Water pressure pump in camper keeps priming
Submitted: Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 18:35
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Member - Serendipity(WA)
I have a Shurflo water pressure pump in the camper and while out camping recently it would keep priming every 15mins. There are no leaks I could find and the prime is only half a second. Anyone else have a pressure pump which keeps doing this? Is this normal?
I have had the camper for a few years now and if I left the power on to the pump overnight it would prime up in the early hours of the morning as things got cold and I could understand that but this constant half second "brrrrb" sort of
ruins the quiet of sitting around a
camp fire. My solution was to turn the power on and off as we needed water but that seems to defeat the point of a pressure pump - ready to go.
Cheers
Serendipity
Reply By: Member - Frank P (NSW) - Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 18:55
Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 18:55
There has to be a leak somewhere, mate, otherwise it wouldn't happen.
A slow drip in a tap, perhaps, though you've said no leaks, so maybe not?
It COULD be an internal leak in the pump - one of the valves might have a bit of grit in there, in which case you might have to strip it down, clean or replace bits and see how you go.
I've never had to do this myself so I don't know about availability of parts. Camec (www.camec.com.au) might be able to help. Or Whitworths Marine (www.whitworths.com.au).
We have a small storage hot water system. The thermostat failed once and it overheated. Combinationof heat and pressure made one of the plastic hot water lines burst. Fortunately we were there to intervene, but ever since then we switch pumps off when we've finished with them. Yes, it reduces convenience, but it beats the hell out of a boot full of water.
Cheers
AnswerID:
480185
Follow Up By: Member -Dodger - Tuesday, Mar 13, 2012 at 17:12
Tuesday, Mar 13, 2012 at 17:12
Parts are available.
Here
.
FollowupID:
755766
Reply By: Member Andys Adventures - Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 18:59
Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 18:59
Hi Serendipity, It could be the in line not getting water,
mine did that and found that the hose had a kink in it restricting the flow to the pump.
Andy
AnswerID:
480186
Reply By: Ruffstuff. - Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 19:29
Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 19:29
I frequently have the same problem, I Have now fitted a 12v switch next to the tap that i just switch on & off when i want the pump to operate so I don't have to listen to it any more.
AnswerID:
480189
Reply By: Ross M - Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 19:58
Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 19:58
If there is no leaks on the output side of the pump then it has to be the inlet valve not seating and letting some water leak backwards into the intake line.
You will have to dismantle and
check the valve and the
seat of the valve. They have to be perfect for it not to cycle.
AnswerID:
480193
Reply By: MEMBER - Darian, SA - Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 21:17
Monday, Mar 12, 2012 at 21:17
Had the same issue with my Flojet pump - the principle of operation would probably be the same as yours - on the face of it, you'd think the pump is simply responding periodically to a tiny leak and subsequent loss of pressure in the line - but I couldn't find the tiniest leak anywhere - when I dropped in to the van factory, the foreman alerted me to making a small adjustment to the pressure switch on the base of the pump - that did the trick - I guess the adjuster defines the actual pressure at which the pump cuts in and it was set too fine. That doesn't explain why the pump was NOT running sometimes (good), but I'm happy :-o).
AnswerID:
480210
Reply By: 93maverick - Tuesday, Mar 13, 2012 at 20:57
Tuesday, Mar 13, 2012 at 20:57
I have this problem with my caravan. If you have a mains water connection, near this connection there is a non return valve. This valve does not always
seat when the water is disconnected. A gentle tap will
seat the valve.
AnswerID:
480303
Reply By: Member - Serendipity(WA) - Wednesday, Mar 14, 2012 at 20:51
Wednesday, Mar 14, 2012 at 20:51
Thanks for the answers everyone. I will now be looking at either stripping down the pump or looking for an adjuster to drop the pressure.
With no visible signs of a small leak I suspect it might be in the pump with a non-return valve leaking a bit.
Cheers
Serendipity
AnswerID:
480384