New Shower pump installed - no water to shower !!

by **iandb** » Sat Jan 15, 2011 1:33 pm

Folks,

am about to replace the shower pump as our (very) old one has given up. I have now a Bristan Duraspeed 70 and it is supplied with flexible hose for connection to the pump and the copper water pipes. Does the water pipe just push into the end at the bottom of the pic?

On current pump the water pipes go straight in the pump. Due to space contraints and until I can get a plumber the flexible option is very helpful.

Thanks

by **plumbbob** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 9:51 am

All pumps (I think) have flexible tails to help avoid noise transmission.

The fittings are pushfit so the 15mm copper (or plastic) should just push into the fitting.

A word of advice though, the copper must be clean to ensure a water tight seal and secondly, you must use a pipe slice to cut it, not a hacksaw for example otherwise the seal may be damaged when you insert the pipe into the fitting.

by **iandb** » Sun Jan 16, 2011 5:00 pm

Many thanks for the confirmation. I'v got a pipe cutter already so just need to get a length of hose and some more fittings to make it work around the current pipe fittings.

On the previous pump all 4 are vertical out of the pump and in a tight square together.

Ian

by **iandb** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:51 pm

Hi all,

Finally got around to unstalling this today and once it was all plumbed in I plugged it in to the mains with a 13a plug and tried the shower to make sure all was well. But it wasn't.

There was no water coming through at all. I do not even know if the pump was running. Should I have heard something as you can clearly hear the old one, which I've put back in.

The new pump was 2.0 bar so I'm wondering if it was just a case that this was not powerful enough and that I should be looking at a 3.0 or even a 4.0bar pump.

The old pump was a New Team one and is at least 10 years old, but I've no idea how powerful it is.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Ian

by **plumbbob** » Sun Jan 23, 2011 10:25 pm

iandb wrote:Hi all,

Finally got around to unstalling this today and once it was all plumbed in I plugged it in to the mains with a 13a plug and tried the shower to make sure all was well. But it wasn't.

There was no water coming through at all. I do not even know if the pump was running. Should I have heard something as you can clearly hear the old one, which I've put back in.

The new pump was 2.0 bar so I'm wondering if it was just a case that this was not powerful enough and that I should be looking at a 3.0 or even a 4.0bar pump.

The old pump was a New Team one and is at least 10 years old, but I've no idea how powerful it is.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Ian

There is no need to fit a larger capacity pump unless you want to. The larger pumps really are only for supplying two or more showers.

Yes, you should clearly hear the pump running. Have you bled the air before turning the pump on? If the pump is airlocked the flow switch will not be triggered to activate the pump.

With the pump off (because it will be damaged if run dry) lay the shower hose in the tray and turn the shower on full hot then full cold. Allow any air to be dispersed.

by **iandb** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 6:30 pm

plumbbob wrote:There is no need to fit a larger capacity pump unless you want to. The larger pumps really are only for supplying two or more showers.

Yes, you should clearly hear the pump running. Have you bled the air before turning the pump on? If the pump is airlocked the flow switch will not be triggered to activate the pump.

With the pump off (because it will be damaged if run dry) lay the shower hose in the tray and turn the shower on full hot then full cold. Allow any air to be dispersed.

Bob

Thanks for the reply and advise. Excuse my ignorance and stupidity below!!

I have not bled the pump as there was no mention of it in the install instructions from Bristan in the box.

I can not lay the hose in the tray as it is fixed above the bath, as per the photo. Would it be the same thing if I removed the Head / rose and ran like that.

Also am I correct to think that you mean plumb it all in but do not connect to the Electricity mains and then run the shower.

One last question, on the shower pump does it matter which end the hot or cold feed is to the pump or can they go any way round.

Thanks again.

Ian

by **iandb** » Mon Jan 24, 2011 9:33 pm

subject to other post a bit of other info..

Pump is in airing cupboard on the floor. The hot water tank is above it on a pedestal and the cold tank is in the loft.

Shower... Which is in the bath. ~ 8" from ceiling. There is ~22 feet of run from the pump to shower head, with 6ft from floor to shower head

by **plumbbob** » Thu Jan 27, 2011 11:24 pm

iandb wrote:Shower... Which is in the bath. ~ 8" from ceiling. There is ~22 feet of run from the pump to shower head, with 6ft from floor to shower head

With that length of pipe run then the system will have loads of air and it's going to be a bit tricky working out how to remove the air.

Maybe you could remove the outlets from the pump and direct the flow into a bucket until the air is removed or how about removing the fixed head, connect a shower hose then suck the air out? You've only just got to get it flowing.

What about connecting a garden hose to the head and pushing the air back the other way filling the feeds with water at the same time. It's just a question of thinking outside the box.

Just a thought...... If the system is empty, I take it you didn't flush debris from the pipes before fitting the shower????

iandb wrote:One last question, on the shower pump does it matter which end the hot or cold feed is to the pump or can they go any way round.

Matters not.

iandb wrote:Also am I correct to think that you mean plumb it all in but do not connect to the Electricity mains and then run the shower.

Not sure I understand. Just don't run the pump for any time whilst there is no water in it to lubricate the bearings.