Problem with water pump in apartment

wayne0308

Hi,

I was hoping I could get a bit of advice. This morning after coming out of the shower I noticed the circuit breaker for the water pump was tripped. I only noticed because the apartments alarm system was beeping (they're on the same circuit breaker). I did not notice any change in water pressure in the shower but it may have just tripped before I got out. I waited a few minutes and switched the breaker back on. The pump started up and I thought it was fine.

I passed by it again about an hour later the pump was still on and pumping water. Another 10 mins later it was still pumping so I turned it off. It was giving off a lot of heat when I turned it off.

Do you think a flow meter is gone possibly? Is there anything I can try to get it going again?

I've attached a couple of pics of the pump.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

K.Flyer

Could be one of a few things.
Possibly a stuck flow sensor or the relay on the pcb is stuck.
It may also be a faulty pressure switch.

Its easy enough to determine which one it is, just depends if you are happy enough to go into the electric box to disconnect a few cables.

wayne0308

Thanks for your reply, if you can tell me what I'm looking for I'd be happy enough to take a look myself.

thomas83

wayne0308 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, if you can tell me what I'm looking for I'd be happy enough to take a look myself.

I have come across this problem a few times u said there was more than one circuit on the breaker..

Can I ask is it just the breaker tripping or is the rcd tripping also

wayne0308

thomas83 wrote: »

I have come across this problem a few times u said there was more than one circuit on the breaker..

Can I ask is it just the breaker tripping or is the rcd tripping also

No it's just the breaker that tripped, all other switches were up. Also, it only tripped that one time. When I switched it back on, it stayed on.

thomas83

wayne0308 wrote: »

No it's just the breaker that tripped, all other switches were up. Also, it only tripped that one time. When I switched it back on, it stayed on.

Ok it just sounds like a once off..

If the problem kept happening it could be a earth fault or it could be a loose connection at the fused spur where the pumped can be isolated fr

thomas83

thomas83 wrote: »

Ok it just sounds like a once off..

If the problem kept happening it could be a earth fault or it could be a loose connection at the fused spur where the pumped can be isolated fr

If your competent take off the spur and have a look for loose connections making sure the the breaker feeding the spur is switched of first

wayne0308

thomas83 wrote: »

If your competent take off the spur and have a look for loose connections making sure the the breaker feeding the spur is switched of first

Thanks I'll take a look now. If theres no joy I'll ring the landlord in the morning and see if he can get a plumber out to take a look.

wayne0308

I just took a look at the spur and nothing loose in there. I checked the electric box on top of the pump had a look in, everything looks ok to my untrained eye. Hopefully I can get someone out tomorrow to take a look.

K.Flyer

wayne0308 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply, if you can tell me what I'm looking for I'd be happy enough to take a look myself.

Switch off the electric supply.
Remove the cover from the black box.
Depending on which pcb you have, there will be either a 6 point or an 8 point terminal block.
1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1.
Or
N, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, L

Disconnect one no.3 brown wire (flow switch) move it to a safe point and turn back on the power. If the pump has stopped trace the wire back to faulty flow switch. It may also be that the float inside the brass tube is stuck. Do not replace wire if pump still runs.
If the pump keeps running repeat by removing one no.2 brown wire, this is to check the other flow switch. Replace both wires to their original connections if the pump still runs.
If the pump still runs now remove one no.1 brown wire (pressure switch) if the pump stops running then the pressure switch needs replacing.
If after these three tests the pump keeps running the pcb needs replacing.
Remember to switch off the electric supply before disconnecting or re connecting any of the wires on the terminal block

wayne0308

K.Flyer wrote: »

Switch off the electric supply.
Remove the cover from the black box.
Depending on which pcb you have, there will be either a 6 point or an 8 point terminal block.
1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1.
Or
N, 1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, L

Disconnect one no.3 brown wire (flow switch) move it to a safe point and turn back on the power. If the pump has stopped trace the wire back to faulty flow switch. It may also be that the float inside the brass tube is stuck. Do not replace wire if pump still runs.
If the pump keeps running repeat by removing one no.2 brown wire, this is to check the other flow switch. Replace both wires to their original connections if the pump still runs.
If the pump still runs now remove one no.1 brown wire (pressure switch) if the pump stops running then the pressure switch needs replacing.
If after these three tests the pump keeps running the pcb needs replacing.
Remember to switch off the electric supply before disconnecting or re connecting any of the wires on the terminal block

Thanks K.Flyer for this! I'll take a look at this now.