Water pump thumping noise
Submitted: Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:05
ThreadID:
58664
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leeb1973
Hi. We are new to caravanning & about 4 weeks into our trip around Oz. Our
water pump sometimes makes a really loud thumping noise when we turn the tap on. Most of the time we hardly notice it and then other times I think the whole caravan
park can hear it!! It first started when we had some battery issues so we thought it was related to that because it got better after the battery was sorted. We are currently in
Alice Springs and it has started again - but mainly in the morning and night time. Could it have something to do with the colder weather?
Hope someone can shed some light on the issue :)
Leanne
Reply By: donk - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:08
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:08
When you are in van parks & the noise happens are you connected to a mains pressure tap or are you just using
water out of your onboard tanks with no connection to the mains
Regards Don
AnswerID:
309359
Reply By: Member - Royce- Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:12
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:12
I'm guessing that maybe the
water is not filling the pump... i.e. it's pumping air at times. Maybe between use the
water drains back past the pump and it has to suck air and
water for a while.
Does it get better once the
water flow has started?
Can you get to the intake pipe to check out if it is full beside the pump?
AnswerID:
309361
Reply By: Member - Matt H (SA) - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:19
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:19
Leanne,
Sounds like good ol' cavitation to me. Usually caused by air getting into the system. Maybe there is a small leak letting in air or maybe air from inside the
tank is siphoning back into the lines/pump. Assuming you are using storage
tank water.
If not, maybe fitting a anti-hammer washer to the tap might solve the problem if it's mains pressure
water you are using.
So many variables here..sorry!
Cheers, Matt
AnswerID:
309363
Reply By: leeb1973 - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:25
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:25
Thanks for the quick replies.
The thumping noise has happened while connected to mains pressure tap and while using
tank from
water (while
free camping).
My husband will check to see if air is getting in somewhere as that sounds like a possible cause.
Thanks again.
Leanne
AnswerID:
309366
Follow Up By: donk - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:28
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 21:28
On most vans when you are connected to mains the van onboard pump shoud be switched off
Is this what you are doing
As a matter of interest what brand of van do you have
Regards Don
FollowupID:
575356
Follow Up By: leeb1973 - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 22:45
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 22:45
No we have not been turning the pump off when connected to mains
water. We didn't know we were supposed to!! We just tried it without the pump turned on and it works beautifully.
Do you think we might have damaged the pump in some way by having it on when we shouldn't have?
The van is a 2005 Jayco Expanda that we bought in January this year.
Thank you for your help.
Leanne
FollowupID:
575386
Reply By: donk - Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 23:16
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 at 23:16
Not sure what,if any damage it may have caused to the pump but if it is working ok i wouldn't be to worried
One thing i have noticed is on our 2004
heritage the pump actually works when turned off when you flush the
toilet while connected to the mains
If yours is the same if the tanks get empty it will suck air into the
toilet flush
water & you will get strange noises when you flush (if your
toilet is electric flush)
If this happens put some
water in the tanks,turn the mains off,turn the pump on & turn on a tap inside the van until the air is purged out & then turn the pump off ,the mains back on & it should have fixed the problem when you flush the
toilet
Also something to be aware of is if you have two tanks you should have taps in the supply lines before the point where the two supply hoses T into the one inlet hose to the pump & you should only have one supply tap open at a time so you don't suck air from a empty
tank (if one
tank is empty & the other has
water in it) into the pump supply line
Godd luck
Regards Don
AnswerID:
309396
Follow Up By: Member - DAZA (QLD) - Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 07:35
Thursday, Jun 12, 2008 at 07:35
Hi All
When filling your tanks, always fill them slow, that way eg, air comes
out at the same rate as
water going in, no airlocks in
tank or lines,
also just to make sure you have purged air out, turn on tap just as
tanks are just about full , that will let air out completely, another
thing is to check to see if the outlet side of the pump has a
non-return valve to stop the
water between the pump and your taps
draining back, some caravan manufacturers dont put them in to save
dollars, a little bit of advice from and old Plumber.
Cheers
Daza
FollowupID:
575412