Replacement Shower Pump

Donie75 · 03-03-2022 10:33am #1

Hi, I’ve just bought a new house and it looks like the shower pump is shot. The house had a major renovation around 12 years ago when all the plumbing was replaced. There is an old Stuart Turner Showermate 1.8 bar Twin feeding the two showers. When I turn on the showers the pump kicks in but the pressure is pretty poor. The pump is pretty old, it’s in a plastic case and looks basic. Should I replace this pump with the same size or should I go up to a 3 bar pump. Will something like this work https://www.screwfix.ie/p/stuart-turner-monsoon-standard-regenerative-twin-shower-pump-3-0bar/42415

Sleeper12 · 03-03-2022 1:44pm

The showermate is a cheap & cheerful pump. 10 or 12 years is a long time to get out of it. They are still sold if you want to replace like for like.

3Bar will give you more pressure & you will use more hot water. If using both showers at the same time then 3 bar is the way to go

josip · 06-09-2022 1:00pm

Hijacking the thread with a similar question. We might have to replace a Grundfos 2 bar, brass pump.

https://www.plumbingproducts.ie/grundfos-brass-positive-head-shower-pumps/4343-grundfos-brass-20-bar-twin-positive-head-shower-pump-98284253.html

It's 10 years old, but would have had a bit lower than average use. I thought we would get longer out of it. The options seem to be €500 for a 3 bar Grundfos brass

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/grundfos-96787466-regenerative-twin-shower-pump-3-0bar/9973x

or €200 for a Grundfos plastic.

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/grundfos-98950217-regenerative-twin-shower-pump-2-0bar/6203x

Is there any reason to spend €300 extra on the brass if we might only get 10 years out of it? We don't need the extra bar (3 bar) of pressure, 2 bar is fine

Would plastic be noisier than brass?

Sleeper12 · 06-09-2022 7:29pm

Brass body is well worth the extra. You might only get 3 or 4 years out of the plastic body one. Plastic body is much noisier too

Just because you have a Grundfos pump doesn't mean that you have to replace it with one. I'd be looking at a Stuart Turner or Salamander 3 bar brass body with a 5 year parts and labour warranty

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/stuart-turner-monsoon-standard-regenerative-twin-shower-pump-3-0bar/42415

greasepalm · 06-09-2022 7:36pm

Are they not a serviceable item without buying a new pump.

+ check your shower head as i bet its partially dirty / blocked giving a reduced flow.

My jets are smaller than when got it new and would drown you with that much water coming out.

josip · 06-09-2022 8:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119581101#Comment_119581101

Tried that already, took the hose off at the wall unit. The metal casing of the pump is very hot after running it for a bit, even with a cold feed. So it seems like the electricity is trying to do something inside the pump. Perhaps just not what I want it to do.

josip · 07-09-2022 4:03pm

Just to close off on this. The plumber came around today and took the pump away for analysis. Was back after an hour saying the impellers had been stuck (now freed) and the capacitor was weak and needed replacing.

greasepalm · 07-09-2022 4:07pm

So was it fixed or only a report of what was wrong

josip · 07-09-2022 4:20pm

The plumber came back to us with it fixed. The same problem as last year I suppose. Just that this year the impeller was probably slightly more stuck and/or the capacitor had a little less kick in it. So I wasn't able to get it going myself.

greasepalm · 07-09-2022 4:59pm

Are you living in a hard water area like lime build up ?

josip · 07-09-2022 5:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119585487#Comment_119585487

Doubt it, we're in Dublin. But the pump is idle for most of the summer.

greasepalm · 07-09-2022 6:00pm

Ah that might have a bearing as need to be used every now and again to keep it flowing.

Bit like switching on your gas heating to run it through a cycle to lessen the strain when needed.

loyatemu · 13-09-2022 3:44pm

going to hijack this recent thread with a similar problem. Aqualisa 3bar plastic pump, pressure has gone to sh1t on the hot side only, cold side is fine. It's only plumbed to 1 shower and 1 bath/shower (not any taps). It's been in our hot press for 10 years but it wasn't new going in so it's pretty old.

when this has happened in the past, I've turned the pump off at the mains and run the hot tap in the bath for 5 mins to clear out any air, and this has fixed it, but this time it is not fixing it.

I pulled the hot input off the pump and checked the filter which is clear. My next step is to reverse the sides to confirm that it's that side of the pump that's faulty. Anyone any other ideas? I assume if it's just one side that's faulty, then it's not the electrics, maybe a worn/damaged impeller?

Sleeper12 · 13-09-2022 6:04pm

Getting 10 years out of a 2nd hand plastic body pump is pretty good going. Not what you are asking but if it were me I'd replace it

loyatemu · 13-09-2022 10:58pm

you're right, but worth a try - if I can postpone spending €400 for a couple of years...

Sleeper12 · 14-09-2022 9:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119581101#Comment_119581101

They are serviceable but they have a lifespan. It's usually not worth repairing any over the 10 year mark

loyatemu · 18-09-2022 11:58pm

right, I swapped the hot and cold sides which confirmed that the (original) hot side was not working properly.

feeling ambitious I then took the cover off that side to examine the impeller. Didn't see anything obvious wrong until I did the same to the working side. The impeller on the bad side was in 3 interconnecting pieces - whilst it didn't look obviously broken, the impeller on the other side was a single piece so that explains the rattling sounds etc. Taking the covers off was also a bad move as it's proven very tricky to put back to together and reinstall without leaks... ("what's that damp patch on the ceiling?" asks my son 😕)

Anyway - not repairable, I've ordered a new Salamander pump with brass fixings.

loyatemu · 26-09-2022 11:45am

...to wrap this story up. New pump arrived but what I'd hoped would be a straight swap turned out to be a lesson in plumbing as the old pump had push-fit connectors and the new one screw-fit. The flexis supplied with the new pump didn't reach the pipes which had been cut for the longer flexis for the old pump.

After multiple trips to Woodies and the plumbing merchants and farting around with flexible extensions, several leaks, seized valves, buying tools I'll never use again etc, I eventually bought some pex pipe and load of push fittings, extended the pipework to meet the new flexis and all is now good. Pressure is restored, those in the house who actually have hair are happy they can wash and rinse it again, and as an added bonus the new pump is much quieter.

Replacement Shower Pump

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