DIY fitting shower pump

micks_address

Hi folks,
Fitted a tap in kitchen Friday and pressure in hot tap is ok but not great. Found a grundfos shower pump locally that was being passed on (it’s basically new) and I’m tempted to try fitting in hot press myself to increase hot water flow. I’m not sure plumbers are doing this kind of work during lockdown. I’m based in Lusk north Dublin.

Here’s a picture of the pump sitting where I think I’d place it on the hot press floor.



There’s a plug in the hot press I can plug into. I’m thinking the best route would be to cut the hot water feed 3/4 inch pipe and attach two 90 degree fittings. Run some copper pipe toward the pump and attach a straight 3/4 fitting. Attach the pump braided pipes to these. I’m comfortable with brass fittings / compression rings. Have the adjustable wrenches etc. My fear is cutting the pipe and causing a flood. I have a gate valve in the hot press and have closed it and the hot taps run dry. The other fear is leaks after doing the job.

I’d gladly pay a plumber but might not be able to class this as emergency. The other options I’d wait six weeks till hopefully lockdown over. Of course if I balls
It up it will turn into an emergency anyway

Cheers,
Mick

antoinolachtnai

You sound like a talented and capable person who can find a way to do this and I suppose you could but whether it is a good idea is a whole other question.

From the information you have given it may not be a good idea.

If you tell us all the gory detail you might get the advice you really need (as opposed to the advice you want).

Gory detail likely includes how the tap is plumbed (mains, cylinder, roof tank, whatever) for each of hot and cold, what kind of tap you fitted and where you got it and whether there was any specification about minimum pressure. And why you made the change in the first place.

micks_address

In the end I went with a hybrid approach. I did most of the work and a local plumber helped tighten up the fittings as I was worried about leaks. Helps with tap pressure for sure. Old tap was broken at faucet so leaking. New tap I bought from adverts from an unused kitchen fit. It worked fine but was slower than I’d like on the hot tap. It’s obviously a tap that works better with higher pressure.

Gravity fed open vented system

antoinolachtnai

If you are happy with it that’s the main thing.

These unused taps are sometimes designed to work on a pressurized system. That’s why they are left unused.

The only thing is to check the tap is ‘mixing’ well, ie you can adjust the temperature. Depending on type of tap the two supplies may not mix well if the pressures are not exactly equal.