Warranty on grundfos pump

[kevt296]

Hi all

My plumber has recently upgraded my boiler pump from a Selectric 15-50 130 to a 15-60 130 but has split the pump casing and only fitted the motor part with impeller. Can anyone tell me if this is normal practice and does this void the warranty at all? I am told this is what they do all the time but to my mind this would affect warranty. Also can anyone tell me what I would expect to pay for a new 15-60?

many thanks

 

[45yearsagasman]

Sheer laziness on behalf of your plumber. If you paid for a new pump then that's what you should have got, unless prior agreement was made. It will work OK though. Cost of a 15-60 bare pump about £80 + fitting.
As for warranty, I honestly don't know.
This practice of head only changing is commonplace nowadays, especially on combis. Its OK providing the body is clean and not restricted.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Was this done via an insurance? or are you a paying customer?

And how much did he charge you? and what was written on the receipt?

Andy

 

[muggles]

The chances of a successful warranty claim are likely to be pretty slim whatever happens - if it fails early, I would expect that they'll test your system water, discover it's got a tiny weeny bit of muck in it and void the warranty. You could get over this by having the system completely and professionally cleaned before the pump goes in, but that'd cost the same as about 4-5 new pumps so it's not really a sensible option

 

[kevt296]

Thanks to you all for your replies, much appreciated.

I agree that it is laziness by plumber and this was never agreed. They have messed me about for some months now with a problem of poor heating that they have blamed on many different things. I have paid out for a complete c/h flush (which was probably needed as hasn't been done in years ) which did not solve poor heating problems. They have also re-plumbed header tank so that original feed in is disconnected and new feed in is via tank overflow. They have also now upgraded the pump as explained in my first post.

I am however still not happy with this upgrade as this is a system that has been in place since property was built in 1980 and has always worked well until recently using a 15-50 pump. Admittedly pump may need replacing (I replaced it personally about 4-5 years ago) due to age but did it really need uprating?

I have spoken with Gundfos since this first post and they tell me that the warranty is with the head of the pump and so not affected by detaching from inlet and outlet body but I am still not overly happy with this move.

Owner of company has told me he will only charge me for some labour carried out a few months ago (£178 inc VAT) and for the cost of the pump fitted recently (price not known) but to be honest, I don't know whether I should insist on them fitting the pump complete rather than breaking as they have done.

I may have to let this one go and pay up providing the cost of pump does not come out too high, (so thanks for estimate of cost, agrees with what google comes out with) and my c/h does now appear to be behaving itself.
However, guess what ? I will probably not be using them again!! The trust element has gone as a result of the way they have messed me about and the poor communication.

For clarification, I rent out my property ( a ground floor flat) as I work away from my home.
Thanks again for your replies

 

[expertgasman]

Sheer laziness on behalf of your plumber. If you paid for a new pump then that's what you should have got, unless prior agreement was made. It will work OK though. Cost of a 15-60 bare pump about £80 + fitting.
As for warranty, I honestly don't know.
This practice of head only changing is commonplace nowadays, especially on combis. Its OK providing the body is clean and not restricted.

Sorry to disagree, but if access is difficult, why mess about with union nuts? The working part is the head, and if they were available much cheaper than a full pump, we would always use them. This is obviously subject to the body being clean and sound. If the labour was chargeable on time, it could save the client cash. However, as the OP said, Communication is everything.

 

[Agile]

I normally aim to just replace the head if thats possible.

Also I tell the customer that it will be £20 extra if I have to replace the whole body.

Last one I did took an extra 24 min as I had to heat one side and cut the nut on the other side. Luckily I had a spare nut which I did not charge extra for!

Tony

 

[expertgasman]

I normally aim to just replace the head if thats possible.

it's always possible

Also I tell the customer that it will be £20 extra if I have to replace the whole body.

It is normally easier to undo nuts, on a newish system

Last one I did took an extra 24 min as I had to heat one side and cut the nut on the other side. Luckily I had a spare nut which I did not charge extra for!

HERO!!

 

[Agile]

This head was only a year old but the flanges were leaking and had dribbled water all over the hex caps so it was not possible to undo just the head.

If I am supplying a replacement part then I normally charge for it !

I seem to be one of the cheapest RGIs on this web site and when only charging a fixed price diagnostic fee and parts at cost then I have to ensure that I charge for everything supplied.

Is that not reasonable?

Tony

 

[gaswizzard]

Very rarely have i not been able to shift the union nuts (1000s pump changes) , tis the way you apply the pressure to the union nut as to whether it will give you a hard time or not , Never do I replace just the head except on a combi , utter lazziness in my opinion , looks unprofessional too.

If the valves are shot then a builders bag comes in handy whilst you knock the valves off & replace.................always remember 'you are in control not the job'

 

[kevt296]

In my particular case, the pump is easily accessible and the union nuts are easily removed. As said I changed the pump some years ago and changed both gate valves either side of the pump at the same time and all nuts were renewed. Isolation would have been simple and I am 99% sure that an accomplished engineer would not have had trouble removing.

As said, this was not discussed at time or ever mentioned at any other time. I will be expected to pay for a brand new pump, body included and that is what I would have expected to have fitted. In addition, disturbing a watertight seal between body and pump head and then fitting a brand new pump head to a worn, probably corroded body is in my mind unnecessary and a cop out.

If they honour their commitment not to charge the additional labour then that will go some way to pacifying me. However, as said already I am still unlikely to use them again because I do not trust them anymore. No amount of justification will overcome that!!