Mounting central heating pump

[colinstone]

Do CH pumps have to be mounted vertically???

All pictures I have seen show them mounted vertically - but is that necessary??

TVMIA

[ARWadsworth]

The instructions that came with my Grundfos pump said horizontal is fine as long as the electrics are not below the pipes. The pump was a replacement for a 20 year old pump that was also mounted horizontally.

Adam

[Andy Cap]

Mine was initially mounted with the shaft horizontal.

In ingorance I replaced it twice before the penny dropped that the shaft was being clagged up.

The next time, now many years ago, I fitted it with the shaft at 45 degrees which was the best I could do and since then, have had no further problems.

Andy

[Andy Hall]

No it isn't.

They can be mounted horizontally in most cases as long as the shaft is horizontal as well.

All that I have seen do not permit a vertical orientation of the shaft.

The only thing is that they may be slightly more difficult to purge of air. However, either they will have a small bleed screw on the side or the design will be such that pump operation will clear out the air.

[Guy King]

The message from [e-mail] contains these words:

No, but the shaft must be horizontal - in other words mount it with the axis horizontal but you can rotate the body around the shaft to get the inlet/outlets wherever you want them.

[Andy Cap]

Does not compute ! ;-) Inlet and outlet horizontal. Motor vertical or as in my case at 45 degrees. I'm not clear what you mean.

Andy

[Andy Hall]

No it's clear.

You can have the pump at any angle with respect to which way the inlet and outlet point as long as the shaft is horizontal - i.e. pointing directly towards you as you look at the side of the pump.

What isn't generally allowed is to have the *shaft* in other than horizontal orientation.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

All the makes I've seen or fitted come with instructions giving the allowed positions. And IIRC they can be horizontal, but the motor must be on top.

[Guy King]

The message from "Dave Plowman (News)" contains these words:

That would put the shaft vertical - which is something all the pumps I've ever fitted have expressly prohibited.

[mike]

Guy King wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I think he must have meant the electrical connection box, which all instructions I've seen have required to be on top, so it doesn't get dripped into.

I've never done it, but considering the risk of ingress into the live connections, I'd be more tempted, if pushed, to put the connector underneath :-)

mike