Overview

We were contacted by the interior and construction company working at a commercial property in Fleet Street, London due to several battery backup failures.

Report & Diagnosis

The PPS commercial division organised a reactive call-out to check the battery backup units. On attendance, the reporting engineers noted that the pump in one of the pump stations was defective and the ‘working’ pump was not pumping correctly (suspected discharge blockage or valve shut further down the line).

A call was made to the client to discuss the findings and was advised that the pumps had been changed by another pump maintenance company the day before PPS attendance.

It was suspected the incorrect pumps had been fitted before the PPS site visit, so the client requested a site meeting as the diagnosis was correct and previous pump company had to return to install the correct pumps.

Action

PPS attended a 2nd site meeting with the client to confirm the battery backup issues and check over the ‘newly’ fitted correct pumps.

On arrival, the client said that a leak had been left by the previous pump company and had flooded the area. On further inspection, the discharge pipework had come apart, and one of the unions that connects the pump to the manifold was leaking. The cables were also left messy and tangled.

One of the pumps still wasn’t operating, and the client asked PPS to provide a cost for new pipework, a pump station clean for each chamber and if the battery backups required changing, a replacement.

A site condition survey was carried out and identified that the pump was not running due to the battery backup being faulty. The unit was bypassed temporarily, and the pumps left working, with an interim repair on the leaking pipework was carried out. A quote was provided to the client and accepted for the works, PPS was asked to undertake the cleans and pipework repair as soon as possible, as the management company who maintain the building had carried out a check on the pumps and said that it was blocked.

During the time of works, the PPS attending engineer found that the blocked pump had unfortunately burnt out due to it continuously running. The client was informed and provided a cost to change why we were undertaking the repair to the pipework and chamber cleans. An installation/upgrade visit is scheduled to fit the new battery backup units, and a service plan cost has been provided to the client, with the option of Wi-Fi remote monitoring via SideWinder Tech.