Shurflo Trail King 7 Diaphragm Pump - Service? or Replace?

[Esther_99]

Morning folks,

We have a Chausson Welcome 64 and have been having a bit of trouble with our water system and I'm looking for some advice / sanity check to make sure I'm not missing anything obvious.

Initially I replaced the cartridge in our bathroom tap, the part that controls the mixing and the flow as the old one was cracked. A simple enough job. Unfortunately, I then heard a leak under the sink so had to dismantle half the bathroom to discover the shower hose had split. Irritating, but again, a simple enough job to replace. Everything looked good. Bad luck both things broke at once, but I had it sorted, I thought.

However, after putting it all back together the water pump, a Shurflo Trail King 7, started to pump intermittently even when everything all taps were closed. Just a few pulses lasting less than a second. This happened every 15 seconds or so, but sometimes wouldn't happen for over a minute i.e. far from perfectly regular.

"Great, another leak" I thought, "must be the shower hose or tap fittings".

To cut a very long story short, I spent several hours slowly isolating different parts of the piping and couldn't find a leak anywhere in the motorhome. No little puddles or even tiny drops on any of the piping or connections that I could see at all. So I did what I should have done at the start and went back to the pump. We'd had a cold night recently (we're in France at the moment). I don't think it dropped below 0, but it might have done for an hour and I hadn't drained the system.

Disconnecting the outflow pipe, I capped the outflow with a stopper, pumped until it stopped and waited.....and got the intermittent pulsing issue. The entire water system hosing was now disconnected so I came to the conclusion the pump is the problem. However, there are no visible leaks here either. No water on the outside. Nothing oozing out of the housing.

The question is, (1) if it is the pump leaking, shouldn't I see water (even a tiny amount) coming out somewhere? Even pumping for half a second every minute should produce something visible.

(2) If it is the pump, is there something I should be looking for. Something I might fix. I know a replacement isn't too pricey but if I can fix this one then I can save £50-60 and get it sorted rightaway.

Sorry for the ramble. Any thoughts much appreciated. At least everything works at the moment, we just have to turn the pump off when we're not using water.

 

[Gromett]

I had a similar issue and looked at the service kit.. Back then I decided that I may as well replace the pump. The service kit although cheaper than the pump it wasn't enough cheaper to warrant
a) the labour time
b) the risk that it didn't fix the fault.

Less hassle just to replace. You can then fix the old one at your leisure and keep it as a spare.

Although as I fulltimer, I have only ever had to replace one and that is over 16 years of motorhoming and 11 years of fulltiming with constant use.

 

[Sheddy]

Probably the diaphragm, but it might be worth adjusting the pressure switch before you change the pump, it is a small Allen screw, turning it anticlockwise I believe reduces the sensitivity and less likely to cycle.
Cheers
Ed

 

[Sundowners]

For the price of a new pump I would not hesitate to replace it and keep the other as a spare------ even without repairing it will work to get you out of a fix. Although from our experience you will never need another replacement!!!!!!

 

[funflair]

I would just strip it give it a good clean it then back together, my experience is that they very rarely need parts.

Martin

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[Lenny HB]

The smallest amount of air getting into the system can cause your problem and won't show as a leak.
Do you have an accumulator fitted as this is a worthwhile accessory as it stops the pump pulsing.
If it is the pump I would replace it and keep the old one for an emergency spare.

 

[Esther_99]

Thank you all for your replies.

I dismantled the pump today, put it back together and the problem is no longer happening. I couldn't see anything wrong in the pump, so I can't say I especially did anything to repair it. Still, relieved it's stopped for now and that it doesn't seem there is a leak in the pipework.

Plus, I now have a much clearer idea of the plumbing in the motorhome.

Thank you again for your suggestions.

Dan

 

[Sundowners]

Could have been a tiny bit of grit that you couldn't even see---- so glad it is now sorted.------ and for free!!!!!

 

[funflair]

Thank you all for your replies.

I dismantled the pump today, put it back together and the problem is no longer happening. I couldn't see anything wrong in the pump, so I can't say I especially did anything to repair it. Still, relieved it's stopped for now and that it doesn't seem there is a leak in the pipework.

Plus, I now have a much clearer idea of the plumbing in the motorhome.

Thank you again for your suggestions.

Dan

And you now realise that there is not much inside the pump but they do benefit from a bit of a clean, certainly on ours anyway the diaphragm and valves get a bit "cruddy".

Martin

 

[Larby]

I had an intermittent puIse, eventually traced it to the outside shower.
I had 3 choices, let it drip, turn pump off then on when required, or leave the shower hose connected and then it didn't leak , option 3 was employed,
Sealed unit so unable to repair, bought new one on return to UK and will fit shortly.

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