Gill Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Our shower pump has given up and we're now reduced to a slow trickle from the shower. It's thankfully still feeding in hot water. We'd had a issues previously where the water pressure dropped to a trickle and that seemed to relate to lose wire. I bit of a nudge to the main cable resolved. No such luck this time. No evidence of any leak. I killed the power as supposedly this triggers a reset on some models. Unfortunately ours doesn't have any light indicator so I can tell if there's any power coming in. Changed the fuse on the socket and still nothing. Haven't been able to find any manual online - it's a BOSS twin impeller, Model 10036501 Product Code AP229. Couple of pics attached showing - it was the larger wire at the top of the unit that was the lose connection culprit. Any simple things that are worth checking before I call in a plumber? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Looks very similar to mine. Is it running making a noise) and now water coming though? That may just be that it has drained the header tank and got an airlock. Open the taps and start sucking, well it works for me. The other thing is they have a flow switch in them, that may have got stuck, so no noise when you open the tap. It is probably easier to get a replacement. Scroll down this page and see if something is similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Much better one here for £112. LINK Plumber will charge more to come out and condemn the existing one. Time to put good money after good, especially if you've been having trouble before. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 5 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Is it running making a noise) and now water coming though? Only noise is from the tiny amount of water going through it. No noise to indicate its pumping or attempting to. 7 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: Open the taps and start sucking, well it works for me. What taps would that be? Something on the unit or just running the shower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Just now, Gill said: Only noise is from the tiny amount of water going through it. No noise to indicate its pumping or attempting to. What taps would that be? Something on the unit or just running the shower. On the shower pipe. Just to draw some water though. But if no noise at all (except a tiny water noise), then the unit is probably dead, though that may be just the cable. Remember that electricity and wet fingers are not a good mix. It should be on its own RCD, they usually have a green test button on them and are often on the outside of the bathroom wall, high up, near the door. But could be anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Any little gauze filters that are blocked? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 (edited) 3 minutes ago, Onoff said: Any little gauze filters that are blocked? Or a kink in the flexible shower pipe (if it has one) Edited January 22, 2023 by SteamyTea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 2 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: kink in the flexible shower pipe Don't think so. I did try adjusting the shower pipe to see if any change. 5 minutes ago, Onoff said: Any little gauze filters that are blocked Would these be inside the unit? 11 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: no noise at all (except a tiny water noise), then the unit is probably dead, though that may be just the cable. Remember that electricity and wet fingers are not a good mix. It should be on its own RCD, they usually have a green test button on them and are often on the outside of the bathroom wall, high up, near the door Starting to suspect its dead. Never seen RCD unit. There's one in the bathroom for the towel rail. Nothing outside. Pump is in the basement and wired to a socket down there. That's the one fuse I've changed. Just been powering off the whole house to be on the safe side. 20 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said: Much better one here for £112 Cheers - that saves me starting a 'what replacement shower pump should I get' thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 1 minute ago, Gill said: Pump is in the basement and wired to a socket down there. May be the RCD and a mini circuit breaker is in the consumer unit. Is anything 'tripped' in there? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpmiller Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 sticky flow sensor worth checking for 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 22, 2023 Author Share Posted January 22, 2023 9 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: May be the RCD and a mini circuit breaker is in the consumer unit. Is anything 'tripped' in there? Nothing tripped in there. Will try tomorrow to check filters which google tells me on the inlet and outlet and if I can work out how to check flow senser, I'll give that a bash to. If I'm no further forward I'll get a new unit ordered. Thanks for all the suggestions folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radian Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Plug a desk lamp in the socket the pump's plugged in to to make sure power is there? Also give the housing a sharp hit with the handle of your screwdriver to see if you can unstick the flow switch. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 2 minutes ago, Radian said: Plug a desk lamp in the socket the pump's plugged in to to make sure power is there? Also give the housing a sharp hit with the handle of your screwdriver to see if you can unstick the flow switch. Then a harder hit with a larger tool. 4 minutes ago, Gill said: Thanks for all the suggestions folks. Well at least your are happy to get the tools out and give it a go. We like that. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onoff Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 38 minutes ago, Gill said: Would these be inside the unit? They can be at the mixer like this: From memory I have them at the pump connections too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 13 hours ago, Gill said: 13 hours ago, SteamyTea said: May be the RCD and a mini circuit breaker is in the consumer unit. Is anything 'tripped' in there? Nothing tripped in there. A fresh pair of eyes this morning tells me I'm an idiot. Turns out that Green on the RCD indicates off and not on 😳 . Who knew ? (probably everyone apart from me). So @SteamyTea was spot on with the tripped pointer. So - flip the switch to ON and test the shower. Comes on on with pressure and then the switch trips again. With the main wire into the unit appearing to have some kind of lose connection from previous failures, would this indicate time to replace? When I changed the fuse, used 5A fuse so like for like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 22 minutes ago, Gill said: Who knew ? James May did an interesting thing about his Porche A/C lights, think it showed red when it was on, and nothing when it was off. If it was the RCD, which is a device that trips if there is an 'earth leakage fault' which basically means that a wire is loose or damp, causing a mismatch between what is going in and what is going out, then turn off power and look at ALL the wired connects. If the fuse has blown this shows 'over current' and the fuse blows to stop anything catching fire. The RCD and the fuse/MCB (mini circuit breaker) do different things, though there are combined units that can do both. There are many things that can cause an RCD to trip, one is damp, and shower pumps can easily get damp. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted January 23, 2023 Author Share Posted January 23, 2023 52 minutes ago, SteamyTea said: then turn off power and look at ALL the wired connects Power of and took off the top of the unit and one of the wires was indeed lose. Tightened up the screw that clamps it. Shower running for 5 minutes without any tripping. Hopefully that's it sorted for the time being. Thank everyone for chipping in with suggestions. Far more comprehensive list than my googling gave me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteamyTea Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 (edited) 4 minutes ago, Gill said: Far more comprehensive list than my googling gave me. Well hopefully Google, and ChatGPT will put us to the top of the lists. And you know your RCD works, as intended, as well. Edited January 23, 2023 by SteamyTea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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