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Noisey Shower!
Northy - 10/1/05 at 07:16 PM

We've just moved into a new house, with two bathrooms. The two showers are the type where you just have the shower head and a couple of knobs in the shower, not the whole box. There is a pump in the airing cupboard for them, and this I think is the problem.

When our lass turned it on for the first time I thought he had a mini-digger up in the bedroom! It's bloody loud! I don't think the pump is mounted properly, and is vibrating, does anyone know how they should be mounted?

Cheers


chunkielad - 10/1/05 at 08:16 PM

It could just be an air lock mate but I'm pretty sure that as long as it's attached very securely you should be fine, how ever it is attached.


andylancaster3000 - 10/1/05 at 08:52 PM

We had a rather hefty one fitted when we had a loft conversion done, its mounted on a strip of concrete (about 400x100x75mm in size) I can't quite see, but i think its bolted through this block with big rubber feet against the block. It's also got flexable pipes coming from the pump, I think it would be very noisey if these were fixed pipes!

How new is it? When new ours was rather loud, could be heard from the whole house, now its bedded in you can only hear it in the surrounding rooms.

Hope any of this helps,

Andy


dblissett - 10/1/05 at 08:56 PM

hello northy what type of shower pump is it if its a shower force one with a speed adjuster on the top they are noisey
it should be sat on rubber feet and not fixed down also from the pump to the copper pipe its best to use flexable pipes to stop some of the vibrations its not always used and can make a right racket
good luck dave


ChrisW - 10/1/05 at 08:58 PM

Ours just sits on rubber feet too. Was a bit worried about it at first but it appears that's how it's supposed to be. Bloody noisey thing but the shower is superb.

Chris


Northy - 10/1/05 at 09:09 PM

Thanks for the replies so far guys, I've just been and taken a couple of pictures of it.

There are two concreate blocks, then some thin carpet, then a bit of wood, then some more thin carpet, then the pump with rubber feet. Looks a bit of a bodge to me! Rescued attachment Shower pump 1.jpg
Rescued attachment Shower pump 1.jpg


Northy - 10/1/05 at 09:11 PM

I managed to lean in (its hard to get to) and rock the pump a bit, and it seems to me loke most of teh noise is coming from the two concreate blocks vibrating. Whats the best way to mount this thing? Rescued attachment Shower pump 2.jpg
Rescued attachment Shower pump 2.jpg


dblissett - 10/1/05 at 09:19 PM

you can get a mounting bracket from a plumbers but all it is is a stiff metal bracket/shelf.
ps its a cheap pump that will always be a bit noisey dont worry
cheers dave


andylancaster3000 - 10/1/05 at 09:21 PM

I can't see any problems with the ways its mounted...try putting some of the green stiff betweem the two blocks maybe. If you can get to it!!

Andy

[Edited on 10/1/05 by andylancaster3000]


Hellfire - 10/1/05 at 10:01 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dblissett
you can get a mounting bracket from a plumbers but all it is is a stiff metal bracket/shelf.
ps its a cheap pump that will always be a bit noisey dont worry
cheers dave


Get off the fence why don't you?


Peteff - 10/1/05 at 10:52 PM

Don't gild the lily mate, tell it like it is. Could you extend the pipes and put it down the yard somewhere ?


DarrenW - 11/1/05 at 12:02 PM

If the concrete blocks are vibrating could you 'glue' them together with some sikaflex or similar. Should damp the vibration.

Old Golfs and Audis had noisy fuel pumps. They had a foam (??) jacket around them to dampen it a bit. Could you stuff a load of insulation around the pump. Please check the insulation wont cause overheating or anyother safety related problem though. Might be worth trying for a day or two then replace with something more made for purpose.

Darren.


MikeR - 11/1/05 at 12:37 PM

While we're talking showers (thread hijack)

I've got a 9.5kw electric shower that is great in winter (like now) but ..... in summer i could boil eggs with it its that hot. Even on the lower power setting i've got to turn the temperature right down....then this causes the flow to be so weak that the thing trips out (lack of flow)

Any suggestions ?


DarrenW - 11/1/05 at 12:43 PM

i would say it is too hot.


