Water Pump Driving us mad !! Forums

brimo

We're off on our first trip to France next Tuesday but could do with stopping the water pump doing the following........

If left on the pump periodically runs, sometimes for a short while, sometimes for what seems like ages, definitely minutes and minutes. We now turn it off after use to stop this.

The water coming out of the tap spits and spurts. It's obviously got air in it. Our old van used to do the same when first used but this always cleared up. We always empty the fresh water out after a trip then fill up with more fresh just before we go off on another trip but this pump just doesn't seem to get rid of its air. Our van is an J reg 1991 Autosleeper Talisman.

Any ideas of a cure or what is exactly at fault.

Thanks in advance

bsb2000

Sounds like you've got a small amount of air getting into the system and the pump is trying to keep the pressure up now and then.

When we bought our van the dealer did recommend turning the pump main switch off during the night.

Anonymous

You don’t say what kind of pump you have, if a stand-alone pump i.e. mounted on the floor of the M/H. I would say you definitely have an ingress of air on the inlet side of the pump, clip not tight, pipe split or hole, or fitting loose, but look for something on those lines. To prove the point remove inlet pipe from pump put short piece of pipe on pump and submerse other end of pipe into a large bowl of water if all is ok you then know air is getting in on inlet side of pump.

Ken S.

peedee

Might also be the seals within the pump or you may have a faulty non return valve if there is one fitted. Try blowing into the outlet, if air passes through the pump the seal have gone or valve is faulty.

peedee

Boff

Could also be a leak somewhere in the water system on the outlet side of the pump: Water leaks out, air leaks in. Pressure drops, so the pump starts, pushes the air bubbles somewhere to the non-leaking part of the system. Cycle begins again...

Best Regards,
Gerhard

Anonymous

When you find out what it is/was Brimo let us all know. info always handy.

Ken S.

brimo

Pump is a SHURflo and is mounted on a shelf beneath sink, behind a panel in cupboard. Found the jubillee clips in inlet and outlet quite loose and have tightened them. Doesn't seem to spit so much now but does pulsate and still spits.

Tomorrow I may take pump out and refit inlet and outlet fits with a bit of grease or something to try to stop the ingress of air. Will let you know how I get on.

nobbythehobby

Hi brimo,
My experience has been that Shurflo pumps, although very good, sometimes need a bit of fine tuning and attention to filters and pipe runs. I resolved the same problems as you have described by giving some attention as follows.

Does the spluttering only happen when you are running the cold supply? It is more usual for the problem to be more acute on the cold supply as the hot water tank will act as an accumulator (buffer) on the hot supply side of things.
If this is so in your case, then you may get some benefit from checking the following:-
1. Are there any kinks in the supply to the cold tap (or taps). This may be made more acute if the pipes are of narrow gauge. Try & straighten them out.
2. Ensure that the filter to the tank side of the pump is absolutely clear of crud. New tanks especially are prone to depositing plastic swarf into the filter and this will cause problems as you have described as the pump continuously struggles to draw water to achieve its' optimum system pressure.

If the problem is most acute on the cold supply and you cannot resolve the problem by ensuring that all pipe runs and filters are clear, then consider fitting an accumulator to the cold supply side. This is like a small tank holding a few litres. Shurflo make them but Fiamma do one a little cheaper.

If the problem is equally bad on both hot & cold supply, then both sets of pipe runs from the pump to taps should be checked as above.

Regards, Steve

Anonymous

Brimo
do you mean spits or spurts? if spits then that is an ingress of air and that can only get in on the inlet to the pump, double check all fittings and pump/tank connections on the inlet side.

One other point worth noting is if you have rubber pipes (they should be plastic) the inner wall can become ruptured though misuse and then under pressure or vacume (depending on which side of the pump it is) can act as aflapper valve and can in some cases cause pulsating, but the more common cause is the need for an accumulator as Steve says.

Ken S.