water pumps

steve james · 09-26-2020, 10:45 AM

My water pump in our 22RBSWE Cougar is so loud , sounds like a freight train. I pulled the belly cover off and insulated all my waterlines and wiring , still really loud. I want to replace it with one that's not so loud. Any one have any experience with a SHURflo Revolution? Any suggestions ?

Northofu1 · 09-26-2020, 10:54 AM

I have a shur flo, not sure if it's the revolution. It is housed at the back of my trailer in the entertainment section in a cupboard. It is whisper quiet. I'm pretty sure it's not original, the last owner probably upgraded. 4 chamber pumps are supposed to be quieter than 3 chamber pumps.
I had a flow jet 3 chamber in my 26 rpbr and it was right beside the bed, that was loud.
I did the best I could to quiet it with sound deadening foam, it did make a little difference.
If you get the shur flo, get the winterizing kit and do it all at once, since you're down there anyway.

**chuckster57** · 09-26-2020, 11:21 AM

Find the pump and look at the lines going into and out of the pump. You might find the noise is the pipes rattling against the wall. Easy rearrange the lines and zip tie in place.

dutchmensport · 09-26-2020, 01:08 PM

RV water pumps are not "noisy" at all. Actually, if you pull a pump out of your RV, disconnect the water lines, and power it up, you can barely hear it run. They are whisper quiet.

What makes the "noise" is the vibration they produce. They all make vibrations, and that vibration travels down the water pipe, and the vibrations amplify travel back and forth increasing to a crescendo that like a lawn mower.

Yes, the root cause is the pump itself, vibrating as it runs. The problem however is not the pump, but the pipes attached to the pump that magnify the vibrations. Those vibrations travel down the water lines and back again.

In my fifth wheel, the water pump is up front. The bathtub is rear of the wheel. Yet, when the water pump comes on, I never hear it up front. It's quiet as can be. But it sounds like the pump is hammering itself to death UNDER the shower (in the rear of the trailer). That's the point where the vibrations converge and sound out the loudest.

Same is true with yours. Here's what you can do to help eliminate the vibrations coming from the pump and passing through the hard plastic pipes. Between the pump and the pipes, hook in a rubber hose, like a garden hose. It doesn't have to attach directly to the pump, you can cut the water line (in and out) a few inches from the pump (both directions) and hook in a rubber hose. Doing this plumbing will be the challenge, but there are multiple ways it can be done.

The longer you make this rubber hose, the more insulated and isolated the vibrations will be from the water pump.

Before swapping out water pumps, I recommend you try this. Hope this makes sense.

NH_Bulldog · 09-26-2020, 03:20 PM

Our pump is in the cabinet next to the bed on my side. I saw that the pump sits on a rubber isolation pad screwed to the floor. I loosened the mounting screws a bit, I zip-tied pipes out of the way and cut some small pieces of old inner tube to wrap around the pipes where the go through the floor or touch other pipes. As Dutchmen said, the pump is quiet and doesn’t wake me up if anyone uses water at night, but you sure can hear it in the rear bathroom.

steve james · 10-05-2020, 06:24 AM

Thank you all for your suggestions and replies , I did do the insulation and made some adjustments with our water pump. What a difference, still louder than i would like but does sound better. Thanks again for all the replies

**JRTJH** · 10-05-2020, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve james

Thank you all for your suggestions and replies , I did do the insulation and made some adjustments with our water pump. What a difference, still louder than i would like but does sound better. Thanks again for all the replies

Keep in mind that "the ability to hear the water pump when it runs" is a "comforting feature" as well as a "nuisance feature"... Laying in bed at night, it can be disrupting when someone flushes the toilet, at the same time, laying in bed at night and hearing the pump cycle on/off throughout the night when NOBODY is using water, is a diagnostic hint that somewhere in your plumbing is a leak that needs attention before the "floor rots out of your trailer"...

Being able to hear the pump cycle can save your entire RV investment from deterioration if you have a "hidden leak that you simply can't see from inside the cabin"....

In other words, "think about the positives and the negatives seem less important"

steve james · 10-20-2020, 06:49 AM

well bit the bullet and replaced my factory ( freight train ) water pump with a Seaflow 42 series pump. What a difference !!!! wrapped the lines and a couple of new fittings for around 70$ . now the water running in the sink is louder than the pump. also if i run the kitchen sink at the same time i run the bath sink the pump ramps up to sustain the pressure. thank you all for your input . i should have done this 4 thousand miles ago.

cavie · 12-26-2020, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David0409

SHURFLO pump was rather easy to install. It was a replacement for the original fresh-water holding tank in my 2007 Jayco Greyhawk. Well packaged by the vendor and detailed instructions were included. I plan to add an inline filter in addition to the already in-use filter on the hose from the water source. Something learned during this process is ALL water, whether the pump is in use travels through this pump, either on, or off. I believe that is what cause the failure of the original. Upon removing the old pump, I notice a lot of sediment (sand, impurities, etc.) that drained out of the old unit.

water does not flow thru the pump if it is not running. It only pumps water out of the FW tank.

travelin texans · 12-26-2020, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cavie

water does not flow thru the pump if it is not running. It only pumps water out of the FW tank.

Under NORMAL circumstances you are correct, it does not flow through the pump when using city water connection.
BUT we're talking RVs so what's NORMAL?
If there's not a check valve or valve at the pump to prevent the back flow or if the diaphragm in the pump sticks open it WILL back flow through the pump & fill the fw tank.

**JRTJH** · 12-26-2020, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David0409

SHURFLO pump was rather easy to install. It was a replacement for the original fresh-water holding tank in my 2007 Jayco Greyhawk. Well packaged by the vendor and detailed instructions were included. I plan to add an inline filter in addition to the already in-use filter on the hose from the water source. Something learned during this process is ALL water, whether the pump is in use travels through this pump, either on, or off. I believe that is what cause the failure of the original. Upon removing the old pump, I notice a lot of sediment (sand, impurities, etc.) that drained out of the old unit.

I've never seen an RV water system in which the city water "flows through" the water pump. In every system I've seen, there is a "backflow valve" either between the pump and the city water inlet or a "backflow valve" incorporated inside the water pump to specifically prevent any city water from flowing through the pump....

Here's a simple block drawing of a typical RV fresh water supply system. Note that the "city water hookup" is downstream from the pump. Also note there is a "strainer" attached to the pump inlet to protect it from sand, debris and construction materials that are "almost always guaranteed to be present in a new trailer".... I'd suppose that the sediment, sand and impurities that drained out of your old water pump were a direct result of what was "in the tank when you bought the trailer" and "what you put in the FW tank since you bought the trailer.

In my experience, the majority of water pump failures are a direct result of "trash" being sucked into the pump diaphragm from the fresh water tank....

If you don't have one, I'd recommend a quality pump strainer between the FW tank and the FW pump. I'd suggest installing it in that line at a location you can easily access, so you can check/clean the strainer screen regularly. I clean mine about twice a year and there's nearly always sand, sediment and even plastic drill shards (from the installation process at Keystone when the trailer was built almost 7 years ago. Yes, it's still being sucked out of the tank after all those years.

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