Jump to content

Water pump woes


Poppin

Featured Posts

Also its surprising what can fall into your water tank and fuel tank in some cases for that matter when the filler caps off filling up, especially at this time of year when leaves are blowing about. It happens when your not looking then you wonder why the fresh water stops flowing from the taps or the engine conks out because a leaf or leaves have blocked the tank outlet feed pipe,''thrombosis''. Had this happen a few times with folks water tanks and a few times with more usually generator, mowers ect fuel tanks. Boat water tanks, usually the ones with fillers outside, are the worst effected because you stuff the hose in the tank and leave it to fill up whilst you do something else, this is when bits blowing about like crafty leaves can fall in it.   Adapt a plastic funnel to slide tightly over the hose to act as a shelter over the filler to prevent this happening.

Edited by bizzard
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok so this is now a real mystery. I got to a point where everything is running well in all outlets except the kitchen sink (closest to the pump). Since BOTH hot and cold taps would cause the pump to cycle on and off every second, I reached the conclusion that the tap itself must be blocked with limescale or similar. Sure enough, I removed the top part of the tap (unscrews from the mixer), opened the taps and the pump engaged properly! 

 

I wanted to replace the tap anyway, with one of those large, pull out hose taps as we have a large Belfast sink. Just replaced the tap and pump engaged properly on first use. Now, however, it is cycling again!! What on earth could be causing this? And only in the kitchen outlet!? 

 

Could it be a symptom of the new pump with higher flow rate having undersized 15mm pipes? I do have a cold prefilter fitted just before the sink, but this prefilter also supplies the bathroom basin, and that flows fine, so can't be that messing with the pressure. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Poppin said:

Ok so this is now a real mystery. I got to a point where everything is running well in all outlets except the kitchen sink (closest to the pump). Since BOTH hot and cold taps would cause the pump to cycle on and off every second, I reached the conclusion that the tap itself must be blocked with limescale or similar. Sure enough, I removed the top part of the tap (unscrews from the mixer), opened the taps and the pump engaged properly! 

 

I wanted to replace the tap anyway, with one of those large, pull out hose taps as we have a large Belfast sink. Just replaced the tap and pump engaged properly on first use. Now, however, it is cycling again!! What on earth could be causing this? And only in the kitchen outlet!? 

 

Could it be a symptom of the new pump with higher flow rate having undersized 15mm pipes? I do have a cold prefilter fitted just before the sink, but this prefilter also supplies the bathroom basin, and that flows fine, so can't be that messing with the pressure. 

Its probably a blocked filter / aerator (right at the end of the tap where the water comes out) threaded in with a fine wire gauze.

Has two flat sides to locate a spanner / molegrips.

This was exactly as another forumite mentioned and that solved it.

I have removed all of these filters on our taps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, rusty69 said:

I'm surprised no one has suggested this before.

So am I !!

 

I noticed someone 'stole' my solution earlier in the thread, but I'm not one to complain.

 

I suppose you'd have to read the whole thread to notice, and few can be bothered, so when a suggestion has been ignored its often necessary to repeat it.

 

Repetition adds emphasis.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aerator and thin pipes are now standard on new taps to save water, the idiots who mandated this did not understand that filling a kettle, washing up bowl or bucket to wash floor/windows is governed by litres and not time. Brushing teeth, washing hands is governed by time so it will save water here but in the kitchen you just have to have the tap on for longer to get the required litres.  The aerators usually can be removed and you can sometimes replace the thin feed pipes with ones with a fatter hole. The same is applied to bath tap,s they have lowered the flow rate but the bath is the same size!.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

So am I !!

 

I noticed someone 'stole' my solution earlier in the thread, but I'm not one to complain.

 

I suppose you'd have to read the whole thread to notice, and few can be bothered, so when a suggestion has been ignored its often necessary to repeat it.

 

Repetition adds emphasis.

???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

So am I !!

 

I noticed someone 'stole' my solution earlier in the thread, but I'm not one to complain.

 

I suppose you'd have to read the whole thread to notice, and few can be bothered, so when a suggestion has been ignored its often necessary to repeat it.

 

Repetition adds emphasis.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

Don't mither about it : No one knows anything until they have learnt it from another source (School, Teacher, Book, Parents, who-ever...….)

I stubbed my toe this morning,I learnt it hurt. No one told me that!

 

I might do some other experiments, see what else I can learn.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

28 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

So am I !!

 

I noticed someone 'stole' my solution earlier in the thread, but I'm not one to complain.

 

I suppose you'd have to read the whole thread to notice, and few can be bothered, so when a suggestion has been ignored its often necessary to repeat it.

 

Repetition adds emphasis.

???Arn't the wretched pop ups that pop up at the bottom of the page to tell someone has replied, a bloody nuisance. It mucked up this post, somehow. I wish it could be eliminated, zapped out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

Only 3 reasons a pump will cycle.

1 Water is being lost from after the pump. leak or PRV valve passing.

2 Water is leaking back through the pump to the inlet due to faulty valve or diaphragm in pump.

3 Water is cooling down and pressure is dropping.

All of these things causing cycling when the taps are closed and the pump is supposed to be not in use. My problem is specific to the flow of the kitchen sink only. When the cold tap is open, the pump cycles on and off causing a pulsating flow. I naturally thought this was a blockage, until i changed the tap and got the same problem as of the second try. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Poppin said:

All of these things causing cycling when the taps are closed and the pump is supposed to be not in use. My problem is specific to the flow of the kitchen sink only. When the cold tap is open, the pump cycles on and off causing a pulsating flow. I naturally thought this was a blockage, until i changed the tap and got the same problem as of the second try. 

As far as I can see your logic is correct. The pump delivers a greater volume of water than can exit the tap. This is very common and an accumulator will only alter the pulse frequency, not the fact it pulses. Reducing the pump cut out pressure MIGHT reduce the flow from the tap to a level that extends the pulse length but it may not.

 

If you are absolutely sure the new tap has the full 1/2" bore and is not a mono-block (those often have a very thin plastic tube carrying water up to the spout) then there has to be a restriction in the pipe work. Try disconnecting from the tap, pt a length of hose on the pipe and turning the pump on. If the pump stops pulsing you know, despite a new tap, that its a tap problem. If it still pulses you know its a pipework problem. Do you have any small bore service valves in the system as per modern domestic practice?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

My tap does the same on cold because I have a water filter in the line. But does it matter as long as the water flows out at a usable rate??

Far too many people seem to think it does matter but I am with you.

 

I could make out a good mechanical and electrical case for pump cycling being bad but experience tells me its a non-issue, unless its causing problems with a gas water heater, once you fit a decent remote pressure switch and even without that the pumps run for years of cycling.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I changed down to a Jabsco parmax 2.9, solved the issue. Flow rate was too great for my pipes.

 

Now onto the next issue, the prefilter before the kitchen sink is reducing water pressure a bit too much, what would happen if I put a small accumilator between the filter and the tap, would that not improve pressure? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm thinking the aerator in the tap is also reducing flow. Removing it however leaves me with a narrow jet (it's a pull out tap with Flexi hose inside). Is there such a thing as a high flow aerator that would basically allow the pumps capacity through? Like 11 litres/min. Can't find this anywhere, highest seems to be 7 litres/min.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.