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Advice/recommendations for shower pump please.

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Nicholas

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Jun 18, 2009, 7:26:50 PM6/18/09
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SWMBO is dragging me into the 21st C and having our bathroom rebuilt. I
can't blame her as it was last done 26 years ago and never finished. That's
by the by.
Most choices are made but we're struggling with what to choose for a shower
pump.
Suppliers are recommending a Salamander RHP75.
The use of the pump will be shower only, but we would like a quiet and
reliable unit.
The shower mixer and other hardware is Hansgrohe.
I have read a bit about shower pumps and do not understand the references to
negative and positive. Some help here would be appreciated.
Our heating system is conventional gas boiler with storage and expansion
tanks in loft. There is about 5m head to the shower. 42" cylinder with
immersion heater.
Bathroom is on ground floor.

Can anyone tell me please what positive/negative means in relation to a
shower pump?
Is the Salamander RHP75 good and reliable, and should we be looking at other
pumps?
Stuart Turner have been recommended by a friend.

Many thanks,
N


YAPH

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Jun 19, 2009, 2:05:35 AM6/19/09
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Salamanders are good and reasonably priced (about £120 for a 1.5 bar unit
suitable for a normal single shower from Screwfix). If you get water out
of the shower without a pump you only need a regular pump: if the shower
head's above the level of water in the storage tank then you need positive
head or a switch to start the pump (some models come with an air-operated
push button).

The diy faq wiki has an article on showers.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/

--
John Stumbles -- http://yaph.co.uk

My other sigs are posh

BigGirlsBlouse

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Jun 19, 2009, 4:27:01 AM6/19/09
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"Nicholas" <nic...@fume.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7a00qvF...@mid.individual.net...
I have a superb aquilisa shower... but it came with a pump which was shxte
and lasted only a couple of years, with the impeller disintegrating into a
thousand pieces!... if memory serves me right it was of french manufacture
and everything was made of plastics!
The new pump they provide is a Stuart Turner...a completely different
beast... very well made with no plastics and all brass construction. It has
a built in flow switch, which unlike the previous model which needed an
occasional tap to get it to operate, the stuart turner model has never
failed. Had the whole pump now about 4 years and no signs of any problems.

John Rumm

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Jun 19, 2009, 5:41:57 AM6/19/09
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Nicholas wrote:

> Suppliers are recommending a Salamander RHP75.
> The use of the pump will be shower only, but we would like a quiet and
> reliable unit.

They are OK IIUC. Stuart Turner are usually thought of as being one of
the best.

> I have read a bit about shower pumps and do not understand the references to
> negative and positive. Some help here would be appreciated.

Your basic shower pump is activated by a flow switch. When you turn the
tap on, water flows, and that switches the pump. This means the pump
will only work where there is at least some positive pressure from
gravity feed alone to start things going.

If you need to feed a shower that is above the header tank level, you
need an alternative way to get the pump running - since opening the tap
alone would simply allow water to run away from the shower and air to
flow in via the shower head. These slightly more complicated setups are
negative head pumps.


--
Cheers,

John.

/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/

Dave Plowman (News)

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Jun 19, 2009, 6:00:33 AM6/19/09
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In article <7a00qvF...@mid.individual.net>,

Nicholas <nic...@fume.co.uk> wrote:
> The use of the pump will be shower only, but we would like a quiet and
> reliable unit.
> The shower mixer and other hardware is Hansgrohe.
> I have read a bit about shower pumps and do not understand the references to
> negative and positive. Some help here would be appreciated.
> Our heating system is conventional gas boiler with storage and expansion
> tanks in loft. There is about 5m head to the shower. 42" cylinder with
> immersion heater.
> Bathroom is on ground floor.

If you've got a 5m head, you don't need a pump. Get a 22mm fed
thermostatic shower - I have an Aqualisa one. Quite superb.

--
*When I'm not in my right mind, my left mind gets pretty crowded *

Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Man at B&Q

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Jun 19, 2009, 6:24:58 AM6/19/09
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On Jun 19, 12:26 am, "Nicholas" <nic...@fume.co.uk> wrote:
> SWMBO is dragging me into the 21st C

> tanks in loft. There is about 5m head to the shower.

She's given you enough head, and you don't need a pump to get it up
any further.

MBQ

Ian_m

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Jun 24, 2009, 10:03:59 AM6/24/09
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"Nicholas" <nic...@fume.co.uk> wrote in message
news:7a00qvF...@mid.individual.net...
After having been through many pumps over the years, B&Q (yuk), watermill,
Salamander, TechFlow all lasting far too short for their cost, now got a
3.5bar "skin ripper" from Stuart Turner, which is what I should have
purchased in the first place as everyone kept advising but was put off by
the premium price. My Dad's Stuart Turner pump is over 15years old and is
still fine.

Worst was TechFlow QT80 leaked after 6 years (tripping RCD) then wanted �60
for new seals....

B&Q one had only 15mm pipes (was in house I bought) and continually
cavitated as it could get enough water in and out and was extremely noisy.

I got a 3.5bar Stuart Turner pump from http://www.plumb-warehouse.co.uk/ for
�300, arrived next day, which was �317 cheaper than my local plumber
merchant.....

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NT

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Jun 24, 2009, 1:21:03 PM6/24/09
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On Jun 19, 11:00 am, "Dave Plowman (News)" <d...@davenoise.co.uk>
wrote:
> In article <7a00qvF1sm0d...@mid.individual.net>,

>    Nicholas <nic...@fume.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > The use of the pump will be shower only, but we would like a quiet and
> > reliable unit.
> > The shower mixer and other hardware is Hansgrohe.
> > I have read a bit about shower pumps and do not understand the references to
> > negative and positive. Some help here would be appreciated.
> > Our heating system is conventional gas boiler with storage and expansion
> > tanks in loft. There is about 5m head to the shower. 42" cylinder with
> > immersion heater.
> > Bathroom is on ground floor.
>
> If you've got a 5m head, you don't need a pump.

quite. A pipe is much quieter, much longer lasting and doesnt add
energy waste. And probably no more cost.


NT

dennis@home

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Jun 24, 2009, 3:24:10 PM6/24/09
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"NT" <meow...@care2.com> wrote in message
news:abd6a40e-981f-4e21...@o36g2000vbi.googlegroups.com...

>> If you've got a 5m head, you don't need a pump.
>
> quite. A pipe is much quieter, much longer lasting and doesnt add
> energy waste. And probably no more cost.

One of my showers works OK and it only has 1.5m of head.

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