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Water pump noisy...

Rainier
Explorer
Explorer
Quick question.... My water pump is located under my kitchen sink area and it is pretty loud when it's being used. Instead of spending money on getting a new quieter pump, has anyone used insulation of some sort to wrap around the pump to help mute the sound?

Thx, Matt
30 REPLIES 30

SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
Carrier wrote:
What make of hose did you use?


Unfortunately many potable water hoses sold these days are braided for strength but that also makes them very stiff. I happened to have a 25' length that wasn't braided and therefore was quite pliable so I used that instead. Since my pump is a Shurflo that uses 1/2" NPT fittings I cut the 3/4" GH ends off the hose and used screw clamps to secure SHURflo Fittings to each end of the hose. I didn't know it at the time but Shurflo now also offers a Wingnut Swivel 3/4โ€ GHT (M) x 1/2โ€ NPT (F) adapter that would eliminate the need to cut the GH ends off the hose and if I were to do it again that's what I'd use.
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Carrier
Explorer
Explorer
SoundGuy wrote:
dewey02 wrote:
Wow, Soundguy. That was an incredibly effective solution. How do you have the piece of plywood mounted to the sponge, and how is the sponge mounted to the floor?


The pump is mounted to a piece of plywood with four screws that extend down into the foam, as well as some carpenter's glue between the wood and foam. As I recall I also just put a dab of glue on the underside of the foam to secure it to the floor but that's not really necessary as the pump with the hoses connected to it really can't go anywhere anyway.

FWIW, we've owned numerous campers over the years from popups, to a hybrid, to travel trailers and I've tried all the usual pump silencing methods everyone else has tried - different pump, isolating the pump, foam pipe wrap, securing water lines with nylon cables ties, adding an accumulator tank, you name it BUT none of them,even in combination, has ever been anywhere near as successful as significantly extending the length of the output hose before it interfaces to the trailer's hard wall PEX water lines.


What make of hose did you use? Not sure if I would have room for 25' of hose where the pump is on my 3008 Windjammer. But will check it out this weekend. Though we have it at a seasonal sight and rarely use it it is annoying when we do.

TechWriter
Explorer
Explorer
I used neoprene compression mounts on my pump, an Aquajet, and they seem to have done the trick -- my pump install

The mounts also function to keep the pump above the floor in case the floor gets wet.
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SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
dewey02 wrote:
Wow, Soundguy. That was an incredibly effective solution. How do you have the piece of plywood mounted to the sponge, and how is the sponge mounted to the floor?


The pump is mounted to a piece of plywood with four screws that extend down into the foam, as well as some carpenter's glue between the wood and foam. As I recall I also just put a dab of glue on the underside of the foam to secure it to the floor but that's not really necessary as the pump with the hoses connected to it really can't go anywhere anyway.

FWIW, we've owned numerous campers over the years from popups, to a hybrid, to travel trailers and I've tried all the usual pump silencing methods everyone else has tried - different pump, isolating the pump, foam pipe wrap, securing water lines with nylon cables ties, adding an accumulator tank, you name it BUT none of them,even in combination, has ever been anywhere near as successful as significantly extending the length of the output hose before it interfaces to the trailer's hard wall PEX water lines.
2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
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2003 Fleetwood Yuma * 2008 K-Z Spree 240BH-LX
2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH * 2000 Fleetwood Santa Fe
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SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
It's the length of the output hose that's important, the input hose is irrelevant. That's why SHURflo's so-called pump silencer kit doesn't live up to it's name - the two hoses are each only 3' long. :R

Prove it to yourself - remove the pump entirely and put it on your workbench, drop a short hose into a container of water, and connect a looped 25' length of potable water hose to the output. Turn the pump on and what will you see? ... the looped output hose where it's connected to the pump will vibrate like crazy but as you look further along the length of the hose you'll notice the vibrations diminish appreciably and at the end of the hose there's little to none. No amount of pump isolation, wrapping hose in foam pipe wrap, adding an accumulator tank, nothing will come close to dampening pump vibration as will an extended length of output hose.

But hey, if you choose to not believe the video proof I provided then go ahead and ignore this solution which absolutely does solve the problem. :R
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dewey02
Explorer II
Explorer II
SoundGuy wrote:
Sam Spade wrote:
I think some gromets and an old mouse pad probably are my solution.


While isolating the pump helps, dampening pump vibration that radiates along the output hose is the solution that will absolutely render any of these pumps "silent". As clearly demonstrated in my video that dampening element was a 25' loop of potable water hose. :B

Wow, Soundguy. That was an incredibly effective solution. How do you have the piece of plywood mounted to the sponge, and how is the sponge mounted to the floor?

Searching_Ut
Explorer
Explorer
My water pump put many truck jake brakes to shame noise wise. I ended up using rubber anti fatigue floor mat chunk under pump, ran flex hose from output to an accumulator tank then again flex line between tank and trailer hard plastic tubing. I also used insulation tubing in a couple areas to make system virtually noise free.
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SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
Sam Spade wrote:
I think some gromets and an old mouse pad probably are my solution.


