Shower pump - loud noise

suvp

Hi,
Have a triton shower pump(quite old) which was encased behind some tiles. I never heard a peep from it till now but we removed the tiling and now I hear a really really loud whirring noise everytime I open any hot water tap anywhere in the house!! I have not touched the pipes connected to that motor at all.
Is it normal for a shower pump motor to make that much noise ?..maybe I never heard that noise because it was encased behind the tiles? Or is the pump broken.
Any advise from the more experienced would be much appreciated.
TIA

bob_a_builder

Its normal for a shower pump to make quite a loud whirring noise
Exactly how loud is difficult to tell from here

What I want to know is where you got these sound deadening tiles from, if you never heard it before ?

Any change in the water flow from the taps which it feeds to indicate a problem ?

suvp

Hi, my thoughts exactly.. that the tiles surely could not have made that much of a difference which is why I thought I must be losing my mind. The motor was tucked away beneath a sink behind tiles(put in by the previous owner).
There is no change in water flow, taps all works fine but this noise comes on when I open any hot water tap and close it. I am assuming the pump is connected to only the hot water supply?

EssexExile

The pump coming on when a tap is used is caused by air in a pipe somewhere. Does the pump feed more than one shower? If so run the one that hasn't been used lately until it stops spluttering.

suvp

It only powers one shower. But could not understand why opening and closing a hot water tap anywhere else in the house triggered the motor to run and whirr loudly?
I did run all the hot water taps open for some time to check all the possible reasons. I will try and do it again when I get I home.

bob_a_builder

Ah - OK
In my case, it comes on because my taps are fed by the same pump as the shower

suvp

does the pump whirr when you open the tap or close the tap?
mine kicks in when I close the tap....

bob_a_builder

Mine comes on when I run the tap, because pump feeding the water directly to the tap (and shower) - i.e. its intentional

If yours is coming on when tap is being closed, then its not feeding taps so should follow EssexExile suggestion

EssexExile

suvp wrote: »

does the pump whirr when you open the tap or close the tap?
mine kicks in when I close the tap....

It's when I close the tap too. In my case the pump feeds three showers & the ones that don't get used much get air in the pipes. The air compresses when you close a tap suddenly letting a little water through the pump which sets it off. So it's air in pipes after the pump that's the problem, I'm not sure that helps you though!

suvp

Thank you. I eventually found out that this pump only powered the hot water for one shower. I will have to have it moved to a covered place as it is still quite noisy. and looks like it is air in the pipes.