Shower pump issues

Fingers Mcginty

stuart turner power pump for shower is humming and getting quite hot. Looks like it's seized. Have tried hitting it with a hammer to free it up but no joy. Anything else I can try at all? There is a PCB above the pump and the smell from it is not good but nothing looks burned out.

mad m

Is there a big Capacitor on PCB board? Does the top look like its swelled? You might be able to buy the PCB board yourself from modern plant on Longmile road near red cow hotel..

If your handy enough, change it....Or give them a ring to see how much a pcb board is for your model.

Fingers Mcginty

yes there is a large capacitor next to the PCB ...visually looks OK

cnocbui

Is it a Monsoon? If so, when you look past the pump into the motor, you will see (at one end at least) the vanes of the inbuilt cooling fan. Using a screwdriver - obviously with the power disconnected - you can press on the vanes and free up the motor. Then reconnect the power and it should start.

Had this happen when I had been away for a while on holiday. Got back and pump just hummed. Did the above and it started working fine.

Fingers Mcginty

got it goin lads...hit the mixer side side of the pump with a hammer...obviously getting jammed with the ammount of lime in the water? might whip it off over the weekend and give her a proper clean. Thanks F

Fingers Mcginty

Tried it afgain just there now and it's the same...can't get it going with the old hammer slap. It's humming again so looks like the motor is trying to turn but cannot. I'm going to have to remove this over the weekend so I'll have to cap off the lines.
I see there is a red stop tap on the cold water inlet so sorted there.
But there's none on the hot water inlet. Followed the line and it's comming from the tyop of the immersion tank. I presume there won't be much pressure on this? Just disconnect from the pump and quicly cap it?

sullzz

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

Tried it afgain just there now and it's the same...can't get it going with the old hammer slap. It's humming again so looks like the motor is trying to turn but cannot. I'm going to have to remove this over the weekend so I'll have to cap off the lines.
I see there is a red stop tap on the cold water inlet so sorted there.
But there's none on the hot water inlet. Followed the line and it's comming from the tyop of the immersion tank. I presume there won't be much pressure on this? Just disconnect from the pump and quicly cap it?

You need to turn off the cold supply into the cylinder then run the hot taps , if you just disconnect this you could flood the place

Joey the lips

It just sounds like the seals are going on your pump. If its an orig stuart turner from modern plant you can buy the seal kit directly from them. Despite what is said the seal kit is important. It acts as a spacer to keep the houseing away from the pump and thus preventing rubbing you describe.

Fingers Mcginty

sullzz wrote: »

You need to turn off the cold supply into the cylinder then run the hot taps , if you just disconnect this you could flood the place

No I'm talking about just disconnecting the hot feed into the pump when the heating is off and quickly attaching a blank. Wouldn't this be OK? Surely it wouldn't be under too much pressure?

cnocbui

You would be surprised at how much water you will release while trying to cap it against 0.5 bar of pressure.

I personally would turn off the inlet to the cylinder and drain it by running hot taps before disconnecting anything.

I am surprised your pump isn't connected via flex couplings that have their own built in stop cocks. mine look like a white nylon screw head. I just turn them 90º to isolate the pump.

sullzz

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

No I'm talking about just disconnecting the hot feed into the pump when the heating is off and quickly attaching a blank. Wouldn't this be OK? Surely it wouldn't be under too much pressure?

The hot water to the pump and is from the cylinder , the cylinder is filled by cold water which is heated up internally , having your heating on or off is going to have no bearing on the pressure or amount of water that will come out of this pipe , if you want to just disconnect it and quickly attach a blank cap by all means go ahead , just remember you are going to have to do it again to reattach it . the valve your looking for is on the pipe which connets to the cylinder at the bottom and travells vertically up into the attic ,
simply turning this off will save you a lot of grief.

Also check for what CNOCBUI said most of them pumps cime with isolation valves built into the flexi hoses , you use a flat headed screwdriver to turn them off

Fingers Mcginty

I jumpered live up to the motor and it's still humming so it's either the pump or the capacitor.
Removed the capacitor and i'm not getting any reading on the meter at all. Should be 7 micro farads. Then again I don't know about the integrity of the meter i'm using. Never measured capacitance with it before so this could be a red herring.
Managed to access the rear of the pump where the vanes are and when i give them a nudge the pump kicks in each time but won't otherwise.
There is a little resistance when i turn the blades at the rear...would this be normal...if so it's looking like the start capacitor is bad.
I placed a dvm across the capacitor and it looks to be chargingup ok. I'm thinking i'm gonna need one of these capacitors.
Where to buy is the next problem

cnocbui

http://www.showerdoc.com/shower-spares/stuart-turner/ST-17670-Stuart-Turner-Capacitor-7uf-17670

But bet you could find it cheaper - like so:http://www.ebay.ie/itm/7UF-400V-MOTOR-CAPACITOR-WASHING-MACHINE-TUMBLE-DRYER-/180702445330?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&hash=item2a12b47f12

Fingers Mcginty

what's the deal with the 4 terminals on the capacitor though?

cnocbui

Two spade connectors per terminal.

mad m

Radionics down near Rialto....

Link

Fingers Mcginty

the cap is available as a spare part from stuart turner...one on it's way. Fingers crossed.

Fingers Mcginty

Got the cap today and all is well. Happy days mothaf*****s

laudan9

Hi, I need to replace seals on a monsoon 3 bar pump,problem when taking off feed pipe for the hot side into pump,turned valves off for both hot/cold,able to remove cold feed and flow flexi pipes from pump with no issues,when removing the hot flex pipes the water keeps on coming,the valve is off,what do I need to do

cnocbui

Turn off the tap from the attic tank that supplies the HW cylinder. Should probably turn off the cold as well. Run the lowest hot tap in the house - bidet? - until no more comes out. You might still get a bit left in the pipes but it won't go on for ever.