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Old 11-26-2007, 01:29 PM   #1
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A few weeks ago my water pump turned itself on and ran continuously while the rig was stored. I sent the pump to Shurflo and they replaced it under warranty even though it was right at three years old.

My question is, is there a check valve between the Hydro-Hot unit and the pump? Shurflo seemed to think that two much back pressure from the hot water system caused the failure. And is there a difference in the piping (other than the obvious) between a regular hot water heater and the Hydro-Hot system?
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Old 11-26-2007, 01:29 PM   #2
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A few weeks ago my water pump turned itself on and ran continuously while the rig was stored. I sent the pump to Shurflo and they replaced it under warranty even though it was right at three years old.

My question is, is there a check valve between the Hydro-Hot unit and the pump? Shurflo seemed to think that two much back pressure from the hot water system caused the failure. And is there a difference in the piping (other than the obvious) between a regular hot water heater and the Hydro-Hot system?
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Old 11-27-2007, 10:34 AM   #3
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JD:

My pump would occasionally do that, too. Obviously it will run when the water inlet is set to fill instead of City water. However, mine would sometimes run non-stop until I turned it off, then work fine afterwards. I think it was just a bad pressure switch, never telling the pump that the water pressure was up to par.

I have no Hydro-Hot.

I changed to the Shurflo 5.7 which ran great for a couple days. Now it pulses all the time. I've heard this complaint from lots of people. I'll run it by Shurflo's offices.
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Old 11-27-2007, 11:26 AM   #4
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Just Installed a shurflo 5.7. Having the same problem. Let me know what you come up with from shurflo.
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Old 11-27-2007, 11:39 AM   #5
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Jerry,

I don't think that there is any difference in the plumbing between the regular hot water heater and the Hydro-Hot system, but I don't have the plumbing diagrams from my old coach anymore.

takepride,

I had the same problems with the Shurflo 5.7, it would do as you described. The pump had been replaced 3 times, Shurflo had their engineers look at it, I rewired to cure a voltage drop and changed the strainer to a larger one to no avail. I gave up and installed a 2 gallon "WellSaver pump tank" I got from Lowes while at the balloon festival rally. Works great now.

Dale
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Old 11-27-2007, 06:29 PM   #6
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Dale:

Thanks for the info. That sounds like an accumulator tank(?). I know Shurflo also sells one of those.

1) Was that a suggestion they made?

2) Before you installed the pump tank, was your pump acting this way? Or was is part of your last replacement?

3) Did the pump tank seem to help both the pulsing and the pressure or just the pulsing?

4) Where did you install the tank?

Thanks!
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Old 11-27-2007, 07:10 PM   #7
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I'm glad I read this post. I was thinking of changing ours to a 5.7 to get rid of our hammer noise. I'll have to find a place for a tank.
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Old 11-28-2007, 05:45 AM   #8
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takepride,

1) I was told not to use an "accumulator" tank with the new pump by multiple sources. When talking to the Shurflo engineers I was told it should not be necessary, but OK to do. I had installed the small shurflo plastic one on my '02 and knew that it helped. The 2 gal one is about the same price and works much better.

2) My pump would cycle off and on at low flow and the pressure would fluctuate at medium flow. When I finally gave up on trying to fix it with new pumps, the shower cycled so bad that the water would cut off entirely for a second and back on.

3) There is no pulsing with the tank installed. The pressure varies between the pump shut off pressure and the pump turn on pressure. With the 2 gal tank, you can run the water a long time before the pump turns on. Due to the variable flow characteristics of the pump, once it starts it will usually stay on.

4) My SE is different than the older models. I installed it in the service bay behind the panel with all of the valves.

Dale
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Old 11-28-2007, 01:25 PM   #9
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follow-up on tank - I like to use the 5.7 gpm pump since it gives a nice strong shower and general water flow. So I operate off the on board water most of the time. What does the 2 gal. tank do to the water pressure? Are you still getting the 5.7 gpm?
Thanks.
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Old 11-28-2007, 02:00 PM   #10
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David,

The tank is only necessary if the pump is cycling, pressure or flow going up and down. This pump is suppose to operate smoothly by the electronics in it. Some of them are good others not so. If your pump will not flow smoothly, then the tank will cure that. The only affect on pressure is that after the pump just shuts off then the pressure will be at the maximum that pump produces. The pressure in the system will then drop, as you use it, to the pump turn on pressure. This is a small difference. The only effect in the flow is that the tank will smooth it out.

Dale
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Old 11-28-2007, 02:19 PM   #11
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After replacing several 5.7 pumps under warranty because of pressure surging,the Shurflo rep at Redmond told me to try adjusting the pressure switch at the screw in the middle of the bottom of the pump. Problem solved. This adjustment is possible on newer model units.

I carry a spare pump since with the RO system we NEVER use city water. Good thing since I just had to replace the pump when it started squealing and was so hot I could not touch it.

Does anybody have ideas on how to cut the noise level on these pumps? I installed the hoses on the inlet and outlet but this did not help much. I have even considered replacing it with a 110v pump like a Headhunter used in some bus conversions but they are expensive.
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Old 11-28-2007, 02:57 PM   #12
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Hi Basil,

That adjustment was the first thing I did on the first pump and also done to the last pump. It worked for a short time and then went back to normal (bad). That is why I didn't think to mention it. Glad to hear that yours is working good. I found that the mounting screws on mine were put in at an angle and the heads were hitting the mounting bracket instead of just the rubber dampener mounts. I also changed the screws. The ones used were self drilling which didn't allow enough threads into the mounting board. Did you look to make sure that nothing was touching the pump when you installed the tubing?

Dale
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Old 11-28-2007, 04:14 PM   #13
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Tom & Patty, I have the 5.7 pump in our 2005 and it is an absolute pleasure. I carry a spare as I got in the habit of doing so in our boats. One problem of spares it is difficult to carry a 400HP ISL Cummins diesel. In the boat we had two. Back to the pump, it is the quietest water pump I have ever had and generally gives more pressure than the dockside water so we use it most of the time. It is truly a pleasure. I don't know where all these other problems are coming from and I would never see the need for an accumulator tank.
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Old 11-28-2007, 06:55 PM   #14
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I'm with Ted III on this one. I have the 5.7 pump and carry a spare like Ted, just like I did on our boat. Our pump is also the quietest pump I have ever had, gives more pressure than dockside water (probably because of my 1 micron carbon second water filter) and we also use it most of the time. The pump is one of the best things on our motorhome, so we don't know where these problems are coming from.

Perhaps it might be where the pump is mounted? Ours is on the frame on driver's side just forward of the power cable reel.
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