While isolating the pump helps, dampening pump vibration that radiates along the output hose is the solution that will absolutely render any of these pumps "silent". As clearly demonstrated in my video that dampening element was a 25' loop of potable water hose. :B
2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
2014 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2003 Fleetwood Yuma * 2008 K-Z Spree 240BH-LX
2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH * 2000 Fleetwood Santa Fe
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MikeInOregon
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Explorer
Our water lines were also noisy, but are much quieter now. Most of the noise was coming from under the kitchen counter where the pipes were vibrating against the wall. I put some foam around the pipes which helped a lot, but I still had more noise than I wanted. There was already a rubber mat under the pump, so I added an accumulator tank that helped with the noise and also reduced the on/off cycles as the pump is running. We still hear the pump, but there is no longer a loud noise when the water is running.
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Sam_Spade
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Explorer
Dick_B wrote:
Please search this Forum for `water pump' then search the results for `noise' or `noisy' or `loud' etc. This has been discussed at length. It's usually not the pump...


Before I became a member here...........

I paid for a new pump because the tech at CW insured me they would put in a quieter one. NOT. Better flow but not quieter.

And upon inspecting the installation, my pipes are all soft plastic so that's not the problem but it looks like the new pump is bolted solidly to the "floor" of the compartment it lives in.
I think some gromets and an old mouse pad probably are my solution.
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SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
I agree, it's not the pump itself but rather significant amplification of what little pump vibration there is to the point where it does become quite noticeable. :M The only reason I swapped out the Artis pump that originally came with my Coachmen was that I was gifted a brand new SHURflo Revolution so I now use the Artis as my Fresh Water Transfer Pump and used as such it's barely audible when running.

There's really no need for a forum search on the topic as the answers have already been provided here - isolate the pump, prevent the input / output lines from contacting cabinet walls, etc, and significantly extend the length of the output hose with soft wall potable water hose and one would be hard pressed to hear the pump operating at all. :B
2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
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2003 Fleetwood Yuma * 2008 K-Z Spree 240BH-LX
2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH * 2000 Fleetwood Santa Fe
1998 Jayco 10UD * 1969 Coleman CT380

Dick_B
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Explorer
Please search this Forum for `water pump' then search the results for `noise' or `noisy' or `loud' etc. This has been discussed at length. It's usually not the pump...
Dick_B
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DutchmenSport
Explorer
Explorer
My Springdale TT had noisy pump. After reading several threads on these forums, I decided to take the advise so many offered, and that was to put some kind of rubber under the pump.

After searching, I finally came up with a solution.

I purchased a rubberized household front door mat from Wall Mart and cut a piece of it out that the pump could rest on.

I simply unscrewed the pump from the floor, put the mat under the pump and screwed it back down, but did not tighten the screws. I left them loose, so the pump rested on the mat, but the screws held it from moving when traveling. This quieted the pump noise WAY down, but wasn't perfect. I lived with the noise for another 6 years before we traded campers for our current one.

Another trick is to put insulation (or swimming noodles ... cut them to size) over the pipes where they go through the walls and floors. This will also help eliminate the noise.

The pump itself is really not all that noisy. But, it causes vibration, and what you are hearing is the vibration of the pump being amplified through the pipes touching the walls and floors of your camper and radiating out like the speaker on your television. If you cushion the places where the pipes touch something, this will eliminate a good portion of the noise. Swapping out the pump will not help. You'll still have the same noise and be out the money. (but you would have a secondary back-up pump if it ever failed.... trying to think positive here you know!)



Oh ... what did I do with the rest of that mat? Well, I do a lot of wood woorking and I found the rest of that mat was great for making soft cushions for wood pieces once they were sanded down. It kept them from getting new scars or scratches. And it made a great friction mat, wood did not move when sanding when laying on top of it. So it worked great in my wood shop. Every inch of that mat was put too good use.

SoundGuy
Explorer
Explorer
Quieting a Water Pump (3 pics, 1 video).

Using the aforementioned techniques my pump is now barely audible so I wired in a light so I could tell at a glance when it's running. The trick isn't to enclose the pump but to instead dampen the vibration that radiates from the pump into the output line ... using an extended length of soft potable water hose (as illustrated) will do just that - guaranteed. :B
2012 Silverado 1500 Crew Cab
2014 Coachmen Freedom Express 192RBS
2003 Fleetwood Yuma * 2008 K-Z Spree 240BH-LX
2007 TrailCruiser C21RBH * 2000 Fleetwood Santa Fe
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DE88ROX
Explorer
Explorer
Ive read on here that some have re-mounted the pump on rubber washers to try and absorb some of the noise. have also read about people mounting them on old mouse pads.

Mine is a tad noisy as well. I have to remove a drawer to get good access to it. Haven't quite figured out to remove the drawer from the slide. Its not a big deal for me, so its one of those things i keep putting off
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