Hi,

Our shower pump has started playing up today (Newteam Varispeed 50 duel
impeller). The water flow wasnt about half of what it normally is, so
thinking it was an air-lock, I switched it off and set the speed up to
max and switched it on again. I have done this in the past a couple of
times, but this time nothing happened when I switched it on. As I was
dripping wet, I thought better of digging any further (water and
electrics !) so continued with the shower (a pathetic dribble) with the
power off. When I went to investigate, it started working ! My wife
went for her shower after and the same thing happened again.

It sounds like an over heating problem. The pump was installed in 98
and is in the airing cupboard.

Is there anything I can do about this ? I am guessing not as there
doesnt seem to be much to replace and I suspect that any parts would
probably cost close to a new pump.

I was thinking of replacing it. My preference would be for something
that will replace it without any pipe alterations. The Newteam
varispeed is still made, so that would be ideal, but I was also looking
at the Duraspeed. This has the benifit of being rated for constant use
(appears to have a built in fan). The only downside it that it
requires its feed pipes to be straigh, whereas the Varispeed are bent
through 90deg. The connectors on the pump are in the same location,
its just the flexi pipes that are supplied have a built in right angle.
Is there any reason why I couldnt just use the existing flexi
connectors and just swap out the pump.

TIA

Alan

"AlanC" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi,

Our shower pump has started playing up today (Newteam Varispeed 50 duel
impeller). The water flow wasnt about half of what it normally is, so
thinking it was an air-lock, I switched it off and set the speed up to
max and switched it on again. I have done this in the past a couple of
times, but this time nothing happened when I switched it on. As I was
dripping wet, I thought better of digging any further (water and
electrics !) so continued with the shower (a pathetic dribble) with the
power off. When I went to investigate, it started working ! My wife
went for her shower after and the same thing happened again.

It sounds like an over heating problem. The pump was installed in 98
and is in the airing cupboard.

Is there anything I can do about this ? I am guessing not as there
doesnt seem to be much to replace and I suspect that any parts would
probably cost close to a new pump.

I was thinking of replacing it. My preference would be for something
that will replace it without any pipe alterations. The Newteam
varispeed is still made, so that would be ideal, but I was also looking
at the Duraspeed. This has the benifit of being rated for constant use
(appears to have a built in fan). The only downside it that it
requires its feed pipes to be straigh, whereas the Varispeed are bent
through 90deg. The connectors on the pump are in the same location,
its just the flexi pipes that are supplied have a built in right angle.
Is there any reason why I couldnt just use the existing flexi
connectors and just swap out the pump.

TIA

Alan

I had a similar problem with my Mira Event power shower but decided to call
in an electrician. He found that the built in pump was faulty and also the
filter was partially blocked. After obtaining a replacement pump and fitting
it nothing happened so he phoned Mira who told him that the electronic
control board usually requires replacing as well. He got the replacement and
everything worked again.
This may help you to decide what to do
Blair

In article . com, AlanC
writes
Hi,

Our shower pump has started playing up today (Newteam Varispeed 50 duel
impeller). The water flow wasnt about half of what it normally is, so
thinking it was an air-lock, I switched it off and set the speed up to
max and switched it on again. I have done this in the past a couple of
times, but this time nothing happened when I switched it on. As I was
dripping wet, I thought better of digging any further (water and
electrics !) so continued with the shower (a pathetic dribble) with the
power off. When I went to investigate, it started working ! My wife
went for her shower after and the same thing happened again.

It sounds like an over heating problem. The pump was installed in 98
and is in the airing cupboard.

Is there anything I can do about this ? I am guessing not as there
doesnt seem to be much to replace and I suspect that any parts would
probably cost close to a new pump.

I was thinking of replacing it. My preference would be for something
that will replace it without any pipe alterations. The Newteam
varispeed is still made, so that would be ideal, but I was also looking
at the Duraspeed. This has the benifit of being rated for constant use
(appears to have a built in fan). The only downside it that it
requires its feed pipes to be straigh, whereas the Varispeed are bent
through 90deg. The connectors on the pump are in the same location,
its just the flexi pipes that are supplied have a built in right angle.
Is there any reason why I couldnt just use the existing flexi
connectors and just swap out the pump.

I had a newteam pump a few years ago (not varispeed though) and it
became intermittent due to worn brushes on the pump motor. At that time
you could get spare brushes from them, I don't know if you still can.
--
Tim Mitchell

AlanC Wrote:
Hi,

Our shower pump has started playing up today (Newteam Varispeed 50
duel
impeller). The water flow wasnt about half of what it normally is, so
thinking it was an air-lock, I switched it off and set the speed up to
max and switched it on again. I have done this in the past a couple
of
times, but this time nothing happened when I switched it on. As I was
dripping wet, I thought better of digging any further (water and
electrics !) so continued with the shower (a pathetic dribble) with
the
power off. When I went to investigate, it started working !
..................

Alan

I have had similar problems with two showers.

The first would consistently work OK to start with then after a minute
of running would slow up and then degenerate to a pathetic dribble, as
you so aptly put it. The problem was with the inlet filters in the
shower mixer (Mira Excel) which had become blocked with small gritty
bits. Once cleaned the problem went away.

The problem with the other which uses a Varispeed 50 pump, was found,
after much head scratching, to be worn carbon brushes. That was in Dec
2002 after about 7 years of running. New Team sent me a set for £11.75
including VAT and P&P. Last month the same thing occurred, so I went
straight in and found the brushes worn again. New Team were excellent
and still had my details on their database. This time there was no
charge!

To change the brushes you have to take the pump apart - lots of screws
(38 in all) but not too difficult. If you need to get the pump to a
workbench to work on it more easily, you will have to disconnect the
electric lead (after isolating it from the supply!).

The only thing to watch out for is that the two white (?) plastic
impellors have opposite threads, so one unscrews clockwise and the
other anticlockwise. This is a design requirement to prevent one of
them from unscrewing itself when in action if they both had the same
thread, but caused me some bother before I figured that out.

The other problem I had was that while trying to get the old rubber
washer out of one of the plastic hose connectors that screw onto the
pump body, the shaft of the connector sheared off. I had to buy a new
flexible hose to replace the damaged one.

To access the brush housing I had to partially pull out the motor from
the pump body until the old brush unit was visible, and can be
extracted.

The new carbon brushes are supplied clamped into their housing. To
release them gently prise up the lug on the brass body of the unit
until they spring free. Insert the new unit and push the electrical
connector clip through the hole in the plastic brush unit housing.

Is it worth doing? In my opinion the first time, yes. New Team advise
that as the pump gets older the brushes wear down quicker. This is
probably due to wear in the armature. Also, when I changed the brushes
a second time I was concerned that the rubber shaft seals might also
need changing, and sure enough after a month of running the pump
started to leak.

The seals were £10 each, so with VAT and P&P it would be £29. I decided
to go for a new pump, especially after New Team suggested that having
got 10 years out of a pump designed to last for a lot less, I was doing
well!

After a thorough check on the Internet I found a supplier who charged
£138, including delivery and VAT. Not the cheapest but they could
deliver by next day, which they did despite the order being placed at
4pm.

The new model was exactly the same dimensions as the old, so there was
no need to re-plumb, as I used the existing hoses. The old fittings
were reluctant to screw onto the new pump threads, but I managed to
coax them on.

The shower appears to be working well so far. I am running it on
maximum speed. Not too sure why it is designed to run at slower speeds,
but I imagine that could be useful for seaside B&B landladies who want
to save on hot water!

Now if I can only stop my Mira 723 shower mixer from sticking when it
is being turned off……..


--
Brian Macfarland