taking apart the unit to rotate.
(4) rotate the control unit & fit the Alan key bolts. That's it!

Cheers,
Brijen