water pump will not shut off

[Ken / Claudia]

Filled the fresh tank and tested the water pressure. Without shore power. Pump was running at low speed and never shut off. I checked thru old threads and found likely batteries could be low. So, I checked them at 9.6volts. Got new batteries and all is well. Better than what I thought I needed a new or fix the water pump before I looked up water pumps on the search.

[sourdough]

Filled the fresh tank and tested the water pressure. Without shore power. Pump was running at low speed and never shut off. I checked thru old threads and found likely batteries could be low. So, I checked them at 9.6volts. Got new batteries and all is well. Better than what I thought I needed a new or fix the water pump before I looked up water pumps on the search.

Great! Now you're ready to go!!

[PARAPTOR]

Good Job!! of using the vast forum resources and solving your problem by yourselves

[busterbrown]

Good Job!! of using the vast forum resources and solving your problem by yourselves

Yep. I was thinking the same. Those who reject the silver platter (the spoon fed attitude...if you will) always win in my book.

[dirt33]

I am dealing with the same issue right now. The last time we camped, the pump (Flojet) would not shut off after the toilet was flushed in the middle of the night. I knew the house battery was likely going bad, confirmed that it was indeed bad, and upgraded to two new 6 volt batteries (also installed a digital voltage meter in the trailer at that time). So now, I know that the batteries are good, but the pump still wants to run and run. I have checked to make sure all shower heads are "off", all connections are tight, no leaks that I can find anywhere, etc. The pump sounds real "low/tired", so I am fairly certain that the pump itself is bad. Planning to pull it out and look in the next couple of days, to see if there is any obvious part failure that I can see/fix. Otherwise, planning to buy a new Shurflo pump.

[Steve S]

Yep. I was thinking the same. Those who reject the silver platter (the spoon fed attitude...if you will) always win in my book.

X2! Figuring things out by yourself and winning in the end is satisfying.:):)

[JRTJH]

... The pump sounds real "low/tired", so I am fairly certain that the pump itself is bad. Planning to pull it out and look in the next couple of days, to see if there is any obvious part failure that I can see/fix. Otherwise, planning to buy a new Shurflo pump.

If you don't have a strainer on the fresh water tank side of your pump, you may have ingested some trash or a bit of silicone into the pumphead. If so, you can take the pump apart, clean the rubber rollers and diaphragm and you'll be back in business. It only takes something the size of a "grain of sand" to disrupt the pump's ability to reach the cutoff pressure. If you don't manage to get up to the cutoff pressure, it'll continue to run, drain the battery and compound your problems.

It's a "snap" to unhook the plumbing, loosen 4 screws and cut two wires to remove the pump, put it on a towel on the dinette table, disassemble, clean and reassemble. When you reinstall, don't tighten the mount screws too tight, the rubber cushions are the only thing that keeps the pump from vibrating. Too tight and you'll increase the pump noise level....

Good Luck !!!

[skikrazee]

my unit had the same issue during my PDI, the tech was replacing the pump while i was going through the unit. He checked it before I left the lot. Went on my maiden voyage a few weeks later and the new pump was doing the same thing. It would run until pressure built up then would just hum really low. It did stop a few times but more often than not it would continue to run. :banghead:

Haven't had time to take it back to the dealer yet as I wanted to use it before they try to take 2 months to try and fix it. I just turn the pump on as needed for now.

[JRTJH]

The first thing I'd do is check the 12 volt connections at the fuse panel and at the pump connection (12" from the pump motor). Make sure they are tight and not corroded, then, you might want to consider an inlet screen for your pump. Most new RV's don't come equipped with one from the factory and there is almost always trash in the fresh water tank and plumbing lines that will clog or damage the pump head causing the problems you're identifying. The strainer is a simply "snap-on" type installation between your pump head and the fresh water line into the pump. No cutting, no alterations, just unplug the supply line, attach the strainer to the pump and reattach the supply line. At most a 2 minute job once you can put your hands on the water pump.

Here's a picture of the "snap-lock" Flo Jet strainer. It's available on Amazon for $10 with free shipping.

[dirt33]

If you don't have a strainer on the fresh water tank side of your pump, you may have ingested some trash or a bit of silicone into the pumphead. If so, you can take the pump apart, clean the rubber rollers and diaphragm and you'll be back in business. It only takes something the size of a "grain of sand" to disrupt the pump's ability to reach the cutoff pressure. If you don't manage to get up to the cutoff pressure, it'll continue to run, drain the battery and compound your problems.

It's a "snap" to unhook the plumbing, loosen 4 screws and cut two wires to remove the pump, put it on a towel on the dinette table, disassemble, clean and reassemble. When you reinstall, don't tighten the mount screws too tight, the rubber cushions are the only thing that keeps the pump from vibrating. Too tight and you'll increase the pump noise level....

Good Luck !!!

