Bang Bang, then it died.

[shafey]

I was woken early this morning by a terrific banging noise - thought someone was trying to break down the door! Traced the noise to the airing cupboard which houses our Baxi Solo 2 boiler, which sounded as if it was going to explode. On closer inspection, noticed smoke coming from the Myson Compact CP53 central heating pump - where the cable goes into the black thing on the side (sorry, I'm a woman). Anyway, after a bit of panicking that the house might blow up, I turned everything off and phoned British Gas (we have a Homecare plan) but I would be interested to hear the experts' views on this make of boiler and pump, and whether the constant problems we seem to have could be do with the location, or is it being overworked (we have 15 radiators). ( I personally would prefer not to have the boiler in the airing cupboard, but my other half says it will be too much hassle to move it!

 

[nickso]

the pump electrics will probably have water in them...not a great pump.

BG should fit one of their branded pumps which are better.

ask the BG guy about the siting of your boiler.....difficult to comment on here without seing it.

 

[shafey]

Thanks - I have been looking up about central heating pumps and had the same thought. I suspect good old B.G. used a fairly cheap one in the first place and I was wondering whether to ask about Grundfos Alpha Pro as it seems more energy efficient.

 

[nickso]

BG did use myson pumps for a while but realised they were unreliable and finally replaced it with their branded grundfos.

BG wont fit an alpha unless you pay them to do it. you will get the normal grundfos for free.

 

[shafey]

The BG man is here now, so I'll have a chat and let you know what he says!

 

[shafey]

BG man has bought a replacement pump - Grundfos 1560 - although he is having problems removing the existing one which appears to be resisting all attempts at the moment. I asked about Alpha Pro etc. but they would only fit this as a replacement for an existing Alpha Pro. Seems logical enough to me. As long as the thing works, that's all I'm interested in!

 

[nickso]

yeh the myson will be rusted onto the valve...they all do that for some reason.

he will cut it off and the new pump will be fine. it will be easier to change as well when it finally goes.

hes being a naughty boy using a 15/60....his boss wont like that wont make any difference to you but the cost to his boss is probably double.

 

[shafey]

I looked up the prices myself and the one he is using is UPS 1560 which costs about 65 quid, whereas the UPE 1560 is over £200. So presumably he is doing as he is told!!

 

[nickso]

no if hes going by the book he should be using a blue one not the red 15/60.....i dont even know how he managed to get one from his stores....they wouldnt send me any before i left.

dont worry about it....the 15/60 is a slightly better pump but its unlikely to have made any diffference in your situation if he used the blue branded one.

 

[Softus]

hes being a naughty boy using a 15/60....his boss wont like that wont make any difference to you but the cost to his boss is probably double.

Eh? The 15-60 is only about 30% more than the 15-50.

 

[nickso]

i dont think the branded one is a 15/50....its definately not a 15/60. i remember checking the outputs on them all when the branded one came out and i dont think they matched.

the blue branded ones are dirt cheap to BG....using a red grundfos of any type is virtually full price to them.

 

[Agile]

Are these blue ones genuine Grunfoss or are they Dab or some other manufacturer?

Grunfoss would not like me to say it but they have much cheaper grey ones on the continent. The red ones seem to be overpriced for the UK market.

The BG Cestia badged CP53 were supplied in blue but the one I have has, interestingly, FOUR speed settings.

Tony

 

[shafey]

Perhaps the BG man is telling porkies - the pump he has used is a blue one and the ones I was looking up are red, but then he did mention that Grundfos are making pumps especially for BGas - which is why they are blue in colour presumably. It has got British Gas written on it, and it says Multihead G, whatever that means. Poor guy - he's very young and I feel a bit sorry for him as I have bombarded him with questions about the pump capacity/efficiency etc. I don't think he is used to having such conversations with women!

 

[nickso]

they are genuine grundfos from what ive been told. they have grundfos marked on them.

the only grey ones i have seen are the ones you get in combis.

dont confuse the previous blue ones with the new ones. customers sometimes refused the grundfos blues saying they were crap when in fact they were talking about the cp/myson ones. the grundfos ones only have 3 settings as normal.

 

[nickso]

Perhaps the BG man is telling porkies - the pump he has used is a blue one and the ones I was looking up are red, but then he did mention that Grundfos are making pumps especially for BGas - which is why they are blue in colour presumably. It has got British Gas written on it, and it says Multihead G, whatever that means. Poor guy - he's very young and I feel a bit sorry for him as I have bombarded him with questions about the pump capacity/efficiency etc. I don't think he is used to having such conversations with women!

its a good pump..you wont have any hassle. its not a 15/60, though he may assume it is if hes not checked the data on the front or has been told it is by another engineer.