No water pressure after power failure

EricM

Last week the power in my apartment building went off for a while, since it came back on i have no water pressure from the hot and cold water tanks.

I know there is a pump in the hot press but it does not have any switches or lighs or anything, the instructions just says it works automatically.

All the switches in the fuse box are up, and i have tried turn on/off power from the fuse box to see if it fixes it without success.

My washing machine and shower does not work properly.

Do i need a plumber or electrician to fix this? or is this something the landlord should take care of?

Thanks.

311

Your landlord should be able to take care of it for you.

John Mason

you might have an air lock in the system. same thing happened to me, i had to get a plumber to unlock it

antoinolachtnai

I had one of these recently. In my case, it was a problem with the circuit board in the pump. It was working erratically, and would stop working completely after a power cut. I replaced the circuit board myself with one supplied by the pump distributor. Cost 45 euros. Would have cost 175 euros to get the guy to come out and replace it.

Del2005

It could be airlocked or may need to be primed. But it's definately a problem for your landlord to fix. Get them to send a plumber and they should be able to fix it.

There should be a switch or possibly a fuse somewhere for it. I don't think they can wire them directly to the fuse board as when I got one the cable was only a couple of meters long. But don't go messing with electricity ( and even worst with water) if you don't know what you are doing.

northdublin

there should be a fcu in or around the area of the pump. most have a red neon and a little pull out door that contains a fuse. try tracing the wire from the pump and check the fuse to see if its blown.

EricM

northdublin wrote:

there should be a fcu in or around the area of the pump. most have a red neon and a little pull out door that contains a fuse. try tracing the wire from the pump and check the fuse to see if its blown.

yes i seen the fuse with the red light, i assumed the red light being on means the fuse is working. is that right? ill try change the fuse thanks.

northdublin

well if the red light is on then its not the fuse, but make sure your looking at the right spur as there could be 2 or 3 in and around that area.

antoinolachtnai

What is the make of the pump and how old is the apartment?

EricM

It says on it "monsoon N1.5 bar twin (export)"
Not sure how old apartment its, its fairly new. 3 or 4 years maybe.

antoinolachtnai

Yup, quite similar to mine if not the exact same.

http://www.stuart-turner.co.uk/ is the company. They have a distributor in ireland whose name I forget. Ring ST and they will tell you.

New PCB may be required. There are a few quick fixes and hacks, but they are messy and don't provide much of a solution.

If you don't want to fit the pcb yourself, this will be a bit pricey to sort out. So talk to the landlord.

This problem is a bit erratic, so the pump could start working again unexpectedly. Best to get it fixed though.

fozz

antoinolachtnai, cheers for the info.
I too live in an apartment (I own it tho) and my 'Monsoon N1.5 BAR Twin Export' has gone out of action. The fuse is fine and popping that out and in has the effect of making a low buzzing noise in the pump area but I get no pump activity.
I looked on http://www.stuart-turner.co.uk/ and I see they ref the 'Monsoon Negative 2.0 bar Twin' so I am thinking I may have to replace mine with one of those unless what I have can be repaired.
I have emailed Stuart Turner for more info on this but I'd like to ask you - how did you discern that it was your PCB that needed replacement?
In my case the pump has completely stopped working and is not working erratically like in your scenario so I am thinking I my need the whole thing replaced but I will attempt to take it somewhere for inspection first if possible.
I have asked Stuart Turner for quote for a 'Monsoon Negative 2.0 bar Twin' and also for the details of a re-seller here if they wont ell to me direct.

I will post back with an update if I can.
Cheers.

antoinolachtnai

Hey there,

Is the pump hot? vibrating slightly? If it is, it is probably jammed or blocked rather than having a pcb failure. I'm not sure of the procedure on clearing it. You should check the manuals on the ST site.

I think it's Modern Plant who are the people who supplied this to Irish builders. Stuart Turner will refer you to them. (Though ST aren't too big on answering email queries you need to ring 'em.)

The replacement pump costs around 600 euros, apparently.

I found out that it was the pcb through the following procedure.

I uncovered the circuit board in the little control box that is connected to the mains (use a small philips screwdriver, preferably insulated).

I disconnected the live from the socket it was in, with the power off.

I grasped the live wire with a well insulated pair of pliers.

I identified the terminal that brings power to the actual pump. They were quite obvious as I remember

I turned the power on.

I touched the conductor of the live wire to the pump power terminal. The pump jumped into action. So then I knew it was a problem with the control of the pump rather than the pump itself.

I talked to modern plant by phone and they told me it was probably the pcb, rather than one of the flow sensors, and they were right.

I also fiddled with the sensors to see if i could identify a fault with the sensors (couldn't).

All the above, do at your own risk, and only if you are familiar with electrics!

Bobita

EricM:
what was the solution to your problem with the pump? We have exactly the same problem (pump doesn't work after a power failure) so probably the solution is the same.
Thanks!
Bobita

EricM

Circuit board failed and needed to be replaced.
Cost about 170 euro for the part and installation.

Bobita

Wow, that was quick!
Thanks really and good night!
Bobita

fozz

Hey all.
In my case I left the fuse (that controls the pump) out of the wall connector for a couple of days and when I reconnected it then the pump just worked and has been working ever since!
So I am assuming that it was a blockage and that leaving the pump off and acting as merely a passive passthru cleared the blockage and solved the issue.
I hope this info helps someone.

antoinolachtnai

No, the error is erratic. It comes and goes. Leaving it alone for a while can sometimes reset it. But sooner or later it will fail again, if it's one of those stuart turner pumps that modern plant supplied.

a.