I installed pump and I am getting hot water at all faucets. My problem is contrary to why I installed pump. I now have to run and waste HOT water to get cold water. I have misplaced or lost my installation instruction paper. I feel like it may have been something in that paper that would have helped me correct that issue.Any help you can send my way will be appreciated.
Plumbing – NO COLD WATER after installing pump. Have to run hot water to get cold water
plumbing
Related Solutions
This sounds like an older style (washer type) installation. Is it possible that part of an old washer is stuck in the seat, or was pushed back behind the seat into the pipe, preventing water flow? First, make sure you have hot water TO the tub area. Turn the water off and remove the hot side, stem and all. Inspect for obstructions. You may need to briefly turn the water back on with the stem OUT, to blow out any obstructions. Have a helper turn the water on and back off, as you watch for any debris coming out. Once you have established hot water to the valve, you can check for an obstruction AFTER the hot water valve where it feeds into the tub spout, either part of an old washer or other debris. With the valve stem out, and the cold water valve off, try blowing air back through the spout to clear this (it will go into the hot water valve area) and then clear the valve out again before replacing the stem and washer, handles, etc.
Nine times out of ten, some obstruction will be in the line either before the valve or after it, where it feeds into the common pipe to the spout.
Here's a diagram of a hot water recirculating system
As I understand it, the idea here is that the recirculating system runs hot water around the pipework to keep the temperature hot near the faucets/taps. This allows for instant hot water at faucets/taps far from the water heater.
Even when no taps are running the pump should be actively maintaining the circulation as needed. It needs to do this as any unlagged pipes will cool the water in them if no faucets/taps are drawing hot water.
When the water near the faucets/taps is sufficiently hot, the "Aquastat" will turn the pump off.
Your power feed to the recirculating system should be via a timer, or other device, that lets the pump run whenever the "Aquastat" feels necessary. This should be "on" during any times of the day when you are likely to use the faucets/taps.
Some ideas:
- your timer isn't on or you are not allowing time for the pump to raise pipe temp.
- your "aquastat" is faulty.
- your "aquastat" is not near the faucet/tap you tried.
- your configuration needs additional "aquastats" or the "aquastat" relocated.
You should be able to test this with a thermometer and a voltmeter if you can locate the "aquastat"
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Best Answer
If the pump you installed was one that is located at the "point of use", when the pump runs it pulls water up the hot supply and pushes it back down the cold supply. I do not like this type of system since the result is something similar to what you are experiencing. Your only recourse is to make sure that the pump shuts off before the hot or warm water is pushed into the cold supply pipe. You may need to change the setting of the temperature sensing control to prevent this. You may need to play with the adjustments to get the best results. As I said earlier, these type pumps are a pain in the a## and sometimes are more trouble than they are worth.