What C/H circulating pump can i use?

[andycarr1]

Hi all,

I have an old house and next year the entire system is due to be ripped out for u/floor etc etc, but today I have a problem....

This is such an old house it has a ring of 1 1/2" BSP black iron with 9 rads stood off it, about 100ft of black iron and 50 ft of 22mm plastic where I shortened the loop last year. the maximum height difference in the system is about 3 ft from highest to lowest.

I just turned on the heating and within 10 mins the circ pump was not making and noise and was red hot.. so I figure its s goner. It is a grundfoss UPS 40-50 240, which used to also power round another 80 ft of pipe work and 5 other rads.

So the question is... what can I replace it with, that's not going to break the bank as it will be ripped out next year anyway.....??

Any thoughts? - thanks andy

 

[Boilerman2]

I'd have a look on Fleabay - someone might have a UPS 40/50 for sale,
they are now oblsolete and the replacement would be a Grundfos Magna 40/50 not cheap though!!

Try www.pumpsmart.co.uk

they might be able to source a new head for your existing or recommend a cheaper alternative - they are great guys!

 

[Boilerman2]

One more thing to try - undo the silver screw in the front face of the pump, (be careful if pump is still hot as water and Steam may escape!!!)

water will tricke from the the opening, using a flat blade screwdriver you can then turn the end of the drive shaft and try and free it off, it may have got stuck over the summer due to lack of use, once you have the inner shaft spinning free, replace the plug screw and test - there is a fair chance that the pump will work fine (until this time next autumn)

 

[andycarr1]

thanks, i'll try looking at the pump tomorrow, wondered if a smaller pump would do the job, one more domestic than light commercial now I've bypassed half the circuit.

on a different note, I suppose it could be the pump is fine, but its working hard against a blockage, how would I trace / solve a blockage?

 

[Boilerman2]

One step at a Time!! - lets find out if the pump is stuck first before getting in deeper than we need too! (art of successful fault finding!)

 

[andycarr1]

Hi,

Hats off to you, pump just needed a screwdriver hand crank and is now running sweet as a nut, You've saved me a whole bunch of notes and for that I'm really grateful, have a pint on me!

Many Thanks

Andy

 

[Boilerman2]

great to hear that all is well! it is not uncommon for heating only pumps to stick over the summer months, so make a note if the same thing happens next year!