Peteff - 11/1/05 at 01:02 PM

Is it plumbed to the cold tank or the mains? If it's the tank you haven't got enough head on it. If it's the mains check your incoming pressure and make sure you have the stop cock open enough to let the pressure in. It really should be plumbed in to the mains though.


DarrenW - 11/1/05 at 01:36 PM

When i said it sounds too hot i was going on to mention pressue (got side tracked by some work!). I didnt mean to sound sarky.

Ive had similar problem. i did find that the outside stop cock was not fully open and the inside one was slightly furred up. Helped a bit but not totally. After doing some external groundwork, a digger found the mains pipe (Sunday afternoon - not nice!). It was lead so got replaced soon after with larger blue alkathene pipe. This again helped a bit more. Main issue turned out to be area pressure - old village at top of a hill in high part of the County - apparently not good for pressure and that was mains fed.
Only solution was to fit a pump - but we moved first before getting that far.

In new house i have fed a mains powered shower fed from Combi boiler. Area pressure is good and boiler was selected to have the highest flow rate. New shower can almost take the skin off your back.

Moral of the story - there aint no substitute for good head and plenty of flow.


MikeR - 11/1/05 at 07:04 PM

well its defo mains fed, i replaced the stop valve to the shower with a stop cock (larger internal area to allow more flow than the normal check valves).

What i don't get is that the pressure is fine in winter. I've got the thing turned down to below a level in summer it trips out for lack of pressure!

I'll check the house valve and the stop cock tho!


MikeRJ - 11/1/05 at 08:33 PM

That dosen't sound right at all. My dads electric shower has more flow through it when you set the temperature cooler, as you'd expect. Turning up the temperature e.g. in winter means the flow of water is dramaticly reduced in order to get the temperature up, again, as you'd expect to happen.

Northy, judging from the legnths that someone has previously gone to, I'd suggest that the pump is inherently very noisy. Perhaps the impleller is not balanced very well, or has a lump of crud stuck in it? Helped my brother fit a very simmilar pump (from Screwfix) to his system a couple of years ago, and whilst you could hear it working, it certainly wasn't obtrusively noisy.

[Edited on 11/1/05 by MikeRJ]


rusty nuts - 11/1/05 at 08:38 PM

could be the temperature of the water entering the shower is higher in the summer and lower in the winter? Also could the noisy shower pump be mounted on a rigid metal bracket and possibly something like mini exhaust mounting rubbers using flexible coupling pipes? . Let us know I have to fit one in a couple of weeks. Rusty


dblissett - 11/1/05 at 10:45 PM

sorry northy
i had had a couple of drinks
what i was trying to say was dont worry the pump is probabley just a noisey one most of the noise should be vibration so if you mount it on a more solid bracket you will reduce the noise dont cover the pump up as it needs a flow of air to cool the motor windings
even the best pumps still make some noise
cheers dave


MikeR - 11/1/05 at 11:16 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
That dosen't sound right at all. My dads electric shower has more flow through it when you set the temperature cooler, as you'd expect. Turning up the temperature e.g. in winter means the flow of water is dramaticly reduced in order to get the temperature up, again, as you'd expect to happen.

Northy, judging from the legnths that someone has previously gone to, I'd suggest that the pump is inherently very noisy. Perhaps the impleller is not balanced very well, or has a lump of crud stuck in it? Helped my brother fit a very simmilar pump (from Screwfix) to his system a couple of years ago, and whilst you could hear it working, it certainly wasn't obtrusively noisy.

[Edited on 11/1/05 by MikeRJ]


Sorry what i mean is, I have to turn the temperature down in summer. But when i do this the water pressure is so bad the pressure regulator kicks in and says "not enough pressure". Turn the shower temp up and the restriction inside the shower means you have enough pressure. Yet in winter i can run at a lower temperature setting without the pressure sensor kicking off!!!!!!!


MikeRJ - 12/1/05 at 03:19 PM

Ahh, I see what you mean now. You don't have one of the small inline isolation valves in the cold water feed to the shower do you? They do restrict the flow significantly. (then again, at least they generaly seal well unlike crappy gate valves that always leak, no matter how tight you wind them up).


MikeR - 12/1/05 at 06:01 PM

I did have, which i then changed for a stop cock - thought that if its the same as what I've got to protect the whole house, its good enough!

It did make a little bit of a difference!