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Old 01-31-2018, 05:21 PM   #1
jlonginav
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Water pump cycling

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On my new Cougar 367FLS the water pump cycles on & off when using Kitchen facet. Any ideas
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Old 01-31-2018, 05:37 PM   #2
Tom N OH
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Hooked to campground water, or pulling from tank?
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Old 01-31-2018, 05:43 PM   #3
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If You are hooked to water supply shut of the pump. If pulling from the tank it is normal.
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Old 01-31-2018, 05:43 PM   #4
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Pump cycling trying to maintain pressure in the system. If only Kitchen sink sounds like it may not be sealing when turned on/off. Any leaks near sink?
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Old 01-31-2018, 07:33 PM   #5
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Thanks for the input. I’ll be doing Moore work this weekend and can report back on what I find
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Old 01-31-2018, 08:59 PM   #6
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Your description is pretty vague. Exactly when is the pump running as related to everything in the RV water related? If it is cycling when you aren't using anything you have a problem. If it cycles when you are using water that is normal.
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Old 02-01-2018, 07:48 AM   #7
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The first night in our new trailer, we noticed that the water pump "short cycled" while running water in the bathroom sink. The stream of water seemed a little "puny". I removed the aerator on the faucet and cleaned out all of the chunks of plastic and other debris, re-installed the aerator and - problem solved. The next morning we had the same issue with the kitchen faucet - the pump "short cycled" while the water was running. I don't know if the kitchen faucet is full of crud (the volume seems a little low) and I can't see how to remove the aerator from the pull-down faucet. I'm wondering if this short cycling during use is common with a ShurFlo pump. We never had this issue with the previous trailer - but, it was a FloJet pump.
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Old 02-01-2018, 08:08 AM   #8
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Some "short cycling" will occur with most pumps, depending on the flow rate. If you have a 3GPH pump capacity and are flowing 2GPH through the faucet, the pump will "stay ahead of the flow" and cycle on and off as the pressure reaches the cutoff switch setting.... Some of the more expensive (and newer) pumps have a variable speed motor to help eliminate this cycling, but most used as OEM aren't the more expensive types....

As for "crud in the aerators" if you don't have a filter/screen on the pump inlet (from the fresh water tank) then anything "cruddy" that's in the tank will be drawn into the pump, through the diaphragm (possibly damaging it) and into the plumbing lines in the trailer. All of that will have to "flow through the aerators" or "get hung up in the aerators and plug the faucet flow".....

Depending on the type of pump you have, you can purchase a "inlet screen" that will prevent most of the larger crud from getting into the pump and trailer plumbing. Some are as simple to install as attaching it between the pump inlet fitting and the inlet hose with snap clamps others are a bit more difficult and require threaded fittings and possibly Teflon tape to prevent leaks.

Here's the one that fits my FloJet pump
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Old 02-01-2018, 09:23 AM   #9
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Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
Some "short cycling" will occur with most pumps, depending on the flow rate. If you have a 3GPH pump capacity and are flowing 2GPH through the faucet, the pump will "stay ahead of the flow" and cycle on and off as the pressure reaches the cutoff switch setting.... Some of the more expensive (and newer) pumps have a variable speed motor to help eliminate this cycling, but most used as OEM aren't the more expensive types....

As for "crud in the aerators" if you don't have a filter/screen on the pump inlet (from the fresh water tank) then anything "cruddy" that's in the tank will be drawn into the pump, through the diaphragm (possibly damaging it) and into the plumbing lines in the trailer. All of that will have to "flow through the aerators" or "get hung up in the aerators and plug the faucet flow".....

Depending on the type of pump you have, you can purchase a "inlet screen" that will prevent most of the larger crud from getting into the pump and trailer plumbing. Some are as simple to install as attaching it between the pump inlet fitting and the inlet hose with snap clamps others are a bit more difficult and require threaded fittings and possibly Teflon tape to prevent leaks.

Here's the one that fits my FloJet pump
Thanks for the response. Our pump is a ShurFlo and it has a strainer attached. I think the debris I found in the bathroom aerator was in the lines downstream of the pump. I was just concerned that the pump might be damaged by the short cycling. I'M thinking I might try disconnecting the faucet from the pull down hose and see if the volume increases, resulting in the pump running continuously while using water. If I can determine what brand of faucet we have, perhaps I can learn how to remove the aerator.

