Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
RV Trip Planning Discussions

Go Back   iRV2 Forums > iRV2.com COMMUNITY FORUMS > Vintage RV's
Click Here to Login
Join iRV2 Today

Mission Statement: Supporting thoughtful exchange of knowledge, values and experience among RV enthusiasts.
Reply
  This discussion is proudly sponsored by:
Please support our sponsors and let them know you heard about their products on iRV2
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 11-15-2012, 04:50 PM   #15
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 122
Quote:
Originally Posted by Midniteoyl View Post
You DO want to find and fix the problem, even if you think its just he inlet valve. Starting so often will eventually kill the pump..
Thanks for the heads up and since I started living in the RV for the last 2-3 weeks and will be for the winter, I have been shutting the power switch off on the control panel when the water pump is not in use. That does gets annoying after a while :(

I'm hoping that by testing the outlet of the pump will identify and eliminate the RV plumbing...
__________________
IAN (houseboats are RV's on the water)
1988 Amera Coach 23ft, dodge 360, Onan 4k
imorton is offline   Reply With Quote
Join the #1 RV Forum Today - It's Totally Free!

iRV2.com RV Community - Are you about to start a new improvement on your RV or need some help with some maintenance? Do you need advice on what products to buy? Or maybe you can give others some advice? No matter where you fit in you'll find that iRV2 is a great community to join. Best of all it's totally FREE!

You are currently viewing our boards as a guest so you have limited access to our community. Please take the time to register and you will gain a lot of great new features including; the ability to participate in discussions, network with other RV owners, see fewer ads, upload photographs, create an RV blog, send private messages and so much, much more!

Old 11-16-2012, 09:41 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 122
UPDATE: I investigated the whole situation further, and found that the problem was not any leaking water pipes in the RV, but was the water pump itself.

It's a ShurFlo model, and the pump housing is held together with 6-8 screws with a gasket in between. Well the majority of the screws were 1/4 turn loose, either from the factory or from use...?

I tightened all the screws and it no longer leaks NOR comes on when all the faucets are closed.

In the attached photo, you can see the joint in the pump head (arrows) where there was a minute leak (enough to cause the problem)

You also see with the red circles where the @6-8 screws that needed to be tightened to seal the two housing together.

Either poorly constructed and tightened from the factory, OR came loose from use and vibration...?

I have owned the RV for @ 1 year, but the screws that were used to hold it down to the floor were rusted, so good thing that I found and solved the "pulsing" problem....
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	leaks-tighten.jpg
Views:	76
Size:	89.2 KB
ID:	29216  
__________________
IAN (houseboats are RV's on the water)
1988 Amera Coach 23ft, dodge 360, Onan 4k
imorton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2012, 10:00 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 122
When I re-installed the pump, I put some "pipe dope" on the threads of the fittings since I couldn't find my teflon tape.

Are we supposed to put teflon or similar products on those threads?

I also noticed that ShurFlo recommends not using stiff grey PVC pipes at the inlet or outlet ports. They recommend flexible tubing for the first foot going into AND out of the pump. Hmmm, mine is connected directly to my grey PVC pex water lines.

I wonder if the vibration will break/cause a leak further down the road?
__________________
IAN (houseboats are RV's on the water)
1988 Amera Coach 23ft, dodge 360, Onan 4k
imorton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2012, 10:04 PM   #18
Senior Member
 
JMacy's Avatar
 
National RV Owners Club
Vintage RV Owners Club
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Following the windshield
Posts: 129
Send a message via Skype™ to JMacy
Quote:
Originally Posted by imorton
Hello Everyone, quick question...

My 12v water pump seems to pulse "on" for a 1/2 second and does this @ every 90 seconds. I have looked everywhere that I can physically see where the grey PVC water lines run and I CANNOT see any leaks anywhere.

Is it possibly normal (or a sign that the pump is coming due for replacement) that it comes "on" ever so briefly every 1-2 minutes?

