Hi Everyone, I'm an owner or glow worm Ultracom2 30CXI which works very well except for one slightly annoying/disturbing thing.The pump comes on for few seconds every time when I turn OFF cold water tap or any household appliance using cold water STOPS using it. Let me give you few examples. - When I open a cold water tap, run it for few seconds or minutes and turn it OFF- the pump comes on . - When I flush the toilet -it tops up and stops when it's full - the pumps comes on. - When washing machine is using cold water and stops filing up- the pump starts. - always just for few seconds. I can only assume that it's somehow pressure related. I sent an email to glow worm support but they say it's not the boiler's fault but as they call it a plumbing issue. They of course advised to call the plumber to have a look. The other thing I have noticed which might or might not be related is tapping/banging sound(one) again when the usage of water stops. The only thing I can think of is that there is a lose pipe somewhere and it hits against something. Pressure related maybe? Can anyone had a similar issues or knows what causes it? Your advice would be appreciated. Thank you.
Do you have a water meter fitted? From your comments it is almost certainly a plumbing issue to do with your mains pressure and you defiantly have a case of water, hammer thats the banging noises. Probably best to do as Glowworm suggest and get a plumber in, if you have a water meter sounds as though you like millions of us who have had them fitted will need a shock arrestor.
Thanks for your reply Dave. I don't have a water meter. The thing is that it has started or at least I noticed it the first time after I had done some changes to the bathroom. Fitted the shower, moved around bathtub and toilet. So basically moving around/extending water pipes etc. Is there a chance that there is an air trapped somewhere in the pipework and that causes it to hammer?
Hi MayDay. It's extremely unlikely to be an air issue as you have a combi which is mains-driven, so any air would be promptly flushed out whenever a tap is opened (only 'gravity' systems are bothered by air. Or our flatulent friend Chippy... * ) Your issue is almost certainly caused by pressure as you say, but it'll likely be down to the 'shock' of turning the cold off and a pipe 'hammering' either 'cos it's loose, or because your pressure is waaaay up there (I'm holding my hand above my head.) Soooo, either find the pipe wot's shaking and shocking (likely something to do with your recent plumbing changes...), or else fit a shock arrestor as Dave says. The shock arrestor would almost certainly be a good idea for your whole plumbing system anyways. (* I'm pushing my luck - I know he's gonna catch up with me one day... )
Thanks Devil. Well, I have already checked everything I could and nothing seems to be lose. The only place left is above the kitchen which is an extension so no way of getting there without puling down the celling... The sound seems to be coming from somewhere over there so maybe something there got lose somehow. Where in the system do you install the shock arrestor? Is it one for the whole system or one per whatever causes the bang??
I understand it's one for the whole system, but where is best to fit I dunno (I'm not a plumber...) A test to see if this is the issue - open a tap that usually causes the pump to fire up, and then shut it off VERY SLOWLY! Especially when almost fully shut off. Hopefully the pump won't fire up 'cos you've not caused a pressure 'shock'. It doesn't necessarily mean you have a loose pipe - it could chust be down to higher-than-normal mains water pressure. If this turns out to be stupidly high (more than, ooh, 6-ish bar), then you might well be advised to fit a pressure reducing valve on your incoming mains too. In fact that might solve the problem as well as reducing the stress on your whole system.
Well, I tried turning down the stopcock a little bit. It did reduce the water hammer,I mean the loudness of it but every time the water was passing though the stopcock I could hear an annoying hissing sound. So I decided I'm going to turn down the water valve on the street and fully open the stopcock. The water hammer is completely gone so that's solved. Unfortunately the pump on the boiler still fires up... I guess I have only two options and this point, Either fitting pressure regulator which is not an easy option given where the stopcock is situated or fitting shock arrester. Unless there is some kind of setting in the boiler you can change to make it less susceptible to pressure change?? Any ideas guys? Thanks.
Try getting a plumber in, he will give you the best solution after being able to examine the situation first hand. There will be so many variables that no one on an internet forum will be able to pick up but the man on site will/should see.
Appreciate this is a old thread , but to help anyone with the same issues ,i obviously had the same problem with the pump coming on when shutting cold water off / flushing toilet etc , to resolve this I put a none return valve close to where the cold water feeds the boiler , I too had some noise from the boiler but this issue I am not sure is related to pump coming on and as yet have not heard it since fitting the none return valve ..
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