We live in a top floor flat so all our water (except the kitchen cold) has to be pumped to have any pressure. We have a combi boiler and a small tank in the loft. The water pump has 4 connections (2 in and 2 out) - 1 from a cold in, 1 out to the boiler, 1 in from the tank and 1 out to the tank in the loft.
Recently, our pump stopped working. It was old so this was not a surprise.
I called a plumber and he fitted a like for like replacement. When he hooked it up (exactly the same as the old pump), we had pressure in the cold taps but nothing in the hot. He then re-plumbed it to look like the attached picture (joining the two inlets and outlet pipes). He said this was to 'equalise the pressure'.
This seemed to fix the problem and we now have pressure and the hot and cold taps all work. However, since the fix was done, the hot water in the shower is inconsistent. It will work fine for a while but then the hot water will stop and you'll only get cold (the pump is still making noise and brings the cold water, under pressure, to the shower). After a minute or two of turning the hot tap higher (or off then on), the hot water kicks in and it's fine for a while before the same thing happens again.
My questions are:
a) Is the re-plumbing job he did legitimate, and does this really 'equalise the pressure'? Or was this a bodge job?
b) What might be going on with our hot water? Could it be related to the way to pump has been plumbed in, or is it more likely to be something to do with the boiler instead?
c) Could it be to do with our shower mixer tap? We didn't have an issue before the pump broke but maybe I shouldn't rule this out as a possibility.
Thanks for any help or advice you can provide!
Recently, our pump stopped working. It was old so this was not a surprise.
I called a plumber and he fitted a like for like replacement. When he hooked it up (exactly the same as the old pump), we had pressure in the cold taps but nothing in the hot. He then re-plumbed it to look like the attached picture (joining the two inlets and outlet pipes). He said this was to 'equalise the pressure'.
This seemed to fix the problem and we now have pressure and the hot and cold taps all work. However, since the fix was done, the hot water in the shower is inconsistent. It will work fine for a while but then the hot water will stop and you'll only get cold (the pump is still making noise and brings the cold water, under pressure, to the shower). After a minute or two of turning the hot tap higher (or off then on), the hot water kicks in and it's fine for a while before the same thing happens again.
My questions are:
a) Is the re-plumbing job he did legitimate, and does this really 'equalise the pressure'? Or was this a bodge job?
b) What might be going on with our hot water? Could it be related to the way to pump has been plumbed in, or is it more likely to be something to do with the boiler instead?
c) Could it be to do with our shower mixer tap? We didn't have an issue before the pump broke but maybe I shouldn't rule this out as a possibility.
Thanks for any help or advice you can provide!
