Concensus of opinion Water pump

[mrsmelly]

Hi Peeps.  My water pump has recently started to keep running longer to pressurise the system than it usualy does, there is also a noticeable drop in pressure at the shower head. I have had pumps that stop working and pumps that have developed leaks over the years. There are zero leaks anywhere and once pressure is realised the pump never runs again until several seconds after tap being used so in that respect it is normal. I could keep on with it but wondered if anyone else had had similar and wondered if the pump can just deliver less pressure for no apparent reason. I am squarly in the bin and replace school so will replace it but just wondrin if anyone else had a similar occurence?

[ditchcrawler]

I would just check the volts on the terminals while running, if low the pump could run slow so take longer to pressurise and then not pump the water fast enough to feed the shower

[cuthound]

3 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Hi Peeps.  My water pump has recently started to keep running longer to pressurise the system than it usualy does, there is also a noticeable drop in pressure at the shower head. I have had pumps that stop working and pumps that have developed leaks over the years. There are zero leaks anywhere and once pressure is realised the pump never runs again until several seconds after tap being used so in that respect it is normal. I could keep on with it but wondered if anyone else had had similar and wondered if the pump can just deliver less pressure for no apparent reason. I am squarly in the bin and replace school so will replace it but just wondrin if anyone else had a similar occurence?

 

If the pressure is fine at the other taps, then the shower head has scaled up, or possibly if you have a flexible hose to the shower head, the rubber hose inside the shiny spiral has partially collapsed.

[nicknorman]

Well firstly it isn’t delivering less pressure - it still gets the pressure up enough to trip the pressure switch. But the flow is less, so it takes longer to achieve that pressure.

 

Low flow could perhaps be an issue with the actual pump bit but there are plenty of other causes;

Pump motor running slower either due to being worn out, or voltage drop in the wiring (bad connection etc)

Restriction on the inlet side of the water flow due, for example, to crud build up in the tank outlet, build up of debris on the pump inlet filter. Even a mouse having partially turned off the stopcock (Ok that is fairly unlikely).

[ditchcrawler]

28 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

 

Restriction on the inlet side of the water flow due, for example, to crud build up in the tank outlet, build up of debris on the pump inlet filter. Even a mouse having partially turned off the stopcock (Ok that is fairly unlikely).

I was expecting you to say a mouse in the cold water storage tank

[nicknorman]

Just now, ditchcrawler said:

I was expecting you to say a mouse in the cold water storage tank

Yes that is more likely!

[cuthound]

33 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I was expecting you to say a mouse in the cold water storage tank

 

32 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Yes that is more likely!

 

Surely then you would have seen his wet footprints by the stopcock ??

[PeterF]

It could also be leaking non return valve on either the pump suction or discharge if it has these fitted, they are often just rubber flap or nozzle types that can split, perish or have a bit of crud in.

Edited November 18, 2019 by PeterF

[mrsmelly]

Thanks all. I will bung a new one in and take the old one to bits for the fun of it.

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Thanks all. I will bung a new one in and take the old one to bits for the fun of it.

Were you listening at all?

[mrsmelly]

23 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Were you listening at all?

Yes thanks old boy I reckon it could well be a tired motor bit and at 60 squids and ten minutes to swop I will not be arsing about with it. I doubt its anything other than a tired pump. The wiring is all spot on and clean as a whistle so change it I will and report back. Trouble is I put my spare on mi  motorhome last month lol so I need to buy one. Its still working so not desperation stakes ?

[matty40s]

.....accumulator pressure????...

[nicknorman]

23 minutes ago, matty40s said:

.....accumulator pressure????...

No.

[Ex Brummie]

There are many parts that could be just a little worn apart from the motor bits, The little diaphragms on the chambers stretch and lower the throughput, and can also leak back. Like you, I'm in the bin and replace camp. The time and effort of finding  overpriced spares is just not worth it.

[ditchcrawler]

If it was leaking back the pump would keep cutting in just like a tap dripping

[nicknorman]

The point about a restriction of the inlet seems to have been totally ignored. Hey ho, I’m sure the OP has the balls to admit his folly if/when a new pump behaves in exactly the same way as the old one!

Edited November 18, 2019 by nicknorman

[ditchcrawler]

1 minute ago, nicknorman said:

The point about a restriction of the inlet seems to have been totally ignored. Hey ho, I’m sure the OP has the balls to admit his folly of/when a new pump behaves in exactly the same way as the old one!

The mouse in the inlet pipe?, but yes you could well be right, crud in the filter of scale in the pipe/tank outlet

[Sea Dog]

I'd also advocate a quick look at the inlet pipe before changing out the pump, particularly if it's a flexi as many are to isolate pump vibrations.  Those flexi pipes are often reinforced with fibres which are fine to resist the pressure within, but can't do much to stop the pipe gradually deforming if the pump suction exceeds the capacity of the pipe to deliver. This steadily worsens until the issue "suddenly" manifests as poor output flow. Replacing it with something more suitable, such as a spiral wire reinforced potable water hose, will fix it if it's this problem.

[mrsmelly]

Changed the pump and all back to normal. Zero crud anywhere in the system, as I thought there is something amiss inside the pump. Its lasted nearly five years so I am happy with that as five years for us gets the pump a lot of use. We have no flexible pipes and its all plastic back to the stainless tank. Its nice to have a look every few years, I just wish I had three hands lol.

[mrsmelly]

So I unbolt the end just for a look inside and it shouldnt have even been working. The whole body was pressurised and the motor and everyithing behind the pump that should be dry was completely full of water including all the lectrical connections. The black hard pumpy thingy bit was starting to break up. So all in all we got our moneys worth out of it.

[ditchcrawler]

10 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

So I unbolt the end just for a look inside and it shouldnt have even been working. The whole body was pressurised and the motor and everyithing behind the pump that should be dry was completely full of water including all the lectrical connections. The black hard pumpy thingy bit was starting to break up. So all in all we got our moneys worth out of it.

 

I bet that felt satisfying finding that.

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

I bet that felt satisfying finding that.

 Absoblooominlootely. God only knows why it was still working at all!! The bad news is that I had used my spare on mi motorhome and should know better, this is why I always carry spares but as I have a mooring at present I got complacent. I had to nip down to Heyford and pay 20 quid more than getting one delivered, I wasnt waiting around till tomoz or the day after for 20 quid but I am peeved with myself. I have ordered one to be delivered today though as a spare 

[Sea Dog]

On 18/11/2019 at 17:19, mrsmelly said:

I am squarly in the bin and replace school so will replace it but just wondrin if anyone else had a similar occurence?

Glad you're up and running.  Other than where political correctness is concerned, you're not usually far off the mark Tim, and here you are again - right first time!  

 

[mrsmelly]

26 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Glad you're up and running.  Other than where political correctness is concerned, you're not usually far off the mark Tim, and here you are again - right first time!  

 

 Who?  Little old me? ?

[nicknorman]

6 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

So I unbolt the end just for a look inside and it shouldnt have even been working. The whole body was pressurised and the motor and everyithing behind the pump that should be dry was completely full of water including all the lectrical connections. The black hard pumpy thingy bit was starting to break up. So all in all we got our moneys worth out of it.

Looks like the remains of a mouse to me.