Hi,
We have had a series of plumbing issues which have been wreaking havoc on our water system and we need HELP! It all started with a small leak in our hot water line in our attic. We had two small solder joints which were giving way and called a plumber out to diagnose. The plumber suggested we replace a section of our copper pipe to rectify the problem and we paid him to do so. The same day that we had the portion of the line replaced we noticed that our hot water recirculating pump (installed at our hot water heater) was no longer working. We called the plumber to come back out and they determined that the failure of our recirculating pump was just "coincidence" and that the pump needed to be replaced. So, we begrudgingly paid them to put in a new pump and thought the problem would be behind us. After replacement of the recirculating pump we noticed that our hot water heater was not running. So, we restarted it. It soon became apparent however that the hot water heater would not stay lit. We are currently waiting for them to come out and diagnose, but I do not trust their experience any longer. I'm looking for an opinion on what could be causing these issues and how we can rectify. Is there something that the plumber did when they replaced the line that caused our pump to fail (i.e. were they supposed to turn it off before draining the line and by not doing so did they burn it out)? Why is our hot water heater no longer running after replacement of the pump? Thanks in advance for the advice.

question

1 - probably damaged the pump by letting it 'run dry'

2 - don't know, not enough info

==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

If you water heater is electric, there is a distinct possibility that the problem is in your wiring and electrical connections as your recirculating pump went out as well. If the recirculation pump was wired incorrectly to begin with, or after it was replaced, it is possible that something in the circuit(s) is/are compromised.
If someone added in the pump off one leg of a 240v feed and wired the return to the ground (which was bonded to the water line), it is possible that the power fried the pump once the pipe was cut and it got hit with 240 volts. When that happened, the resulting short in the fried motor could have surged and damaged the thermostat in the heater. Just a wild theory that is both possible and plausible that would explain both problems.



Edited 1 times.

Since the water heater won't stay "lit", and unless it would not stay lit immediately after they changed the pump, I would vote for an unfortunate coincidence.

Our water heater is not electric - it's gas. The company just came out and replaced the thermocouple and it seems to be working again. I'm just not sure for how long and what the root of the problem is. I had suspected that they damaged the pump by letting it run dry. When the replaced the original pump they used a different brand. I believe our original was this: [www.bonanza.com]
which was replaced with: [www.amazon.com]. Also I guess I should mention, our pump is attached to a thermostat which kicks it on every time the line drops below a certain temperature. I'm wondering if there was some sort of incapability with the new pump and our current set-up? Still baffled as to why the new pump caused issues with our water heater and unsure how to troubleshoot whether the new pump is working with our thermostat system which was already in place.

It was immediately after they installed the new pump that the water heater stopped working. We noticed it a few hours later when I went to shower and there was only tepid water. At first we thought they had just turned it off when they were replacing the pump and forgotten to turn it back on. We were able to relight over the course of the last few days but after it would heat a tank and we would use the water it wouldn't reheat the new tank and we had to relight every time.

There's nothing they could have done that would cause an intermittent thermo-couple.

I just find it so odd that these things all happened in succession. We have owned the house for 2 1/2 years and never had a problem with either our recirculating pump or our hot water heater. First they replace a portion of our line and the same day our pump goes out. Then they replace the pump and the same day our hot water heater goes out. It's hard to believe that they are not all related. My fear is that without getting to the root of the problem we will continue to have issues. Unfortunately I'm not sure that the company we are working with is savvy enough to see the connection and I'm worried it will do more permanent damage to our system if we don't get it figured out. We have already spent $750 on these issues in the last few weeks and all we had initially was a very small leak in our water line at one of the solder joints. Needless to say, expensive and frustrating problem to have at Christmas. Thanks for the thoughts. If anyone else has any other ideas I would welcome the opinion.

assuming the pump was a coincidence, the price you were charged was more than fair for all that work.

If the pump was at the water heater and the leak was in the attic, the pump would NOT have "run dry". We have to assume that they did a proper evaluation and the pump was "really bad", so they had to change it.

it probably 'ran dry' / overheated when they drained the system to make the repair w/o turning off the pump

==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638