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Pump Common Faults

The pump on your heating pushes the heated water around your system either for the radiators or the hot water. It would be advisable if you located where this is as you may have to replace this one day (or pay someone else to).

Noisey Pump

 

Their are not too many reasons a pump is noisey. Its usuall one of the following;

 

  • Air in the pump - this is rectified by bleeding the pump.

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  • Pump speed to high - try turning it down one speed setting and this should quieten it down.

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  • The pump is blocked or getting on its way to becoming blocked - this is sorted out by cleaning out the pump and any pipework affected.

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  • The pump has seized up - this can be cured sometimes by manually turning the insides of the pump to free it back up again. A away of preventing this is to run the pump every once in a while. What usually happpens is people don't use their heating so much over the warmer periods and then winter comes and they then find their pump has seized.

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  • Pump vibration can sometimes be the result of incorrect clip postions or just a very old pump - you can either fix more clips to the pipework or lag the pipework. It may also be a good idea to wedge an old cloth between the pump and the wall (not on integral pumps i.e pumps located in the boiler casing).

Other Faults On Pumps

 

  • The pump is leaking - either replace the washers, dependant where the leak is, or replace the pump.

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  • If the pump has seized this will cause the pump to burnout - only solution here is to renew the pump.

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  • Fitting the pump the wrong way - this may even work for a while but will cause problems at some point. To fix this just turn the pump the right way. There should be an arrow on the pump this should point towards the diverter valve or dumball valve depending on which system you have.

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  • Fitting the pump facing up or down will both cause problems - the pump should be fit to manufacturers instructions i.e level.

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  • Also if the pump stops running for any of the mentioned reasons while you have the heating turned on, this may cause the boiler to bang loudly. Sounding like; "someone was hitting it with a hammer" or "like it was going to come off the wall". Again in this case either free up the pump (remove the blockage or unseize) or fit a new one.

There are many makes and models of pumps on the market but the most popular three brands are Myson, Grundfos and Wilo. Their reputations are matched by their price with Grundfos being the most trusted and usually the most expensive. You could get a Wilo for half the price of an equivalent Grundfos.

 Which do you choose?

Example of a Wilo pump. Click to check for your pump.
Example of a Grundfos pump. Click to check for your pump.

Related Topics

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