How To: Shut Your Water Off Properly With Recirculating Pump Here at the Twin Plumbers we have seen plenty of water mains being shut down from homeowners with the right intentions when that emergency water leak strikes, but forgetting about the recirculating pump shut down can be disastrous to the pump. That’s why it’s important for us […] The post Recirculating Pumps in Los Angeles and Phoenix appeared first on Twin Home Experts.
How To: Shut Your Water Off Properly With Recirculating Pump
Here at the Twin Plumbers we have seen plenty of water mains being shut down from homeowners with the right intentions when that emergency water leak strikes, but forgetting about the recirculating pump shut down can be disastrous to the pump. That’s why it’s important for us here at The Twin Plumbers to constantly try to educate you on your home plumbing needs. If this article can save one pump and one frustration coming from a homeowner, then we have accomplished our mission.
Why is this pump shut down a big deal ?
Well, it’s a pricey item if you have to replace it. Especially if it only takes a second to shut it down. They can cost from 150.00 to 600.00. Without water running through it, it can burn the pump out.
What exactly is a recirculating pump?
The recirculating pump is a water cooled pump that typically sits at the water heater. This device recirculates the hot water from the last fixture of the home and pulls it back into the water heater to keep the hot water continuously hot.
The first thing is to go directly to your water heater and either unplug the pigtail or hit a switch to the off position. If you don’t have either, find the breaker box and trip that breaker to off position. If you are flooding out, you want to shut the water off as fast as possible, then head over to your pump to shut off.
Once you have the pump shut down, you can go ahead with the shut down of the entire home. Either by the water meter, or the water main shut off valve at the front or side of the house.
Twin Tips: Turning the Water Back On
Once you complete the repairs, you are ready to turn the water back on. The first thing you want to do BEFORE you turn on the valve. Is go in and turn on the tub cold side only, then go to a 2 handle fixture and turn on the hot water only. What this does is allow any debris and most of all, air to flow through while your turning the water back on to the home.
Once you go in and complete this, you can turn the water on. Be sure to turn on slowly. Once you turn the water on completely, let the water flow until all the air is out. Same goes for the hot water side. The hot water side will need a lot more bleeding and more water running through the system, to make sure all air pockets are out of the system.
You can also go through each fixture of the home, and turn the water on to make sure all the air is gone.
Twin Tips: Turning the Pump Back On
Once you have regenerated the system fully, then it’s time to turn the pump back on. Please know that it will make some bubbling, airy noises, but not to be worried, thats normal. After turning on let it run through for 3 to 5 minutes and it should dissipate.
If it does not dissipitate, what you can do is get a flat head screwdriver, and remove the center chrome screw directly in the middle of the pump. Turn counter clockwise until the screw comes out. No worries, you can do this while the pump is on and when the system is pressurized.
Once you hear and see that there is just water streaming out with no air, you can put the screw back in. Just follow the righty tighty rule to put the screw back in. Then you should keep your hand on the recirculating pipe, when the pipe is warm or hot, then you should be good to go.
Do a walk through and go to the last fixture of the home. Turn the hot water on to see if your getting hot water at the same time you were getting it before. If not, go around to other fixtures and bleed more hot water through the system.
Hope we helped, and thanks for choosing the Twin Plumbers for your DIY projects!
The post Recirculating Pumps in Los Angeles and Phoenix appeared first on Twin Home Experts.
