Blue Diamond Pumps.....Fit & Forget They Claim

[Daikin=Overated]

Certainly was not the case in my experience!

I had a customer who specified a pump upgrade last year and wanted the best available.These pumps were recommended to me, plus I fell for their marketing hype too I must admit. I'm now wondering if I've made a big mistake fitting these.

Just wondered what other engineers experiences have been working with this product to date, as so far I've had 2 of 8 fail in under 12 months (last 2 failed within the last month).

The manufacturer boldly claim that the pumps are "the first fit & forget" so I'm puzzled why they've failed so soon.

Yes theres a warranty, but I have to rip the unit out, negotiate with the supplier who wish to charge me for the replacement on the grounds if successfully found to be tested faulty-i'll be reinbursed? BS !! Then, I have ultimately to charge the customer again to cover my time, which clearly isn't fair on the client, who've shelled out good money for this product to be installed once already.

These have been the temperature diff controlled type.
I did calculate drain runs, head lift heights etc, and all other aspects to be considered when installing pumps so confident it's not of my own doing. They've seen little action, as the systems in heating as has been the case throughout the colder period.

I worry the others are now going to go the same way.

Not good.

[p_p]

Hi mate

You must just be unlucky or there's a faulty batch of pumps out there. We install lots of these pumps and not had one fail yet.
What exactly is failing on them.

Regards

PP

[Daikin=Overated]

Hi mate

You must just be unlucky or there's a faulty batch of pumps out there. We install lots of these pumps and not had one fail yet.
What exactly is failing on them.

Regards

PP

I hope so. If the rest of them hold out, I'd be willing to accept that it must have been down to a rogue batch perhaps, but if they all start going down this path I'll be in the sh$t regardless. Still that's my problem I guess.

The fault on the pumps being that they intermittently fire up and run dry whilst the systems in heating??

It wouldn't be so bad but the noise was annoying people so the manager pulled me up on it. On further investigation this was found to be the case. I suspect the temp.diff sensors have gone, or the logic controller maybe?

J

[Birds]

I hope so. If the rest of them hold out, I'd be willing to accept that it must have been down to a rogue batch perhaps, but if they all start going down this path I'll be in the sh$t regardless. Still that's my problem I guess.

The fault on the pumps being that they intermittently fire up and run dry whilst the systems in heating??

It wouldn't be so bad but the noise was annoying people so the manager pulled me up on it. On further investigation this was found to be the case. I suspect the temp.diff sensors have gone, or the logic controller maybe?

J

Just replaced one on Friday. Temp sensors ok I tried them on the new pump.10 months use in a server room though. They are guaranteed for 2 years but still out of pocket, 2 visits to site. I thought these were the dogs........

Birds

[bobjob]

Just replaced one on Friday. Temp sensors ok I tried them on the new pump.10 months use in a server room though. They are guaranteed for 2 years but still out of pocket, 2 visits to site. I thought these were the dogs........

Birds

In a server room always go for a tank type pump, never the sensor type
you can then fit and forget !

regards

Bob

[Birds]

In a server room always go for a tank type pump, never the sensor type
you can then fit and forget !

regards

Bob

Thanks for the input Bob. Have spoken to Charles Austin pumps today. Andy Green has confimed that the blue diamond pumps are suitable for server room applications and that my pump has faulty carbon brushes. They have modified since week 37 2006. (the first 4 numbers in the serial No relate to the year and week of manufacture. Really helpful and offered complete direct replacement.

When you say a tank type pump do you meen with a reservoir or a pump with a small sensing reservoir?

Cheers Birds

[Refrigerologist]

Aspen Mini Orange! Cheap as chips, and I have not had one fail in six years. I had one that was full of sawdust after an office refurb. Cleaned the sensor sump. Cleaned out the pump inlet and outlet hoses and pump started with no problem. That was three years ago and it is still working today.

[Daikin=Overated]

Aspen Mini Orange! Cheap as chips, and I have not had one fail in six years. I had one that was full of sawdust after an office refurb. Cleaned the sensor sump. Cleaned out the pump inlet and outlet hoses and pump started with no problem. That was three years ago and it is still working today.

Interesting.........i've fitted a few too, and not had any issues to the best of my knowledge with the Oranges, however the mini limes are another story all together.


J.

P.s New pump fitted to site, still holding my breath on the other pumps installed last year, however it's good to know Charles Austin are cooperative-that's really assuring to hear.

[Blue Diamond]

Hi, my name is Andy Green, I'm the Product Manager for Blue Diamond Pumps. Feedback on all the products is always welcome & I'm happy for anyone to contact me if they would like to discuss any jobs using our kit.
Sorry to learn of the problems, if you google Blue Diamond Pumps you'll find our website & contact details for getting in touch with me. (site will not allow a direct web link!)

[stevo]

Hi, my name is Andy Green, I'm the Product Manager for Blue Diamond Pumps. Feedback on all the products is always welcome & I'm happy for anyone to contact me if they would like to discuss any jobs using our kit.
Sorry to learn of the problems, if you google Blue Diamond Pumps you'll find our website & contact details for getting in touch with me. (site will not allow a direct web link!)

Hi Andy

What is the failure rate of the mini blues ?

[Blue Diamond]

The return rate we have on all products is very low and every pump that is sent back to us is checked. In many cases we find no fault found or that a pump is 5+ years old. A typical return we get is with the the Mini Blue temp sensor, the reason given for the return is that the pump does not turn off. When we test the pumps at the factory they work without any issues! To try and understand why this is happening I've been on a number of jobs with this problem reported - on all sites the sensor placement had not been correct.

The sensors are designed to switch the pump on when you get a temperature difference of 5 deg C or more between the hot and cold sensors. If the hot sensor is not mounted in the ambient air around the AC unit (ie in roof space) then the time it takes for each sensor to fall back into the same 5 deg C range as each other can sometimes take a very long time, especially when the cold sensor is mounted where it can be caught in behind the vents that close during shut down, that's a cool damp atmosphere and an extreme opposite in comparison to a warm dry ceiling void.

Our recommendation is to always mount the sensors on the ‘air in’ (hot sensor) and ‘air out’ (cold sensor) sides of the unit. This will ensure a swift pump turn off when the unit is shut down.

Hope this helps.

[stevo]

The return rate we have on all products is very low and every pump that is sent back to us is checked. In many cases we find no fault found or that a pump is 5+ years old. A typical return we get is with the the Mini Blue temp sensor, the reason given for the return is that the pump does not turn off. When we test the pumps at the factory they work without any issues! To try and understand why this is happening I've been on a number of jobs with this problem reported - on all sites the sensor placement had not been correct.

The sensors are designed to switch the pump on when you get a temperature difference of 5 deg C or more between the hot and cold sensors. If the hot sensor is not mounted in the ambient air around the AC unit (ie in roof space) then the time it takes for each sensor to fall back into the same 5 deg C range as each other can sometimes take a very long time, especially when the cold sensor is mounted where it can be caught in behind the vents that close during shut down, that's a cool damp atmosphere and an extreme opposite in comparison to a warm dry ceiling void.

Our recommendation is to always mount the sensors on the ‘air in’ (hot sensor) and ‘air out’ (cold sensor) sides of the unit. This will ensure a swift pump turn off when the unit is shut down.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply .. Only took 14months...

[install monkey]

hes probably processing my warranty claim,ill poke him on facebook in around 12mths time