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BillHoughton's avatar
BillHoughton
Explorer II
Nov 18, 2018

Oooops. ****. Water pump left running empty

I blew out the water lines today in preparation for winter, then drove over to the next town to dump the waste tanks. When I parked it on my return, about an hour and a half after blowing out the lines, I could hear a little hum coming from somewhere. Then I noticed the water pump light was on, apparently left on who knows when?

I turned it off, and pulled the cover panel under which it hides; the motor was barely warm to the touch (on a cold day, I would not have wrapped my hand around it to get warm).

Am I likely to have done some damage? Other than refilling the tanks and running the pump, is there a test for function I should try?
  • Diaphragm pumps are designed to run dry w/o harm
    They do NOT require fluids for cooling as they do NOT generate heat
    The diaphragms only move back/forth about 1/8"

    Next spring fill fresh water tank...prime pump as usual and go camping
  • Is it a ShurFlo? Even if you did render it unusable, I've heard people that have called them for support years after the pump was new, and ShurFlo sent them a new one gratis.
  • No, I have left mine on 2 times. Once overnight and another time for about three or four days. Pump is still working great after 14 years.
    Since these are simple hydrostatic pumps (think kid making armpit noises..) it does no harm for them to run dry.
  • If you can live with that for 6 months, leave it until spring. You're probably ok.