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Old 02-01-2018, 09:36 PM   #10
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During our stay recently in Quartzsite, we left the pump turned on, and maybe a couple times a night the pump would just turn on for less than a second or two. I suspect there is a bit of seepage backwards through the built in check valve, because there are no leaks. This has happened for a long time, with different pumps, and of course, only when we are dry camping and using the pump. If you just barely crack open a faucet, the pump will cycle on and off, and this is also normal. From the design of these pumps, I don't think there would be any damage to the pump because they are diaphram pumps, not impeller pumps.
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Old 02-02-2018, 07:40 AM   #11
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Bob,

Your post is "somewhat telling" with regard to the pump running at night. You say it happened with various pumps and at various times so it may be the built in check valve. That valve is built into the head of the pump on all Shurflo and FloJet pumps, so if it happened with various pumps, it can't be that check valve.

Two other possibilities that you might want to think about are:

The foot valve in the toilet. If it is leaking water, it will fill the toilet bowl, but if it's a slow leak, you may not notice the extra inch of water as the valve/toilet rim do leak water into the bowl for about 30 minutes after flushing anyway....

And, you may have a leak in either the pressure relief valve or in the tank on your water heater. A leak on the water heater relief valve is pretty easy to see, but a leak in the water tank body is very difficult to locate or even to see, because the tank is coated with a foam sheath and typically that foam will mask the leak and make it "invisible" when looking at the back of the water heater. Often you can't find that kind of leak until the water heater is removed and you see the wet (often damaged) floor at the junction of the trailer wall and the floor.

Maybe I'm going "down a rabbit hole" with these two possibilities, maybe you've already ruled them out, but I'd suspect it's not the check valve since it happened with multiple pumps. My guess would be the water heater.
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Old 02-02-2018, 07:53 AM   #12
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I'm guessing that in Quartzsite with warm/hot days & cool/cold nights that the temperature is also a factor on these pressure demand pumps, just expansion/contraction would affect the pressure causing it to cycle briefly.
My .02 cents.
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Old 02-02-2018, 07:21 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JRTJH View Post
Bob,

Your post is "somewhat telling" with regard to the pump running at night. You say it happened with various pumps and at various times so it may be the built in check valve. That valve is built into the head of the pump on all Shurflo and FloJet pumps, so if it happened with various pumps, it can't be that check valve.

Two other possibilities that you might want to think about are:

The foot valve in the toilet. If it is leaking water, it will fill the toilet bowl, but if it's a slow leak, you may not notice the extra inch of water as the valve/toilet rim do leak water into the bowl for about 30 minutes after flushing anyway....

And, you may have a leak in either the pressure relief valve or in the tank on your water heater. A leak on the water heater relief valve is pretty easy to see, but a leak in the water tank body is very difficult to locate or even to see, because the tank is coated with a foam sheath and typically that foam will mask the leak and make it "invisible" when looking at the back of the water heater. Often you can't find that kind of leak until the water heater is removed and you see the wet (often damaged) floor at the junction of the trailer wall and the floor.

Maybe I'm going "down a rabbit hole" with these two possibilities, maybe you've already ruled them out, but I'd suspect it's not the check valve since it happened with multiple pumps. My guess would be the water heater.
Hadn't thought about the water heater PR valve, but that pump action could coincide with the water heater cycling during the night, and I notice a dribble of water from that valve when the gas is heating water. Changed the water heater due to a cracked weld a little over a year ago, so that wouldn't be the problem. Money is on the PR valve. I also installed an extra check valve a few years ago when a pump check valve failed, no pumps available, and tank was filling to overflow, when connected at the park water. So the PR valve makes sense. Thanks
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Old 02-02-2018, 08:31 PM   #14
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If you don't have the air gap in your water heater the PR valve will leak more than normal. That may be where you're getting the pressure drop. It leaks as the pressure builds and then as the water cools a little, the pressure drops and the pump cycles to catch up.... You might try re-establishing your air gap to start and see if it helps. Some water heaters will lose the air gap every couple of weeks, others can go all summer without a problem. You may be "one of the lucky ones" and need to fiddle with it every couple of weeks.....
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Old 02-03-2018, 07:47 AM   #15
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Found the issue

JSMITH948, was on target. I unscrewed the sprayer on the pull down portion of the kitchen sink faucet. There is two rubber washers and a aireator sandwiched between them. The washers were off center and blocking full water flow. Took them all out. Cleaned them up, re-installed. All working good
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