Salamander pump instalation HELP !!

Discussion in 'Plumbers' Talk' started by Scott Ronson, Mar 12, 2019.

  1. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    Right I know this sounds stupid but I am looking into fitting a salamander pump to feed 2 showers in my home , so Im working out if I can fit this myself , the instalation guide is a diagram and I can work out that I need a new direct feed from my cold water tank to the input on the pump ,no problem . Then I can fit a salamander flange to top of my hot water storage in the airing cupboard direct to the input of the pump , no problem , NOW the problem I cant work out where am I conecting the outputs too ? The digram shows a single pipe from the outputs of each the hot and the cold T'd off and going to the relivant feed of each individual shower that I can understand , what I cant work out is if I am connecting new feeds that I have supplied from the pump to the hot and cold of the 2 showers what happens to the original feeds ?
     
  2. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    Find out where they are fed from and if possible utilise the pipe work for your new pumped supply. If not possible, trace back and remove.
     
    Heat likes this.
  3. xednim

    xednim Screwfix Select

    those pipes might be connected somewhere to feed basins, toilet and sink somewhere, if you can't find T connectors (e.g. they are burred in the wall) I will suggest to cup off the pipes by the shower, make a bypass from pump inlet pipes to the old pipes
     
  4. xednim

    xednim Screwfix Select

    ps, I have installed few salamander pumps, from my experience they don't last, guarantee of them is 2y if I do remember and most of them has failed bit over that time, problem that appears is leak on the gasket, also they are pretty loud, if I will need to install pump on my property definitely will go for ST pump- they last approx 10years, after that period you have service kit for around £40 if I do remember and they do another couple of years- down side is definitely price for them, but over the time this pays back (another salamander+time for installation)
     
  5. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    3 year warrenty if correctly installed and registered with Salamander Pump Wise scheme

    A lot of pump noise can be reduced by not just relying on rubber feet on pump but adding additional sound deadening material between pump and floor
     
  6. Heat

    Heat Screwfix Select

    Stuart Turner Monsoon pumps are very good and have 5 year warranty.
    Not much price difference than the Salamander top of range.
     
    Honestly likes this.
  7. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    I'm only fitting the salamader because I inherited with the house , its brand new but was never fitted ! I have 3 showers in my home , 2 en suite and a family , all from the original build , I've just seen that the cold water for each shower comes directly out of the bottom of the cws, so there is 3 individual 15mm cold water supplies out of the cold storage tank to each shower, I guess I am pretty much stuffed regarding a pump for them or can I use one of the 15s to my pump and connect the 3 together somehow ? Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
     
  8. ecoplumbing

    ecoplumbing Active Member

    Just use the 3 15mm pipes as cold outlets from the pump to the showers. You just need to run a pipe from the pump to the attic and join them together. Cap the old outlets in the tank and fit a new 22mm feed to the pump. Just make sure the cold feed is lower down than the feed to the cylinder
     
  9. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    so i can join them ? would I just cut all three pipes ( they run together all next to each other ) put an elbow on one then piece of copper pipe from that to a T insert connect the 2nd then another piece of pipe and another another T connect the 3rd in 15mm then from 15mm up to 22mm to the pump for the outlet feed to the showers ? and then a direct 22mm from tank to pump for the inlet ? could I exchange one of the now capped un-used shower feeds in the tank for a 22mm to connect the inlet ? ( I am sure they are lower than the cylinder feed as they are right at the bottom of the tank )

    thank you so much this is great information
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2019
  10. ecoplumbing

    ecoplumbing Active Member

    Yes you should be ok using the existing outlet on the tank . And as long as your pump is suitable for 3 showers then you have no problem connecting the pipes up. Ideally if you can tee off as close to the shower as possible so you're not wasting hot water- the more pipework you can cut back the better but I understand this might not be possible.
    I'd also just check the cold water tank size is adequate, if there's a real chance 2/3 showers will be used at the same time then you might run the risk of draining the cold tank which will result in airlocks. Also the reason cold feed is lower to prevent scalding
     
  11. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    Thank you , Its a 3 bar dedicated shower pump rather than a whole house pump , Yeah it might be difficult as the showers are all in different directions the tank is only place they all meet up , The Tank is a 50 gallon , To be honest one is used very rarely anyway and the other 2 are only ever going to be used at the same time during the weekend sometimes, well that is fantastic help , relay appreciate it , Just need to try and work out the hot water feeds now ! I know I can fit an S flange to the top of the cylinder to feed the pump but I cant find where the showers are being fed from as the hot water pipes to them all come up from under the floor rather than down from the loft like the colds !
     
  12. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select

    50 gallon tank is minimum size recommended for 1 shower so, if your running 2 at same time, possible to drain cold tank quicker than it can refill

    Any room to add a 2nd tank to increase stored cold capacity ?
    These are then linked together

    Depends as well on how much water is the shower throwing out, pump capacity, length of showering times, how fast does the cold
    Refill, etc
     
  13. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member


    Yeah there is room to add another tank , It a kind of new build , 15 years old , the place where the tank is at the moment actually has a lot of room next to it , I guess it was built like that with the adding an extra tank in mind , Is that just a case of getting a tank , insulating it and adding the connection pipes ? so it could be done at the same time as the connecting the pump to the main tank while it is drained ?
     
  14. ecoplumbing

    ecoplumbing Active Member

    Showers should have their own supply but sounds like there's just the one hot outlet serving everything. I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of floorboards lifted!
     
  15. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member

    well there is one main pipe that is hot from top of the cylinder and then there is another hot pipe from back of the cylinder but im not sure where that goes too ?
     

    Attached Files:

  16. DIYDave.

    DIYDave. Screwfix Select


    Straightforward enough but check instal details, covered on Salamander instructions for linking 2 tanks, 28mm pipe to link tanks I believe

    Also consider weight of 2 tanks full of water and what they’re sitting on - is this on a raised platform or sitting on loft floor ?

    May actually be easier to scrap 50G tank and just fit 1 larger tank

    See what the pros recon :)
     
  17. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member


    yeah its on a purpose built platform in the loft
     
  18. xednim

    xednim Screwfix Select

    is your cylinder connected with gas boiler?
     
  19. Scott Ronson

    Scott Ronson Member


    Oh yes it is , is it fir that then ?
     
  20. xednim

    xednim Screwfix Select

    Capture2.JPG
     

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