Still battling water pump issue

Still broken? You could get a 2 foot piece of tubing. Attach to the pump intake and stick into a bucket of water.

If the pump noise stops that could mean there is an air leak somewhere on the intake tube.

Just tossing out ideas.

Water HAMMER or pump hammer
The first.. You turn on the faucet and it's good but you turn it off and WHAM.. This is caused by the water hammer absorbers (Look like a short pipe going nowhere) filling with water... NOW not all RV's even have these because the lines are not long enough to cause water hammer.. IF you need an explanation as to the cause.. Well I and Newton do have one.


Pump hammer.. The pump is a "Jack hammer" type device and it will hammer the lines from time to time.. Two things.. Sometimes the manufacturer runs PEX all the way to the pump. puttin a "loop" of flexible pipe in either side of the pump. fixes it.. But I have that loud hammer frequently and my RV already has flexible lines to the pump (I know I checked)

Time will fix it. I do not yet know the cause. I know sometimes if I run out of water. it gets LOUD and then after I FILL it will stay loud for a while. then it simply goes away.

A possibility of the pump being a much too high volume for the system? NAHH Builders never put anything but bare minimum components in their units. Silly me

I find that I get hammering when I run out of water and air gets into the lines. After having a good supply of water again I run the outside shower until the hammering stops. Works every time.

philh wrote:

Yes, they are right next to each other.

Pressure switch is kind of what I'm leaning towards. Wondering if the dealer messed with the settings in a misguided diagnosis.

I may just buy a pump this weekend and stop. Learning about accumulators too, even if I do get this fixed, see value in adding one.

The pressure switch should be adjustable. I believe Shurflow has an hex (allen) bolt at the top of the pressure regulator. maybe give it a half or full turn one direction and see what happens. Check both a sink and the shower to see how the different pressure affects it.

I ran across a big accumulator for an RO system in a thrift store cheap and connected it into our water system. It stores about a gallon of water so the pump doesn't need cycle nearly as often. I was lucky to buy a variable speed pump from a tailgater at Quartzsite years ago and love it! Instead of running full tilt or not, it slows down gradually before stopping as the accumulator tank fills. I have to listen closely to hear our pump run. The variable speed pumps are more that twice as much as the standard pumps (unless you find a tailgater selling new ones).

I agree that all these closed water systems should have at least a small accumulator. If spending money I would be getting a more expensive pump the regulates speed not just on/off.

opnspaces wrote:
In thinking about where you said the led was flickering when the hammering was occurring. Is there a faucet close to the water pump switch? maybe try turning off the faucet and simultaneously flipping off the water pump switch. I'm thinking the flickering LED might be from the pump trying to still push water well beyond the shutoff pressure and causing the LED to blink while it's hammering.

Yes, they are right next to each other.

Pressure switch is kind of what I'm leaning towards. Wondering if the dealer messed with the settings in a misguided diagnosis.

I may just buy a pump this weekend and stop. Learning about accumulators too, even if I do get this fixed, see value in adding one.

In thinking about where you said the led was flickering when the hammering was occurring. Is there a faucet close to the water pump switch? maybe try turning off the faucet and simultaneously flipping off the water pump switch. I'm thinking the flickering LED might be from the pump trying to still push water well beyond the shutoff pressure and causing the LED to blink while it's hammering.

wopachop wrote:
Could there be a water bubble stuck in the pump? Could loosen the pump screws and tilt and shake the pump while it runs maybe?

Or possibly a slight air leak on the intake side? Like when a straw has a crack and introduces air.

Good questions and that's why I replaced the missing o-ring. I don't see any air bubbles in the filter. So don't think air leak that's the issue. Air trapped in the pump, that's an interesting question.