PART #6 OF 8
SOME PUMPALICIOUS NOTES
In addition to the mainstream pumps above, there’s beefier and pricier pumps available such as the Jabsco and Remco brands, often used on boats but applicable for RVs as well. (Trivia: Boats can be thought of as waterborne motorhomes and they share many components. But boat components and installations tend to be more robust than RVs, and for a simple reason. If stuck on the highway outside Yellowstone you can call AAA for help. But a boat component failing 100 miles from shore in a squall is much more serious.) Unlike other brands, Shurflos generally don't come with a strainer (it’s just a debris strainer, not a true filter) or selection of connector fittings, so you may need to reuse your old fittings if possible or buy those separately, about $8 each online via universal “Shurflo NPT” fittings you can use with almost any brand of pump (fittings generally not found in Home Depot and Lowes stores). And Flojets have unique proprietary fittings with internal o-rings (similar to BMW cooling systems), although that won't be a complication for most people – they'll hook right up to your current plumbing. The Lippert pump has a 5/10 duty cycle. That means you can substantially flow water through it for a continuous 5 minutes, but then need to let it rest and cool down for 10 minutes before resuming water use. For most folks I suspect that would only be an issue if showering, unless you have a mega RV. RV pumps are generally engineered for intermittent use rather than continuous use like industrial pumps. They'll get hot if overtaxed, and may shut off until cooled sufficiently to automatically reset via their thermal sensor (180 F overheat shutoff temp for Remco, for example). And should you see a little water leak from your pump right out of the box, rather than a "used pump" scenario, that's likely just from post-assembly factory pump testing. Some people freak out about that water, assuming “used, returned, resold,” and it shows up in Amazon negative reviews.
