12 V Water Pump Noise

I just fixed my noisy pump yesterday. I found an idea on another forum and decided to try it.

If you have a 90* fitting on the exit side of the pump then change that to a straight fitting. Any RV parts shop will have one. The pump pulsates as it pumps and the 90* fitting makes the pulsing worse. Make sure you have a flexible line coming in and going out. Then isolate all the lines from each other or the RV it's self. My pump is under the sink in it's own compartment. I shortened some of the lines and the put some foam between them and each other as well as the floor and walls. I then zip tied some to a drain pipe. I also used some conduit clamps to hold one of the lines solid to the framing. I then made sure the pump was screwed to the floor tight on it's isolator pads.

After doing all that the pump is barely audible.
FWIW it's a Shurflo.

As a side note make sure you run every faucet and toilet till the banging subsides. Even the outside faucet if you have one.

All demand pumps are noisy, some more than others and some sound like a mini-jack hammer, especially if not mounted correctly.

I do NOT agree that you should not make use of your warranty and you SHOULD ask the dealer about it. They deal with this stuff all the time and probably can tell you with a quick look and test if what you have is "normal" or not.

I eventually got tired of hearing mine chatter and had the pump replaced with a variable speed model. If you run the water slowly, it is almost silent. Higher flows still make some noise but nothing like the old one.

I agree that most noise is from the water pressure changing rapidly by the pump, not the pump itself. Besides investigating the lines, a simple pressure tank would cut down on the frequency of pump turning on as well as the variance in pressure when it is on.

Thanks for your comments. The pump space looks like a rat's nest of tubing. I'll see what I can find and try to isolate the tubing and the pump.

Again, thanks.

This is an oft discussed subject. Search this Forum for `water pump' then search the results for `noise' or `noisy' or you just might try searching for `noisy water pump'. The answers are most likely there. You might also try calling the pump manufacturer.
P.S. Our Shurflo pump is so quiet when the TV is on it can hardly be heard.

On my new trailer there was a lot of noise when the pump ran. Found out problem was water line flopping around and hitting each other or cabinet. Got some plastic ties to secure lines and problem was solved.

And to add this is not something you should be taking back to the dealer to have fixed. Do it yourself. It will take only a few minutes to do and you're happy knowing that it's fixed correctly.

I agree with SoundGuy, there's nothing wrong with the pump, it's the vibration that radiating through the rest of the camper.

I had a similar problem with my last Camper (Keystone Springdale). Fortunately, the pump was very easy accessible. I unscrewed it from the floor and bought a rubber (foam) type front door mat, like for your front porch at home. I cut a couple squares out of them, stacked them on top of each other, then put the pump on top of that. I then screwed the pump back to the floor, through both layers of foam, and did not tighten rock-solid hard, but left if somewhat loose, just enough it would not move around or shake loose when in use or when traveling down the road. That solved a great portion of the noise. It was reduced greatly. It still made noise, but nothing like it was originally.

My current camper has the pump attached to the side of a wall. Between the pump and the wall, is carpet. I think the carpet absorbs most of the vibration. The pump is right beside the bed, and we can barely hear it when it runs. It was in an enclosed box that looked like a step. Funny, when we looked at the camper at the dealership an then did the walk through, I wanted to know where the pump was. Even the dealer had trouble finding it because it was so quiet.

Cushion the pump and anywhere you can see pipes, wrap some foam or some insulation around those spots that touch anything. This will greatly reduce the vibration noise.

Nothing wrong with your pump. You have a good pump.

Even a loud pump shouldn't be that loud. Have you run the pump long enough to get any air out? Does the pump supply a good stream of water?

I just quieted down my pump considerably by getting rid of the hard PEX tubing as old guy suggested. I already had a braided soft tube supplying water from the FW tank to the pump. But the output side of the pump was PEX. I cut that out and inserted braided clear tubing, as well as an accumulator pump. That really helped a lot to quiet it down. I also mounted my pump on a sponge. Some place a mouse pad or some similar rubber pad between the pump and the plywood.

JohnG4706 wrote:
The pump is under the sink and not jumping when turned on. It is probably the cheapest pump they could get, I believe it's a Sure Flo.

SHURflo has been in the pump business for eons and your's is hardly a "cheap" pump ... millions have been used in RVs over the years and although the venerable Classic model is now discontinued it's been replaced by the even better Revolution series. Clearly you don't understand that it's not the pump itself that's noisy but a poor installation by the trailer manufacturer that allows any minor pump vibrations to be induced into the trailer body and be amplified. Your task Mr Phelps, should you choose to accept it, is to isolate that pump so any vibrations can't radiate out to the body of the camper. Isolate the pump itself with foam, wrap any hard wall PEX with foam pipe wrap, and prevent any of that PEX from contacting hard wall surfaces of the trailer by securing them with nylon cable ties. Finally, the most effective way to dampen the racket is to install a significantly longer braided hose on the pump output, before it connects to any hard wall PEX ... I used 25' of potable water hose, as illustrated starting here (3 pics, 1 video) ... how 'bout that Mr Phelps, that pump that's now barely audible is a "cheap" SHURflo Revolution pump! :R