Grundfos Pump Life

ed broderick

I have a small vacation home and was wondering the life of my Grundfos
UP15-42F Pump? (6 YEARS IN SERVICE) My system is a split single zone utilizing Hercules Cryovak anti-freeze. Since the pump and system is on 7 months of the year and off the rest. Should I consider replacing this pump as a preventative measure at some future time. KEEP IN MIND IAM NOT HERE TO MONITOR A FAILURE, SHOULD IT OCCUR. Is there a way to evaluate when pumps start to fail? I added a low water cutoff as a safety measure, but what happens when the pump fails and Iam not around? Does the water still circulate? Appreciate all responses and suggestions

[Deleted User]

Grundfos is not my first choice in circs but you did a good job in protecting the boiler and nothing is going to frezze so go have some fun and give your self a break.

hr

Check

the condition of the fluid every year or so to prevent problems. I have plenty of Grundfos circs out there with 10 years or more on them. Worked on a solar roll system today with a 1986 date code Grundfos.

Circ pumps are fairly inexpensive, buy a spare to have on site, usually a quick fix if valves are properly installed.

The Auntie Freeze will protect the heating system, but not the water and plumbing fixtures

hot rod

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S Ebels

Suggestions

1. A 15-42 or 15-58 will run you in the neighborhood of $150 or less. Buy one and install it just for the peace of mind.

2. Keep the old one for a spare

3. You can buy a temperature alarm that will dial a phone # you specify for a pretty reasonable price. I know Radio Shack sells them and there are many others. This is also very cheap insurance compared to frozen toilets, water lines, washing machines, water heaters etc. Buy one of these also. We did an insurance job that came to over $20K this past year. Froze the boiler and all the piping. It had antifreeze in it which had been installed and forgotten. Which brings me to........

4. Have someone check your antifreeze condition. It does deteriorate with time. Some leaks out or evaporates around valve stems and seals without noticeable residue. This leaves the treatment diluted and weaker than intended. Have the system purged and install new AF if required.


That's about all you can do short of having a neighbor monitor the place.

Weezbo

i have installed grunfos pumps decades ago that

havent been replaced,Shlumberjays on the north slope has some of the first huge grunfoss that i had ever seen.and that was like 1981.they have a 3 " perimiter loop ... there are some issues with the gert pumps this body is no longer made that acepts that motor in other words grunfos is a company that is into making improvements and meet some really innovative challanges. speaking of which you guys get a look at the Pump Plan? and where is the guy with the new taco 4 port primary secondary variable speed with outside reset etc ?he promised us he'd send us a picture installed! since then we lashed up 4 boilers,roughed in a new home,did a 2800 staple down gypcrete,1000 foot garage slab,1800 staple up, why on earth is the guy holding us in suspence like this )

jerrygb46_5

grunfoss

Have one in my house that was installed in 1980 still running!!

Duncan_2

Dirty little secret

> ...the life of my Grundfos UP15-42F Pump?

Easily ten years in a clean system, they're a great little quiet circ. I say ten years because I start seeing 10%-20% failures at about that time - I'm talking UP15-42s. The other 80%-90% keep humming along.

> ...utilizing Hercules Cryovak anti-freeze.

A Cryoteked system works for you and against you. Its corrosion inhibitors help keep the system clean - good for the circ (assuming clean system water to begin with). If the circ were to fail, the glycol could cook, making nasty stuff. Also, it needs to be checked annually for pH and reserve alkilinity. Cryotek makes test strips.

> ...the pump and system is on 7 months of the year and off the rest.

Starting up after 5 months off time is your most likely failure window. Sometimes (but not usually), after resting for a non-heating season, a small circ will have trouble getting spinning again. Not permanently - a spin of the shaft or a few on-offs will usually get it going again. That's why I like the 15-42 three speeds: there's an end plug that lets you jumpstart spin the shaft manually with a small screwdriver.

> Should I consider replacing

> this pump as a preventative measure at some

> future time. KEEP IN MIND IAM NOT HERE TO MONITOR

> A FAILURE, SHOULD IT OCCUR.


Yes, but I'd do it when I can spend a few days there after installing the new circ. Occasionally you get a dead-on-arrival part new out of the box. Like others said, at least have one on hand.

> Is there a way to

> evaluate when pumps start to fail?



Nothing surefire. Subtle -usually very subtle- grinding (not spinning) noise at the circ. Percolating of the boiler, which indicates no flow. But I'd say warning signs are the exception rather than the rule.

> I added a low

> water cutoff as a safety measure, but what

> happens when the pump fails and Iam not around?

> Does the water still circulate? Appreciate all

> responses and suggestions




You have essentially no heat, *unless* the boiler is below the piping level, allowing some gravity circulation and a negligible amount of heat. But this is a very slow circulation, not even close to forced circulation. Non-circulating glycol kettling in the boiler will cook and turn acidic. I'd say a flow switch that prevents the burner from coming on when there is no water flow might have been a better choice, but I can't say that because flow switches aren't known for their dependability and longevity. A low water cutoff will help protect anything lower than the LWCO. If your circ is mounted at a water level below the the LWCO, that's better than above, at least it won't be pumping in a totally dry environment.

Oh... the dirty little secret. Has anybody else been seeing electrically burned up connectors on the larger residential Grundfos circs like the UP 26-64s and UP 26-99s? I've seen too many. It's a shame such a fine circulator has such cheap-****, cheesy, thin printed-circuit copper type connectors. Really stupid, IMO. A small amount of oxidation causes heat, heat causes more oxidation, and soon you're replacing an expensive circ because of a marginally designed connector.

ed broderick_2

Grundfos Pump Answers

Duncan: Thanks for your reply and for reading my questions carefully and providing great answers. I realize that Glycol has its negatives however I usually change it every few years and test it. I will purchase an additional pump as a spare. Thank you. Ed Broderick

Kal Row

ok here is a sick suggestion

buy the least expensive tekmar control that also happens to exercize the pump to keep it from sticking, wire the control in paralell and set it unocupied summer shutdown mode - it will start the pump for a wee bit every day to keep it's water lubricated bearings - lubricated