water pump issue?

[ShaunCorbs]

16mins onward

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Is it leaking from the pump nut or where the valve screws into ?

 

[John.g]

Ah, very good, so you could split the nut(s) if seized and just buy a new pair of nuts and slide them back on, we learn something new every day.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Ah, very good, so you could split the nut(s) if seized and just buy a new pair of nuts and slide them back on, we learn something new every day.

Yes or you deform them trying to undo them eg oval I’ve put a video up that I managed to find

 

[finest1]

Is it leaking from the pump nut or where the valve screws into ?

i will be visiting my parents home later, i will have a look, now i know what i'm looking out for

 

[finest1]

Yes or you deform them trying to undo them eg oval I’ve put a video up that I managed to find

that could have been what happened when the engineer was trying to release the water pump

 

[John.g]

Couldn't watch the video but some of the older type had slotted ball vale (with O ring seal) for isolation and these invariably leaked out of the seal when reopened.......new valve required, the better type have a gate valve that don't leak, if yours arn't leaking like this then you can just isolate the water at both and renew the nuts (+rubbers) if required.

 

[hometech]

Electrical motors fail because of the load, the load in this case is the force required to move the valve...
engineers are highly educated, very bright people. Obtaining your BEng or MEng makes you a 1% of the 1%. They solve problems, they create solutions.
CH "engineers" or people who have an NVQ (and paid a private company never to be wrong) are at best technicians, you so it's not fair to expect them to be at the same level as a a real engineer.
The most thy do is guess and if that guess is wrong, they guess again. Imagine this was medical..they would be struck-off. Lower your expectations when dealing with the technicians and always be prepared to question their logic...

 

[finest1]

Is it leaking from the pump nut or where the valve screws into ?

update: the source of the leak is here. i've attached some photos. i double and tripled checked the whole fitting in case there was multiple leaks. thanks

 

[John.g]

That's a valve change out job IMO, it should have been quite obvious to "all" (being diplomatic) that attempts had been made to address this, probably attempting to tighten it/them.

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Yep time for a change

 

[finest1]

hi all, first of all, thanks for helping me diagnose and solve this issue. i really appreciate your time and your experience.

in regards to the dispute, as the days go by, i really don't think I'm going to get anything out of them. they are clearly ignoring me and hoping i'll go away. the latest is the person dealing with the complaint is just regurgitating technical jargon that the plumber has said, in order to try baffle me. but as i keep responding to anything they tell me, they get annoyed with me and start getting slightly aggressive on the phone. the latest is, they said they will see if they can do a discount rate for me to change the valves. however, no one is getting back to me. i can't imagine that takes days to figure out.

i will be tracking down the MD or owner of the company and going to contact them. is there a body i can complain to?

 

[finest1]

thanks again for helping me diagnose and solve this issue. i really appreciate your time and your experience.

as we now know the valves need changing, my options are:
can i do it myself?
or get someone else in?
let it run as it is for the winter, and in spring/summer we can get it resolved. however, will this cause any further problems?( my parents want to know if there is any issues with this idea)

if we look at the positives:

the heating is working
the water pump was the issue and now changed
engineer did bleed the boiler, and "service" it
all radiators are heating up fine.
no noise coming from the pipes, pump or boiler. if it wasn't for the leak it would be case closed.

i will be looking on youtube to see video demonstrations (if available) on how to change the valves. however, i think i would need a walkthrough/guide of how to go about it, and any drawbacks i would need to know BEFORE attempting it. i would love to get your input on this as you already been helpful.

i did watch the video shauncorbs sent. i was interested in how the plumber changed the valves over without changing the olive. i thought any fittings with olives, best practice was to remove and put new one in. anyway, the time stamp is 11:50 and 14:20. however, it could be a totally different situation.

thanks

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Drain down and undo both nuts install the new valves and re fill there’s a video above how to do it

 

[finest1]

Thanks, when draining, i'm only draining the tank, not the radiators. is that right? or the WHOLE lot, radiators too?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Whole lot / anything at the same level as the pump if it’s lower you won’t need to drain this

 

[finest1]

can i just raise one point. the engineer said he didn't want to change the valves as this would involve draining the system and potentially cause an airlock. i know we've discussed airlocks in this post already, and i'm not disputing this, as it could. however, is this something i need to be prepared for? or the likelihood is low.

 

[John.g]

You don't have to drain the rads (and probably better off not draining them IMO) but you will have to shut tightly the lock shield valves at either end or a lock shield + a TRV, if installed, the TRV doesn't have to be squeezed up, just turn it clockwise until it comes to its stop.

 

[finest1]

this is a very crude diagram of where the water pump is located in the house. the drain off is on the lower ground radiator. hope this helps

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Yep drain the whole lot

 

[finest1]

Yep drain the whole lot

thanks

 

[finest1]

hi all, thinking ahead to if i successfully change over the old valves to the new ones. is there a way i can slowly release the water when checking for leaks? for example when i did some work on my shower. i would turn off at the main. when testing, i only add one turn to allow some water to come through. if it leaks, it will be at low pressure and enough for me to just switch off. at mine i don't have a tank in the loft. in this case i do.

thanks

 

[John.g]

If the pump is on the ground floor open any radiator vent that is just above it, start filling the system, stop filling as soon as water comes from the vent and inspect the pump/valves for leaks. If the pump is located higher up then you have to fill to a higher level.