How to solve this problem of pressure not getting to a tap

Muahahaha

In a house that is three floors, ground then 1 and 2. In the ensuite in the top floor when I turn on the tap a dribble comes out for 2 seconds and then nothing for about 30-40 seconds and then it comes blasting at a high pressure. It wasnt always this way, when I first moved in it worked fine, if anything the pressure needed to be turned down as when the faucet was fully open it blasted water. But over time (about 3 years) the sink wasnt in use and now I need to use it again but this problem has developed.

A neighbour with an identical house had a similar problem of not getting water pressure to the top bathroom. She got a plumbing company out and their solution was to replace the entire pump (which was under the stairs next to the hot water tank) with something much larger which they placed outside the house and then built a wooden housing around it. Im not sure what size pump is in there but the housing is about 2.5 square meters so its not small. She paid 2,500 for all of this and it works but Im trying to avoid spending that kind of money just to get pressure to a single tap which did work fine in the past. I also dont want to be taking up limited garden space by having a pump housed outdoors.

Would be good to hear what options I have. Id asked a plumber before if he could take a look at the pump or fix it but he said its not his domain but he didnt suggest who might do this. Are there tradesmen out there who would able to getting it going proper again like before, where or who should I be looking for. And also why would my neighbours plumber have gone with that solution over just replacing the pump that was indoors, would that be considered overkill rather than just replacing the indoor pump? If I have to replace the indoor pump I will but just need to have some confidence that doing so would solve the problem to this single tap.

cruizer101

If it worked originally then an outside pump sounds like overkill.

When you open the tap does the pump come on, or is it only when it comes on later that you get the pressure in the tap.

If the pump is on already from another tap being open and you then turn on tap in ensuite does it still take as long.

Do you have an attic tank above the height of the ensuite tap, do you know is the pump a positive or negative head pump.

If the pump is broken repairing it wouldn't really be a plumbers job, but they should examine what issue is and advise if need a new pump.

Muahahaha

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118894576#Comment_118894576

Thanks cruizer and yeah I did think the outdoor pump my neighbour got sounded like overkill, especially as the indoor one was sufficient in the past.

Im not sure what type of pump it is I have as its behind a washing machine, been meaning to get in there to see what Im dealing with. Nor do I know what its doing when I open the tap on the top floor as its 2 floors below me, will get a someone to test it over the weekend when Im on the ground floor. The ensuite itself is in an attic as such, there is a cold water attic tank about 4 metres away from the tap. Its on a plinth but its not very high, perhaps 12-18 inches so some of the tank would be above the height of the tap but about half of it wouldnt. Am I right to say that when the tap is opened at a bathroom sink some water is coming from the hot water tank at ground level and is mixed with cold water from the attic tank?

cruizer101

The attic tank would feed the hot water cylinder and that would then go to the pump along with a cold feed from the tank.

Then from the pump that would feed the taps in the bathrooms.

When you open a tap the pump detects a flow in the water and then kicks in to increase the pressure.

In your case it would be a negative head pump, for a positive head pump the tank needs to be at least a metre or so above tap.

With the negative head pump as far as i know it maintains a pressure even when no taps open in order to start the flow where as the postive can relay on the pressure from tank being above the tap. At a guess it might be that part that maintains the pressure that has issue. That is just a guess really though, I'm not plumber myself just know a bit as installed a pump recently myself so did research on them.

Someone with more knowledge might be along to give more info, but worth trying to see how the pump reacts to different taps being opened.