I pulled the pump out last night and took it apart. I did not see any debris or obstructions, and all of the parts inside looked intact and undamaged. Hooked it back up this morning, verified good battery voltage again, and tried the pump. Same thing, it just runs.... (I have previously run all faucets for a LONG time, opened and closed the relief valve on the water heater, etc to make sure there is no air in the lines.) At this point, I do believe the pump is bad. (I am wondering if the pump running for quite awhile in a low voltage situation a couple weeks ago when the old battery was bad harmed the pump? Have seen mention of that being bad for them...?)

Went to my local parts store this morning. They carry only Shurflo, and said they stopped stocking Flojet pumps long ago. I had already considered changing to a Shurflo, and would like to support the local business, however they are quite a ways from being competitive on price. So, will order a Shurflo on Amazon later today. Will certainly install a strainer as well, as the current set up did not have a strainer, and I can absolutely see how that could lead to issues.

[dcg9381]

I've found that they run when they get old. You can often rebuilt their heads, but I've always just replaced the whole darn thing. One modification I like to do is add a .5-1 gallon pressure tank which helps prevent pump cycling.

[JRTJH]

If, after cleaning the pump head diaphragm you still have problems with the pump not shutting off, I agree, it's probably the pump pressure switch. That's a component that's built into the pump head and can't be changed out. So, it's either buy a new pump or a new pump head. If you're replacing with a ShurFlo pump, you'll probably also need to change out the plumbing fittings. ShurFlo uses threaded connectors and most of the FloJet pumps used by Keystone have the snaplock connectors. Either way, I'd get a strainer to protect the pump. It's cheap insurance against damaging the new pump.

Good Luck.

[trucker LOU]

When my Springdale was new it did the same thing, after a lot of searching found the outside shower was allowing air to enter system. I replaced plastic fixture with brass sill-cocks. fixed problem.----Lou----

[dirt33]

I decided to just go with a Flojet replacement, instead of switching to Shurflo. Installed the Flojet tonight. It works just as it is supposed to. The pump stops about a half second after a faucet is shut off. I now know that the pressure switch in the old pump evidently had been going out for awhile, as the old pump never "shut off" anywhere near as quickly as this replacement unit does. Glad to have this issue checked off the list.

[sourdough]

Thanks for the followup. I've followed this for my own edification and I'm sure others have as well. Thanks.

[dirt33]

Boy, this is something..... installed new Flojet pump last night. Tested for 10 mins or so. Worked great, pump developed good pressure and shut off quickly.

Now, today I installed the strainer that arrived, on the inlet hose. Tested pump again... it runs nonstop. Doesn't develop what I would consider full pressure. When all faucets are turned off, the pump runs at a fairly low rate, and sounds like it is just sucking air and will not build up pressure.

So, back to the drawing board. Right now I have the trailer hooked up to city water, 50 psi or so, and every faucet, hot and cold, is open full bore. I am letting the water run for 10 minutes or so. I have noticed quite a few choppy flows of water from all of the faucets, pushing out air. So, somewhere in the system air is getting in.

I have had this trailer for nearly 3 years, and I've never experienced this problem. I am retracing my steps mentally, trying to think of any possible connection that may have been loosened recently.

[JRTJH]

It sounds like there is a crack or an air leak in the strainer body or one of the connections. Have you removed the strainer and checked pump operation without it in the system? If it was working properly before the strainer and works properly after removing the strainer, I'd say you have identified your problem. As a note, the pump will not shut off quickly unless it can build pressure to overcome the cutoff switch setting. Drawing air causes the pump to cavitate and not build pressure. That air can come from bubbles in the supply line (possibly drawing air from the pickup tube ?) or from a leak in one of the fittings on the strainer or a cracked body.... I'd suggest it's probably your strainer that's the "guilty party" in this one.... Keep us posted on what you find

[dirt33]

I agree that the strainer seems to be most likely the issue. Going to remove it now and test. The bummer is that the barbed fitting is so hard to get the hose to come off of. When I removed the original 90° fitting to install the strainer, I had to cut the hose to remove the fitting. Now, i'll be darned if the strainer doesn't want to come out of the hose and it looks like I'm going to have to cut it again. The run of hose from the tank to the pump was already just barely long enough to begin with, I won't have too many cuts left before I'm out of slack... if there's a better way to get hose off of barbed fittings, I have yet to discover the method.

Edit 1, was able to get the strainer out of the hose without cutting it. Now to do a test run with the strainer removed from the system.

Edit 2, strainer removed, regular 90 degree "snap fitting" re-installed, supply line snapped into pump. Flip the switch... pumps starts, runs for a few seconds sounding like it did before (trying to pull water), then it primed up and started running louder/harder, like it was now finally pumping again. Ran the faucet for 15-20 seconds, it spurted out the air that had obviously been drawn into the line previously, and then evened out to a nice solid flow. Cycled various faucets on and off for 5-10 seconds at a time. Good flow at all, pump sounds like it is actively pumping like it should, and shuts off quickly once the faucet is closed. (And yes, "cavitating" is exactly what it was doing before with the strainer installed. Thanks for the help JRTJH, I knew in my mind what was happening but didn't know the word to explain it.) So, now I guess the conundrum is, it seems like using the strainer is going to be a no go. Guess I will just go without it, and if I have to buy another $50 pump in a couple years, it is what it is.

