Problem with Water pump

[Nick]

Hi there.

First of all a disclaimer - I know v little about plumbing or DIY!

I live in a flat and have a water pump that comes on everytime I turn the taps on - I'm assuming this is to make sure the water comes out at a good pressure?

Anyway there is a problem with the pump in that when I turn on some of the taps (especially the hot tap in either bathroom or kitchen) nothing comes out, and the pump doesn't switch on. If I then turn on the cold tap in the bathroom, everything starts working OK.

Also there is another issue that when I turn on the tap and then turn it off, the pump doesn't always turn off - it takes a couple of tries of turning the tap on and turning it fully off again to make the pump stop.

Can anyone shed any light as to what the problem might be here please?

Many thanks Nick

[Ed Sirett]

The pump is in fact two pumps one for the hot and one for the cold which share the same motor. The motor is started when there is a flow detected in either hot or cold.

The detector is usually a magnet placed in the pump outlet pipe this moves with the flow causing a nickel-reed type switch mounted externally to switch the pump on.

The detectors can get knocked off/out of position. The magnet can get stuck in the on or off positions due to debris or limescale.

HTH

[Nick]

Does anyone know much this is likely to cost to repair if I call a plumber out?

Many thanks Nick

[Mike]

Far more than it would just to fit a new one yourself (£30) and hope that this was the problem.