We are having a problem with an installation of a Salamander CT75 pump and wondered if anyone knowledgeable could comment on the arrangement which is described below.
Cold water
The cold water storage tank is in the loft, directly above the hot water cylinder. It is raised above the loft floor by about 30cm.
The cold water feed is taken directly from the bottom of the cold water storage tank via a 22mm copper pipe. This then feeds a Salamander CT75 pump also in the loft. In the 22mm part of the cold water piper there is a Calcombi, and a gate valve.
Distance between the cold water tank and the CT75 pump is approximately 3 metres of which most is on 22mm pipe and the last 20cm is 15mm.
Hotwater
The hot water cylinder has been replaced in the last 3 years and is heated by gas. It is on the first floor mounted off the floor by about 6 inches.
The 22mm feed from the hot water tank is taken from a Surrey flange at the top of the hot water tank up into the loft to the pump. Between the hot water tank and the pump there are 90 degree elbows, a gate valve, a non-return valve, and a “Calcombi”. Distance travelled is approximately 6 metres.
The CT75 pump is on a 15mm feed. Distance on 15mm pipe from the 22mm feed to the pump is about 20cm.
Pump to Shower panel
The Salamander pump is fitted on the loft floor above a thermostatic shower panel in a bathroom on the first floor below. The pump is slightly offset, so the 15mm pipework travels about 1.5 metres from the pump to the point directly above the shower panel where it goes through a 90 degree elbow to the shower panel.
There is nothing in the pipework between the pump and the shower panel apart from 90 degree elbows.
Additional information
The CT75 pump does not supply anything apart from the thermostatic shower panel. The shower panel will operate with a supply of 2 to 5 bar, and seems a little underpowered.
The Problem
Since being fitted, the operation of the shower panel is impaired by airlocks/water starvation and it is failing to work satisfactorily. If left unused for more than an hour (or even less), the shower panel does not work unless remedial action is taken (we have to drop the lower hand shower into the shower tray to re-establish flow, leave it to run for a while, then switch to the body jets, and finally to the overhead shower).
Questions
We believe that the use of a Surrey flange is restricting the flow to pump due to the 15mm feeder into the tank.
We also think that we should have a no stop Essex Flange fitted, however the fitter keeps telling us that we cannot have an Essex flange “because the tank does not have a side outlet”. We thought no stop Essex flanges were designed to be fitted to hot water tanks by cutting a hole in the side?
Please can anyone advise if this is a suitable arrangement for the provision of feeds to the CT75 pump when fitted in the loft above the hot water tank, and some metres from it?
If this is not a suitable arrangement, then are the problems we are seeing symptomatic of this arrangement?
TIA
Peter
Cold water
The cold water storage tank is in the loft, directly above the hot water cylinder. It is raised above the loft floor by about 30cm.
The cold water feed is taken directly from the bottom of the cold water storage tank via a 22mm copper pipe. This then feeds a Salamander CT75 pump also in the loft. In the 22mm part of the cold water piper there is a Calcombi, and a gate valve.
Distance between the cold water tank and the CT75 pump is approximately 3 metres of which most is on 22mm pipe and the last 20cm is 15mm.
Hotwater
The hot water cylinder has been replaced in the last 3 years and is heated by gas. It is on the first floor mounted off the floor by about 6 inches.
The 22mm feed from the hot water tank is taken from a Surrey flange at the top of the hot water tank up into the loft to the pump. Between the hot water tank and the pump there are 90 degree elbows, a gate valve, a non-return valve, and a “Calcombi”. Distance travelled is approximately 6 metres.
The CT75 pump is on a 15mm feed. Distance on 15mm pipe from the 22mm feed to the pump is about 20cm.
Pump to Shower panel
The Salamander pump is fitted on the loft floor above a thermostatic shower panel in a bathroom on the first floor below. The pump is slightly offset, so the 15mm pipework travels about 1.5 metres from the pump to the point directly above the shower panel where it goes through a 90 degree elbow to the shower panel.
There is nothing in the pipework between the pump and the shower panel apart from 90 degree elbows.
Additional information
The CT75 pump does not supply anything apart from the thermostatic shower panel. The shower panel will operate with a supply of 2 to 5 bar, and seems a little underpowered.
The Problem
Since being fitted, the operation of the shower panel is impaired by airlocks/water starvation and it is failing to work satisfactorily. If left unused for more than an hour (or even less), the shower panel does not work unless remedial action is taken (we have to drop the lower hand shower into the shower tray to re-establish flow, leave it to run for a while, then switch to the body jets, and finally to the overhead shower).
Questions
We believe that the use of a Surrey flange is restricting the flow to pump due to the 15mm feeder into the tank.
We also think that we should have a no stop Essex Flange fitted, however the fitter keeps telling us that we cannot have an Essex flange “because the tank does not have a side outlet”. We thought no stop Essex flanges were designed to be fitted to hot water tanks by cutting a hole in the side?
Please can anyone advise if this is a suitable arrangement for the provision of feeds to the CT75 pump when fitted in the loft above the hot water tank, and some metres from it?
If this is not a suitable arrangement, then are the problems we are seeing symptomatic of this arrangement?
TIA
Peter
the guy who did it also flooded the airing cupboard while doing it, and didn't tell us until we found the large brown stain on the ceiling below.