Shower Pump Question

[brogers]

Hi all

I am asking on behalf of my severley disabled mother who has a pump shower in her wet room..

It was put in brand new about 3 years ago and has worked generally fine since then. In the last six weeks or so the shower has started to "splutter" a little, and in the last week is not starting at all or when it does it will only stay on for about a maximum of 5 minutes.

Anyway one of her carers arranged a quote and the plumber has come back saying the whole unit and pump needs replacing. Now i am no expert whatsoever but this does not quite sit right with me, surely if the whole system was faulty it would never work?

have arranged another quote but in the meantime would love some advice as to exactly what could be the issue/issues so i have a bit more knowledge

many many thanks

it is a selectronic unit

 

[Strima]

Could be a fall in water pressure/flow causing the pump to struggle. Not sure about these units by a lot have a small gauze filter inside the inlet which may have blocked up. If you're competent enough its a case of shutting off the water supply, plenty of rags to soak up any water and disconnect the inlet and have a look.

If the pump has been starved of water it may well have started to fail. Also check your warranty details, you may be surprised.

 

[Top Cat]

Could be a fall in water pressure/flow causing the pump to struggle. Not sure about these units by a lot have a small gauze filter inside the inlet which may have blocked up. If you're competent enough its a case of shutting off the water supply, plenty of rags to soak up any water and disconnect the inlet and have a look.

If the pump has been starved of water it may well have started to fail. Also check your warranty details, you may be surprised.

Sometimes the pump needs priming. Worth checking, especially if you check filter.

 

[brogers]

thanks for replies so far appreciate it

i should add i am a novice with this kind of thing though i do try

thanks again

 

[telectrix]

if a plumber has quoted a price, then you can be sure it will only cost a quarter of that to get it fixed.

 

[brogers]

"Sometimes the pump needs priming. Worth checking, especially if you check filter."

i have googled this but still dont quite grasp it

how do i actually do this please?

 

[Top Cat]

"Sometimes the pump needs priming. Worth checking, especially if you check filter."

i have googled this but still dont quite grasp it

how do i actually do this please?

The pump needs water in it or the impeller goes around and does not move the water. This can cause the spluttering or no water.

Some pumps need priming, some do it automatically and some do not need priming. Afraid you will have to look at manual.

 

[brogers]

which i can not find!

so far have taken apart the draining part and it stunk and was pretty blocked

 

[fadox21]

I have fitted a few shower pumps, when the shower is turned on the a signal is sent from the water sensor which in turn asks its control unit to start the pumping. Now this was a black sensor on the cold feed for the shower with 2 wires coming of it now maybe that has become faulty and needs replacing. The time the pump stays on is set in the control unit normally outside the bathroom but if the timer has been fine for all this time then I wouldnt think it was that. It does sound like the sensor maybe faulty if it is not dectecting the water flow properly this is where I would start but make sure there are no blockages etc from the shower tray.

 

[Top Cat]

which i can not find!

so far have taken apart the draining part and it stunk and was pretty blocked

Best advice i can give is when you put it all back together and cleaned it. Turn shower on, if the pump sounds like 3 dried peas wizzing around a can, then it needs priming!

If you can get some water in to pump (with pump switched off) it may help but end of the day i am an electrician.

You need an electrician with his brains shot out ie A PLUMBER

 

[brogers]

finished cleaning it and left it running for 5 minutes sounded a little bit better and then i turned it off

will give it another go in 45 minutes to see whether or not a bit of cleaning really has made the difference (cant see how myself)

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Hi brogers

not sure this is relevant to your problem, but our pump gave up recently, asked my mate who does (every) kind of applicance repair, he said check the cylinder in the hatch on the top (capacitor) - if it has a bit of black gunk stuck to the side it has pegged it.

New pump ( I was going to fit) was hundreds - new capacitor -a fiver. Works fine now.

Worth a shot. check it out

 

[brogers]

thanks spartykus

very kind

 

[brogers]

well have actually used the shower this morning and must have been in there for 7 minutes or so with no obvious problems


It certainly sounds quite a bit smoother than yesterday i am struggling to see how just cleaning the drain could result in this but it appears to have done something?>

 

[Strima]

Glad you're sorted mate, sounds like the plumber was trying it on a bit. It's amazing how much trouble a little crud and limescale can cause.