PART #4 OF 8
MADE IN CHINA
There's so many pumps to choose from, my poor German Shepherd suffered heart palpitations when I subcontracted the online research to him. Personally I'd avoid the weird Chinese brands on sites like Amazon – they have little or no brand name to protect. That said, Made in China is NOT the bugaboo many think it is since many Fortune 1000 firms manufacture premium products in their Chinese plants. The Uniroyal tires I put on my VW were made by Michelin in their Chinese plant, and were absolutely the equal of any Michelin tire made in their U.S. plants. Corporate and ISO quality standards/audits help ensure that. On the other hand, a water pump engineered AND made AND sold by a Chinese firm, well that's problematic for me. Bottom line: You're NOT buying a country of manufacture. You're buying a brand name, or lack of same, and everything that brand name represents. Made in China is NOT a quality problem – it's WHO makes it in China that matters. Fortune 1000 firms routinely make first-rate products in their Chinese plants. But Chinese companies? Well, typically not so much...
SO WHICH PUMP?
So what brand and pump model to buy? There's lovers and haters for every pump model available, and you can wade into that deep end of the pool if you like via the Amazon buyer reviews. Rather than a subjective "Best water pump" thread, I'll stick to generalities here and comment on several U.S. brands and the reliability that suggests. (Sorry, Seaflo, a Chinese firm.)
Pumps I would suggest considering, in random order, include the Lippert Flow Max, the Valterra HydroMax (both Lippert and Valterra are large OEM parts suppliers to the RV industry), Shurflo pumps (various part numbers), and Flojet pumps (various). These are all established U.S. brands with generally good reputations. There’s a few other U.S. brands as well, but they’re less common.
