Pump to increase water pressure for washing mc

[Casa1862]

Please can anyone recommend a pump which will increase the water pressure to a Neff washing machine.

Currently it’s connected to the water tank and not mains, no easy way to get a mains supply, hence thinking of a pump. I’ve got decent flow rate of about 12 litres per minute but pressure is only about 0.5 bar, I checked using a water pressure gauge, my mains mains pressure is over 6 bar.

Any electric pump that maybe suitable? To get mains pipe over will mean ripping the floors and wall apart.

[Piersman2]

Why? The washing machine will tend to fill up at the start of the cycle(s), is it taking that long that you need to pressure the water in quicker?

My washing machine was playing up a couple of years back, seemed to take about 45 minutes to get enough water onboard to start actually washing, turned out to be a stuck inlet valve solonoid wasn't opening properly severly restricting the ontake of water.

Could this be the same for you?

[Casa1862]

Thanks for the reply, this is a brand new machine, according to Bosch/Neff it requires a minimum of 1 bar, I currently have half of that. It has an error message indicating low pressure, they assume it will be manins connected, mine is connected to a tank. There sales video claims a 10 litre bucket should fill in less than 1 minutes, mine is more than that, but flow rate and pressure are two different things (so I’ve been told)

[Simpo Two]

Might be easier to get it connected to the mains, than have another thing to install, run and maintain.

[netherfield]

Are you in a bungalow by any chance?

A tank in the loft of a two storey should give more than 0.5 bar, or are there some blocked pipes?

[Piersman2]

Casa1862 said:

Thanks for the reply, this is a brand new machine, according to Bosch/Neff it requires a minimum of 1 bar, I currently have half of that. It has an error message indicating low pressure, they assume it will be manins connected, mine is connected to a tank. There sales video claims a 10 litre bucket should fill in less than 1 minutes, mine is more than that, but flow rate and pressure are two different things (so I’ve been told)

They are yes. I take it your water tank is just not high enough, 1 bar = 10 metres Head , so your water tank would need to be 10 metres above the washing machine if it required 1 bar pressure.

A 1 bar pump is not expensive and probably easy to fit in the loft, but you might find it pressuring all your other taps etc... which will currently be low pressure for gravity fed flow.

Might be a surprise in store the first time you try to wash your hands in the basin! LOL

I don't suppose they do a low pressure version of your new machine?

[Casa1862]

The water tank is probably just a little less than 10m, not by much though, certainly flow rate is fine.

Thanks, hadn't actually thought of installing it in the loft, there is space in the unit next to the washer to install in there, so could do either.

Its a relatively new house and all the pipes are in the wall and really difficult to find, it will cause a massive amount of redecoration.

I can't return the washing machine now as it's been too long, my old machine self repaired itself so i hung off having to install the new one.

I'll try to look for a pump, just don't know where to start as know nothing about them.

[wjwren]

Any good?

[biggiles]

Does the error stop it actually working? If it's merely a warning then it's probably fine to carry on.

It might also be cheaper to get a different washing machine which is happier with lower pressure.

[Dog Star]

Funnily enough I’ve just had this exact scenario - except it was for one of those boiling water taps that I’m putting into the new kitchen I’m fitting.

I’ve dropped a mains pipe feed in. On the upside at least I’ll now also have a decent hose pipe pressure.

[Simpo Two]

Casa1862 said:

pressure is only about 0.5 bar, I checked using a water pressure gauge

Casa1862 said:

The water tank is probably just a little less than 10m

Something's not adding up, you should have almost 1 bar.

Is your tank really almost 10m above the washing machine?

[RizzoTheRat]

Surely a shower pump would do the job? They only pump on demand so no need to turn it off when not required. £150 or so from Screwfix or similar if you want to DIY it.

Or of the machine is new what's thier returns policy to send it back and get one that's suitable for gravity fed systems?

[OutInTheShed]

I would have a good look around the loft, see if it's possible to identify any branches of the plumbing.

Pressurising the whole cold system will mean it's out of balance with the hot.
This perhaps only matters if you have a gravity fed shower.

Some booster pumps may not kick in for the low flow rate of a WM at 0.5 bar.

£299 for a booster pump is a lot of dosh IMHO.

In one of my houses, I improved a flow problem by raising the header tank on a platform in the loft.
An extra 3ft of head made the bath tap shower work OK, and the bath fill in a sensible time.

Presume you have HW tank? So you would need to replace that if you pressurised the whole system.

Some appliances don't like high pressure either, lot of houses (inc ours) have a regulator valve at 3 bar or so, which seems to restrict flow even when new let alone the old one I replaced.

[GasEngineer]

Is there anything else connected to the pipe that feeds the wash mac?

If it's direct from the header tank it would be quite simple to swap the supply pipe from being fed from the tank to connect to the rising main feeding the tank.

[rfsteel]

Only way I know you can increase pressure, is to fit an accumulator, as a pump will only increase flow

https://www.stuart-turner.co.uk/our-products/mains...
https://www.salamanderpumps.co.uk/range/accuboost/...

I live in a bungalow where I have poor incoming flow and pressure, so fitted a Stuart Tuner Mainsboost pump 2 years ago, that increased the flow, but if a second tap is opened, the pressure drops drastically, so now fitting an Stuart Tuner Mainboost pump and accumulator to solve this problem.

Have the bits, just waiting on the plumber to install.

What I currently have under the kitchen sink

What it's going to be replaced with

[rfsteel]

Some detailed videos on installation and before and after impacts

[RizzoTheRat]

rfsteel said:

Only way I know you can increase pressure, is to fit an accumulator, as a pump will only increase flow

An accumulator will let you increase the flow for a period of time while maintaining the same pressure (ish). A pump will give you higher pressure and/or higher flow.

[rfsteel]

RizzoTheRat said:

rfsteel said:

Only way I know you can increase pressure, is to fit an accumulator, as a pump will only increase flow

An accumulator will let you increase the flow for a period of time while maintaining the same pressure (ish). A pump will give you higher pressure and/or higher flow.

From my experience, I'd have to disagree with that.

Just the pump, can output 0.9 bar @ 12 l/m



Pump feeding accumulator, 1.5 bar @ 9 l/m

Accumulator can store between 1.9 & 10 bar


So if a pump can increase flow as well as pressure, why does Stuart Tuner not supply an all in one solution, which doesn't involve an accumulator ?

[Mave]

Maybe I'm missing something - how is the cold water getting to the tank in the first place? Presumably you've got a rising main going into the tank which you could tap off?