I have a houseboat and I could swear that the water pump on the boat never pulses unless I open a tap/faucet.

The pump works fine when I open a faucet etc... But when I close all the taps and faucets etc... It just does a very small pulse (the time it takes to snap your fingers) , so I don't know if this normal behavior as it is trying to maintain 45 lbs of pressure...?

Anybody else notice their 12v water pump do the same thing?

IAN...
Had a similar issue after we disconnected from shore water I ran shore water through system with all faucets open them disconnected shore water - no more cycling of the 12v pump.
__________________
Jim Macy, Ph.D.CH. Hypnotist, Success Coach, Speaker
JMacy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-16-2012, 11:12 PM   #19
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 122
Not sure I understand? You are saying that the city water pressure and back pressure helped to clean out the check valve on the 12v water pump?
__________________
IAN (houseboats are RV's on the water)
1988 Amera Coach 23ft, dodge 360, Onan 4k
imorton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2012, 06:22 AM   #20
Senior Member
 
Bigd9's Avatar


 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: The Bluegrass State
Posts: 8,886
Imorton, glad you got her fixed and pulse free! I know that short section of flexible hose on the inlet and outlet will keep the pump noise and vibrations from transmitting to the harder PEX tubing. Good Job, and thanks for posting the fix to your problem.
__________________
Good Luck, Be Safe and Above All, Don't Forget To Have Fun
Pete
Central Kentucky
2006 Fleetwood Discovery 35H, 2014 Honda CR-V, M&G Engineering Braking System
Bigd9 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2012, 06:41 AM   #21
Senior Member
 
Tony Lee's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Tasmania now, USA/Canada/Alaska in April
Posts: 2,473
Ideally, the first 2' of both suction and delivery pipe should be as soft a pipe as can still handle the pressure (usually reinforced pressure hose) and the pipe should form a loop with none of the loop touching itself or anything else. This should reduce the pump noise considerably.
__________________
Tony Lee - International Grey Nomad. Picasa Album - Travel Map
RVs. USA - Airstream Cutter; in Australia - MC8 40' DIY Coach conversion & OKA 4x4 MH; in Germany - Hobby Class C; in S America - F350 with 2500 10.6 Bigfoot camper
Tony Lee is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2012, 09:33 AM   #22
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 122
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony Lee View Post
Ideally, the first 2' of both suction and delivery pipe should be as soft a pipe as can still handle the pressure (usually reinforced pressure hose) and the pipe should form a loop with none of the loop touching itself or anything else. This should reduce the pump noise considerably.
Hi, thanks for the reply. That's the issue that I have, the inlet is flexible hose, yet the outlet port is connected directly to the grey PVC Pex piping.

From the outlet on the pump there's @2 inches of Pex and a 90 degree bend going behind the wall towards the shower etc....

The noise isn't really the issue now, but I am wondering if I should add a flexible pipe to the outlet so that the vibration doesn't cause the Grey PVC Pex pipe & fittings to crack/break/loosen from the pumps vibration?

At least now the pump doesn't cycle or pulse unnecessarily.
__________________
IAN (houseboats are RV's on the water)
1988 Amera Coach 23ft, dodge 360, Onan 4k
imorton is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2012, 09:52 AM   #23
Registered User
 
Vintage RV Owners Club
Gulf Streamers Club
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Indiana
Posts: 4,951
I would add a flexible loop as described above... Yes.

Glad you found the leak
Midniteoyl is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-18-2012, 02:47 PM   #24
Senior Member
 
JMacy's Avatar
 
National RV Owners Club
Vintage RV Owners Club
Fleetwood Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Following the windshield
Posts: 129
Send a message via Skype™ to JMacy
Not sure what it did, but my guess is that there was a grain or two of grit holding something open and letting the pump cycle. If everything is tight, (No Leaks) the system should hold pressure and the pump not cycle.
__________________
Jim Macy, Ph.D.CH. Hypnotist, Success Coach, Speaker
JMacy is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
water



Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:02 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.