Noisy Water Pump. (1 Viewer)

Baker69

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Jul 12, 2009
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As we are fairly new to MH's (but not new to Caravanning) we were a bit surprised on how noisy our Shurflow Water Pump is. Well, I say the pump is noisy but it may be the Whale Damping thingy that's fitted. When the taps are turned on there is this knocking sound, I assume the Whale device is supposed to stop this?

We imagined the water pump to be fairly quite in operation so we're a bit disappointed in this.
 

old-mo

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Oct 16, 2008
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My 5th wheel and the RV I have just aquired had and have the sureflow,, I tried mounting on rubber making sure the pipes were not touching any thing,,, but still very noisy. :Sad:

Even went outside to listen as I thought I would get complaints,, but it does not sound half as bad out side,, so learned to live with it..:thumb:
 

Douglas

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Aug 22, 2008
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Has your tank run dry recently? if so it could be air in the pipes, turn your taps full on for a minuet or two to see if that clears it.

Doug..

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DESCO

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Mar 11, 2009
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My 5th wheel and the RV I have just aquired had and have the sureflow,, I tried mounting on rubber making sure the pipes were not touching any thing,,, but still very noisy. :Sad:

Even went outside to listen as I thought I would get complaints,, but it does not sound half as bad out side,, so learned to live with it..:thumb:

Would do as old-mo says, make sure all the pipes are not tapping on sides this can be quite noisey, check pump is mounted on rubber.



Dave:thumb::thumb:
 

chris v

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Feb 14, 2009
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Hi,
And of course make sure that the screws that hold the pump down are not so tight that they squash the rubber mountings,
Regards,
Chris.
 

pappajohn

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other posters on this subject have suggested replacing a short length of the semi-rigid water pipes with flexy pipes where they enter/exit the pump.

this has the effect of removing the 'pulsing movement' from the rigid pipes.

another option would be the Fiamma surge damper.....a chamber in two halves seperated by a diaphram....one side is air under pressure and the other is water.
as the pump 'pulses' the diaphram moves against the compressed air and stops the pulse from reaching the pipes.(allegedly)

see it HERE

second item down.

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Last edited:

Neckender

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Oct 15, 2007
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Mine was very noisey from new, also very loud outside, I found plastic swarf from tank in the pipework to the filter. I removed the obstruction and now water flow is very good and water pump is now almost silent.

John.
 

Landy lover

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We to have the same problem - I spoke with an engineer from CP tanks at the NEC show february and he suggested I crawl in the belly locker with a small screwdriver:Eeek: and on the end of the pump is the pressure seting screw and turn that back as all sureflow pumps are set at max pressure at the factory and really that pressure is never needed in the average van - I did that and whilst it has improved it a lot there is still a small amount of noise - he explained that the noise was caused by the system being overpressured shutting down and then restarted many times a minute.

On day when feeling brave i will crawl back into the locker and turn it back a bit more :ROFLMAO:
 

Douglas

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he explained that the noise was caused by the system being overpressured shutting down and then restarted many times a minute.

On day when feeling brave i will crawl back into the locker and turn it back a bit more :ROFLMAO:

Sounds like more shoddy work by the converter. What is the name of the converter?

Doug...

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Spacerunner

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I had the same problem. All I did was to use duct tape and tape the pipework nearest the pump to the floor directly beneath it. Cured the problem instantly.
 

davetthedon

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Its a camper!!... what do you expect?...

Similar problem in the Autotrail Chieftain. Noisey, regular pumping up of pressure. Cured it after many attempts. Filled the cavity wall the pump was mounted on with expanding foam. Used Fernox pipe leak (similar to silicon used around sinks etc but does not harden) on the push fittings, cured air ingress into pipework. When driving with pressure up, the pipes used to leak very slightly, wetting the carpet, thats now cured using the fernox. Now it pressurises about once an hour if not using the water. Just a quick drrrrr. Also had crap in the filter. :thumb:
ATB
DaveT
 

Landy lover

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Sounds like more shoddy work by the converter. What is the name of the converter?

Doug...

No problem with the suppliers - seem like every one has a similar problem that they do not set the pressure to suit the vehicle needs at manufacture - simple job really its just I am on the large side and the belly locker is a space I shove things into to get rid of them - never know what you will find there ?? Never like doing that type of job on a site any way you will just get in there and some daft sod will come and talk to you just to see how long it takes me to get back out again.

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Sep 27, 2007
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I've read this thread with interest, as we too have suffered with a noisey pump, and over the years, we have :

changed the rubber mounts.:Doh:
changed the mount screws.:Doh:
adjusted the torque of the screws:Doh:
rerouted pipes:Doh:
adjusted the pump pressure screw.:Doh:

Suggested to our service agent that I fill the cavity under the bathroom with expanding foam, to encapsulate the pipes on route to the shower....did'nt do it as there ws a possibility that one of the pipes could become restricted if too much foam was injected.:Angry:

So this morning I revisited the pump, checked the right angle connectors, planed a route for normal pipe and clips, then noticed a viberation betwween the hot and cold pipes, used pipe insulation to part them, no change. Followed the cold pipe run into the boiler area, found this pipe resting against the cut edge of a plywood panel, held it of, asked the boss to run water, it ran...pump silent.....another piece of pipe insulation in place, and we now have a very quiet surflow pump.:Eeek:

Thanks everybody.:thumb:

Nomadic
 

Heyupluv

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As we are fairly new to MH's (but not new to Caravanning) we were a bit surprised on how noisy our Shurflow Water Pump is. Well, I say the pump is noisy but it may be the Whale Damping thingy that's fitted. When the taps are turned on there is this knocking sound, I assume the Whale device is supposed to stop this?

We imagined the water pump to be fairly quite in operation so we're a bit disappointed in this.


Check for air in the pump/pipes, and no leaks, make sure it is not sucking in air from anywhere, and make sure that your tank has not run dry, mine makes a terrible noise if that ever happens what "Dougcumiskey" said I think could be your problem, unless you know you are not dry/empty of water in the tank and you have not run dry before refilling as it can take a while to clean air out of the pump.......hope you find your problem soon, and its not expensive......................from Mel in France
 
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Baker69

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Jul 12, 2009
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Thanks everyone for their comments and suggestions. I'll go into the van tomorrow and check it all out. :Smile:

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Uncle-Steve

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Jan 24, 2008
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All the obvious things have been mentioned above about reducing diaphram pump noise, however I had used a Whale pump for years, this was always quite noisy. Anyway, one day its started leaking just before I was going away (last minute checks and all that...), I didn't have any spares so replaced it with a Fiamma Aqua 8, well... the difference was dramatic as I can hardly hear the new pump now! I'm not saying the Fiammas will always give the same quiet respoce, but it did in my case. BTW Shurflow and Posiflow are far more popular than the Fiamma's.

Replacing like for like is not always very good, as some of the 'big' names make very poor submersible pumps which your not to run dry, however these can be replaced with a superior cheaper pump which can be used dry. So if your replacing worn out items, ask is there something better out there so it lasts longer etc?
 

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