shower pump help-not enough pressure-aeration/water starvatn

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I am not a plumber, or tradesman of anysort... but can understand simple plumbing talk... please help - sorry in advance for long description!

Setup: I have a Salamander Pump (ESP 80 CPV) which has a positive and negative head operation. It provides only COLD WATER boost to 1 shower, 1 bath, 2 basins bathrooms and 1 toilet. The pump is located on the 2nd floor of the house, with the bathroom on the same floor, and the shower on the bottom floor. The cold water storage tank is roughly 1.5 metres above the pump, and supplies a direct feed from the tank to pump, and then from pump to shower, etc. It has been working fine for the last 3 years or so.

Problem: Recently we have seen a loss of pressure when using the cold water. This is affecting the shower as the water comes out boiling hot even when the tempreture guage is on fully cold. This is also evident when using the bathroom sink, the cold water does not have much pressure. You can normally here the sound of the pump when the cold water is activated, but there is no sound anymore.

When I looked at the pump, I could see a red warning light on. I consoled the pump manual, and this is what it says...

"LOCK-OUT, RED LED ON: due to AERATION & or WATER STARVATION - in either condition the pump will first endeavour to purge the airlock or blockage via an ON-OFF sequence, during which No.2 Red LED will FLASH"

so it seems that the pump is suffering from aeration and or water starvation. I have tried to remove the air from the water by way of a valve which is fitted on the outlet pipe, and pressing it, exhales the air. this did remove the air, but still no pressure in cold water. We then proceeded to remove the pump and made sure that it worked and turned, which it did? re attaching the pump, it starts working for a second or so, and then switches back off, and carries on doing so for 3-4 times... now there is no red light showing.

im sure that there is not a problem with the outlet pipe, or im preety sure... so could there be a problem with the inlet pipe - the direct feed from the cold water supply - could it be blocked, or not enough flow from the tank to the pump?

or could there be a problem with the pump itself?
would i need to have surrey flange fitted to make sure that air doesnt get trapped again, can i even have a flange for a cold water supply? any other tips on the pump is appreciated!

many thanks, raks
 
it could simply be th eballcock on the supplying tank is failing to allow full flow and thus th etanks emptying faster than it fills. or more so than usual. check that your mains cock os turned on full also.
 
Thanks for the reply...i have checked the ballcock, and that seems to be fine... the flow is seems to be full and consistant!

any other remedies you can think off?
 

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