This is the type of strainer that I was using. When I first started using it, I was expecting it to basically fill up with water, but instead it looked like water just kind of trickled into it, so even before it proved to be a problem I already was a bit skeptical.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/1000/b1/b1c312e0-04a7-4070-8a89-84ee725c3f3f_1000.jpg

Final edit, after playing around with it a bit more, I believe the problem is that the strainer does not fit into the pump like it should. The regular 90° fitting that has always been used fits snug into the pump, and locks into position tightly. However, when I removed that fitting and pushed the strainer into the pump, it does not feel like it seats itself as well, and the blue tab does not feel like it locks correctly. So, while water did not leak out of that point when I did have the strainer installed, I do think that it must've been sucking air into the pump through that point. I know that there is a different type of strainer available, but at this point, given that the pump is functioning properly, I believe I will be running without a strainer.

One more final thought. Boy, I sure am glad Amazon shipped the pump and strainer separately. Had they arrived together, I would have installed them together, and I would be out there right now assuming that the new pump is doing the same thing as the old pump, and searching high and low for an air leak. Makes me think back to my days of racing cars... you never change more than one thing at a time when planning to note/measure/diagnose a condition.

[BuxCamper]

Compare the snap parts of the elbow and the strainer that should show if they are meant for different pumps. I'd also check for an O-ring under the clear top to make sure air is not getting in there.

-- Mark

[JRTJH]

I'm not sure the strainer you purchased is the correct one for your system. FloJet makes strainers for specific applications (pumps) and also makes generic strainers for the open market. The one I used is: Flojet 01740300A Pump Mini-Strainer

You can find it by that part number on Amazon for $10.

I also use silicone grease applied with my finger on all the O-rings during installation.

If you do decide to replace your strainer, make sure the supply hose is long enough not to put any strain on the pump. If necessary, you might need to lengthen the hose. Rather than change it out from the fresh water tank pickup to the pump fitting, just use a "double barb" 1/2" fitting and add another section of hose that's the correct length. I'd use "worm-gear hose clamps" on that fitting to prevent any possible leakage and prevent air from being sucked into the system.

Good Luck and hopefully your plumbing issues are behind you !!!

[BuxCamper]

I'm not a Flojet expert but I got the square one shown above. It's part number was in the Flojet "manual" that should have been included in the info packet. Lots of places on the Internet offer it. Popped right in and no leaks.

At first I was dubious of those clip connections but they are convenient when working in the pump compartment.

-- Mark

[dirt33]

Thank you for the help and suggestions. I do know that the strainer you both have used would indeed have been the "correct" part for me to buy. I made the mistake of looking at Amazon's "people who have purchased "this" also often purchase "this"" below the pump that I ordered. I also liked how the strainer I purchased would fit in the small compartment, particularly the fact that the inlet hose could be plumbed in at any orientation by turning the strainer. But, it didn't work, and will be going in the trash. (I did compare the inlet "snap" part of both the strainer and the 90 elbow, and they certainly look the same. But, something about that strainer just wasn't going to work. There is no O ring under the clear lid, that lid screws onto 3-4 rounds of threads, VERY tightly, so I certainly don't think air was getting in there. At any rate, doesn't matter know, as it will find it's way to the trash).

Plumbing issues should be good to go. The only problem now is the first time I turn on the pump this weekend when camping. Reason being..... I simply cannot get my wife to understand that the reason that the pump was replaced was due to flow issues, and had NOTHING to do with noise. After I had installed the new pump two nights ago and was putting tools back in the garage, she asked me if it fixed the problem, I said yes, and she commented that it will be nice to not have it be so loud now. No comment from me.......

[BuxCamper]

Glad you made progress.

Besides the accumulator I added a soft sink riser line from the pump to the PEX plus added a piece of foam between the PEX and the other piping by it. I also cut a piece from an old mouse pad and screwed my pump down through the pad but not too tightly. I now hear the pump but not all of the PEX conducting the sound.

The Flojet seems to spin faster than the Shur-Flo's I'm used to and makes a bit of noise.

I don't think filling the pump compartment with expanding foam to quiet things down is a good idea.

-- Mark

[PARAPTOR]

Glad you made progress.

Besides the accumulator I added a soft sink riser line from the pump to the PEX plus added a piece of foam between the PEX and the other piping by it. I also cut a piece from an old mouse pad and screwed my pump down through the pad but not too tightly. I now hear the pump but not all of the PEX conducting the sound.

The Flojet seems to spin faster than the Shur-Flo's I'm used to and makes a bit of noise.

I don't think filling the pump compartment with expanding foam to quiet things down is a good idea.

-- Mark


Soon you will be sleeping like a baby and no excuse to tell DW you did not hear her:banghead:

[BuxCamper]

The pump is on her side 😈

-- Mark

[jhop_8]

I just went through this and my problem ended up being a clogged strainer at the inlet hose in the tank.