sittingduck Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Hi - I'm hoping you can help me with some advice as I'm fed up with being ripped off by tradespeople who take advantage of the fact that I'm female! My hot water/central heating pump keeps turning itself on at odd hours (i.e. the middle of the night when it wakes everyone up!) & not in accordance with the thermostat settings - it seems to have a mind of its own. It also makes a loud knocking noise when this happens. The pump itself is not a new one & I'm wondering whether it should be replaced or the problem repaired and whether a repair might end up costing a great deal more than buying and having a new pump fitted? I'm not sure how long pumps are meant to last but if this one is very old, a new one might be a better option. I don't know if it's relevant but I have an 18month old boiler (it's not a combi) and it's working fine. Shortly after it was installed (& before it had been used) it failed to work & the tradesperson said the system was full of crap & I paid him to flush everything out & then fill it with an additive that would prevent the crap from forming again (that was how he described it). Fingers crossed that you can advise me on what's going on, so that when I call up some new tradespeople they are aware that I've done some homework and am not going to be a soft touch... The pump is red and has the following information on the front: Grundfos Type UPS 15-50 130 230V 50Hz 2.0 muF 0.16 | 35 - 0.20 | 45 = 0.23 | 50 =- P/N 96281426 PC: 0641 IP 44 TF 110 Max. 10bar Selectric 50Hz 2.0 muF 0.16 | 35 - 0.20 | 45 = 0.23 | 50 =- P/N 96281426 PC: 0641 IP 44 TF 110 Max. 10bar Selectric I found this site by googling 'broken heating pump' or the like & there was some great advice here. Hope the same experts are reading it. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Two threads today concerning people who are convinced that plumbers/heating engineers/appliance repair people are ripping off female customers. And a shortage of jobs in Sheffield. Sounds like a potential money-maker to me Perhaps the wily women (the ones who are fed up with being ripped off) should go an do plumbing courses then set up in business as plumbing and heating engineers - A business which offers special cut-price rates (or even service at no charge!) for females only. They could call it 'Polyanna's Pipes'. Anybody who was prepared to work for nothing would hardly go short of customers! [How much money does a male plumber earn for giving a free quote? Does it cover his petrol or his time? Couldn't he be somewhere else doing work for money?] If the lazy males aren't prepared to work for nothing, a couple of enterprising ladies could soon show them how its done. No doubt they'd make a fortune. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNCskilled Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 sitting duck where is your pump? Is it situated below the boiler? ie underneath it. I had the same problem a few years ago. The noise was like someone banging the pipes with a hammer. After replacing the pump the problem was solved. Unforunately for me though my pump was situated underneath the kitchen floor below the level of the boiler. The plumber informed me that this is the worst place for a pump because it has to work very hard pumping the water around the system from the lowest part of the house! How right he was! just over a year later the pump had to be replaced again. The cost of the pump wasn't very expensive (about £40 I think) but in the end I decided to have a new complete system including combi boiler because the one I had was over ten years old. No problems since touch wood! In your situation though you say you have a pretty new boiler so I suggest just buy a new pump and it should solve it. Whoever fits it will make sure your system is cleaned and bleeded (aired) correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sittingduck Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 Thank you CNCskilled. That sounds like good advice. The pump's up in the airing cupboard on the top floor of the house so it's in the best place & it looks as if a new one's in order. What's this about them switching the heating on in the middle of their own accord though? Is that to let the householder know they're in their dying throes & need replaceing? ;o) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sittingduck Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 that was meant to say middle of the night... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNCskilled Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 The pump is always 'live'. The pump kicks in only when your boiler is activated. My old boiler used to be set to come on at 7am and thats when the banging and thumping began! It got so bad once that the front of the boiler (which was in the kitchen) was forced off by the irregular pipe pressure and hit me whilst I was buttering my toast! It was so loud I thought I was going to be toast! If your pipes are making a noise during the night then I would check your boiler settings etc and make sure its off during the nite. It should have a timer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citywide Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Hi - I'm hoping you can help me with some advice as I'm fed up with being ripped off by tradespeople who take advantage of the fact that I'm female! My hot water/central heating pump keeps turning itself on at odd hours (i.e. the middle of the night when it wakes everyone up!) & not in accordance with the thermostat settings - it seems to have a mind of its own. It also makes a loud knocking noise when this happens. The pump itself is not a new one & I'm wondering whether it should be replaced or the problem repaired and whether a repair might end up costing a great deal more than buying and having a new pump fitted? I'm not sure how long pumps are meant to last but if this one is very old, a new one might be a better option. I don't know if it's relevant but I have an 18month old boiler (it's not a combi) and it's working fine. Shortly after it was installed (& before it had been used) it failed to work & the tradesperson said the system was full of crap & I paid him to flush everything out & then fill it with an additive that would prevent the crap from forming again (that was how he described it). Fingers crossed that you can advise me on what's going on, so that when I call up some new tradespeople they are aware that I've done some homework and am not going to be a soft touch... The pump is red and has the following information on the front: Grundfos Type UPS 15-50 130 230V 50Hz 2.0 muF 0.16 | 35 - 0.20 | 45 = 0.23 | 50 =- P/N 96281426 PC: 0641 IP 44 TF 110 Max. 10bar Selectric 50Hz 2.0 muF 0.16 | 35 - 0.20 | 45 = 0.23 | 50 =- P/N 96281426 PC: 0641 IP 44 TF 110 Max. 10bar Selectric I found this site by googling 'broken heating pump' or the like & there was some great advice here. Hope the same experts are reading it. Cheers! Hi, the fact that the pump runs in the middle of the night is not a fault with the pump itself, the pump only has power to it when other central heating controls are 'calling' for heat. The fault will be with some part of your central heating controls, most likely the timer/ programmer, sticking motorised valve or, if the boiler has one the frost thermostat. Diagnosing a fault like this should be fairly straight forward and I'd be happy to visit to diagnose the fault and offer a free quote to repair it. If you'd like me to visit please call anytime. Thanks Dan City Wide Heating Services 07581193693 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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