Hi T.J, by any chance can you remember the name of the store and the pump? I bought one of the "instant" water heaters, and have the problem of not quite having enough pressure in the system for it to recognize when I turn the tap on. I assume from the fact that it just turns on while you have the tap open it doesn't have much affect on the electricity bill? I bought the damn boiler to save me gas, and I seem to spending that money "saved" sorting it out... :icon_rolleyes:
The brand is GRUNDFOS and the place is called Central Hidraulica del Caribe, Av Palenque, Lote 66, Mz 8, SM 62. Phone 887 0354. The pump is red and not much bigger then an American football. I was showering last night and thought how much I like this thing. Did laundry and the washer filled quickly instead of dribbling in.
I hope you see this post. I have a new 2 story house and the water pressure seemed OK until I added a instant hot water gas heater. CAL O REX BRAND FROM HOME DEPOT. MODEL coxdpi-07. When first installed, I got no water running out of the hot water side of my shower. It was suggested there could be an air lock. After running the line for 1.5 hours, water came. The instant tank worked but it does not continue to keep the water hot. it takes forever for it to reach the upstairs shower. the sink faucet will be hot but the shower not. Also the kitchen sink which is about 2 meters from the instant hot water tank has good cold water pressure but the hot side just dribbles. I checked the incoming line and it is clean. the type of water piping in the house is the green type. My handy man says that is the best. I was thinking a pressure pump might work. Ideas?
Frankly, I see no reason why a correctly installed instant hot water heater would have cut the flow of water to the hot side in the way you described. Below are my thoughts on it. Having a very competent plumber take a look at the situation is probably in order, just to be sure the hot water heater was installed correctly. Your device is said not to require high water pressure to operate correctly. http://www.calorex.com.mx/calentadores/calorex/instantaneo/instantaneo-standard/coxdpi-07-b General performance characteristics When correctly installed water will flow through the device relatively unimpeded. Water is heated as it passes through. The heater will have a capacity limit of say 6, or 8 liters per minute that it can heat adequately. Water flowing faster than that will not get as hot as it should but will flow faster, nevertheless. The further the point of use is from the hot water heaters the longer it will take for the hot water to reach it, and the harder it will be to regulate the water temperature. This is because any adjustment you make to reduce the amount of hot water will take just as long to reach you as it did for the hot water to reach you initially. The exception to that will be if you just add more cold water, or reduce the cold water to change the temperature rather than changing the amount of hot water you're demanding of the system. Installing a second instant hot water heater nearer the point of distant use can be a solution. Dealing with the problems I would suggest that you inspect your hot water heater. See what the control gives you as options for how much to heat the water as it passes through. See what the maximum heating capacity is in terms of liters per minute; then, take a bucket and run the hot side water only at full on into a bucket for one minute and measure it. If it flows too fast and would overflow your bucket, then cut the time in half and calculate how much would have run in a minute. If the flow rate is too low, as you described in this case, the hot water heater will shut itself off as a safety feature, as the water will get too hot. Lowering the temperature setting may avoid reaching this point and allow for continuous operation. If it doesn't come on at all the flow rate is probably too low to trigger its operation. Perhaps this has all been obvious to you before and you've already done this without result but, if not, it may just help you pinpoint the cause of some of the problems. _________________
