Pre-Pressurized Accumulator Tank

[4aSong]

Considering installing a Shurflo 182-200 Pre Pressurized Accumulator Tank and I need to better understand how they work.
I know they will reduce the run time on the pump and eliminate the constant on/off/on of the pump that seems to occur all too ofter but just how does it do it?

[wmoses]

Bobbo wrote:
Do yourself a favor and get a 2 gallon accumulator tank. It will do everything the Shurflo tank will do, and will let you flush the toilet all night without the pump turning on once. It's cheaper too.

Nice job and good feedback on the larger, non-RV accumulator tank. Maybe next time I will use this tank.

[Golden_HVAC]

I put in a 1 quart accumilator tank when I first bought my RV and was very happpy with how quiet the pump was afterwords.

Fred.

[Bobbo]

Do yourself a favor and get a 2 gallon accumulator tank. It will do everything the Shurflo tank will do, and will let you flush the toilet all night without the pump turning on once. It's cheaper too.

Here is a picture of my 2 gallon tank installed under my kitchen sink. Note the bypass that I added so I can keep antifreeze out of the tank. It diverts the flow to a tube that I can then open to let the antifreeze fill the line going to the tank.

4aSong wrote:
My TT has a 4008 RV By-Pass Pump By SHURflo and the Installation and Maintenance manual says that there is no need for an accumulator with by-pass pumps. Will an accumulator help or hinder when used with this pump?

Note that "not necessary" is not the same as incompatible. The bypass pump doesn't do that pulsation thing the older pumps do, but the accumulator tank adds the ability to flush the toilet all night without the pump turning on. A bypass pump can't do that. For me, that was the more important of the issues.

[4aSong]

My TT has a 4008 RV By-Pass Pump By SHURflo and the Installation and Maintenance manual says that there is no need for an accumulator with by-pass pumps. Will an accumulator help or hinder when used with this pump?

[AH64ID]

hedge wrote:

ah64id wrote:

The bladder pushes everything out of the tank when empty, so the only place something sites is in the fitting and a few flushes is all it takes.

Honestly thou, you don't need to be putting pink fluid into the system. Blow the lines out and then use just enough anti-freeze to fill the pump, couple cups is all it takes.

ok, thanks.

I don't want to get into that debate. but I personally don't trust just air. It still has the possibility of collecting in low spots. I've known people it's happened to. It gets very cold here so I'm not taking the chance.

You should be fine, when you buy the tank look just inside the fitting and you will see the bladder sitting there.

When you do your spring flush don't let pressure build before flushing. Open all the faucets and then turn on the pump. This will keep the pressure from pushing any antifreeze into the tank.

Yes it does get cold there, we get below zero F for a bit every year and air always works if done properly. Do you ever get down to -50°F? Getting that cold it's worse to have RV antifreeze than blown out

[hedge]

ah64id wrote:

The bladder pushes everything out of the tank when empty, so the only place something sites is in the fitting and a few flushes is all it takes.

Honestly thou, you don't need to be putting pink fluid into the system. Blow the lines out and then use just enough anti-freeze to fill the pump, couple cups is all it takes.

ok, thanks.

I don't want to get into that debate. but I personally don't trust just air. It still has the possibility of collecting in low spots. I've known people it's happened to. It gets very cold here so I'm not taking the chance.

[AH64ID]

hedge wrote:
I'm considering adding one too. How does it affect the winterizing procedure? It seems to me that if you run anti-freeze into it that it may be hard to get out again. It appears from the pics that it isn't a passthrough design but shares the in/out so it seems to me that when you went to d-winterize the water may not push out all of the anti-freeze.

The bladder pushes everything out of the tank when empty, so the only place something sites is in the fitting and a few flushes is all it takes.

Honestly thou, you don't need to be putting pink fluid into the system. Blow the lines out and then use just enough anti-freeze to fill the pump, couple cups is all it takes.

[hedge]

I'm considering adding one too. How does it affect the winterizing procedure? It seems to me that if you run anti-freeze into it that it may be hard to get out again. It appears from the pics that it isn't a passthrough design but shares the in/out so it seems to me that when you went to d-winterize the water may not push out all of the anti-freeze.

[profdant139]

Aside from reducing the noise, I think that the accumulator reduces the total amount of electricity used by the pump (and thus reduces the draw on your battery when you are not plugged in). The total running time for the pump is much less than before I installed the accumulator -- instead of running continuously when the water is on, the pump runs in much shorter bursts.

[AH64ID]

We have a pressure tank and it's up there on the list of best mods. We get more than enough water for a nights worth of use, such as drinks, brushing teeth, and a couple quick flushes. This means no pump noise with sleeping kids.

It's also great for a constant light flow for dishes and other stuff.

[navegator]

I installed the pump on old loran shocks and the acumulator, today you can not hear the pump unless you are right next to the bathroom sink and then it only hums, the acumulator helps with having a constant flow of water with no pulsing.

Before the instal the pump sounded and felt like a jack hammer was beimg used in the RV.

navegator

[Trackrig]

I installed a Sureflow tank, I think it was a two gallon unit which allows about a gallon to run before the pump kicks on. If you install one, also install the quieting kit. It helps to cut down some of the noise and makes the installation easier. I believe the instructions tell you to check the air pressure in the tank before you install it. I can't be more specific because the MH is a long ways away right now. I believe the cost and installation time was worth it.

Bill

[12thgenusa]

The total pump run time to pump a given amount of water is still the same, however the volume of water that the accumulator contains can be used before the pump will be energized. Once it does come on it will run long enough to satisfy the demand plus whatever is needed to recharge the accumulator.

[wmoses]

4aSong wrote:
Considering installing a Shurflo 182-200 Pre Pressurized Accumulator Tank and I need to better understand how they work.
I know they will reduce the run time on the pump and eliminate the constant on/off/on of the pump that seems to occur all too ofter but just how does it do it?

Did you go to the Shurflo website?

http://legacy.shurflo.com/pages/Food_Service/beverage/accumulator_tanks/tanks.html

Typical instalations

Not sure what you mean by "how often it does it". Does what? It's activity depends on how long you run the water. It is just a small tank with a bladder diaphragm mid length with air on one side and water on the other. As the pressure drops on the water side the bladder equalizes the pressure up to a certain point and then beyond that the pump kicks in. In other words it fools the pump into thinking there is no pressure drop if only a little water is used and the pump does not come on. When it does it pressurizes the water side again and the cycle repeats itself until you shut the flow off.

It works and is a good and inexpensive modification which I automatically do when I get an RV.