Tech Tips: All Pumped Up PDF Print E-mail
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Written by Russ and Tiña De Maris   
Friday, 01 July 2011 00:00

One of the most common plumbing complaints among RVers is a badly behaving water pump. Whether the problem is noise, leaks or “no water,” some folks believe pumps just suck.

But pulling a defective water pump out of an RV and slipping in a new one isn’t a difficult task. We’ll focus on the removal and replacement of the Shurflo water pump that is found in most RVs on the road today.

A water pump is ready for removal.First, you’ll need to know if your fresh-water tank is higher, lower or on the same plane as your water pump. Unless the tank is much lower than the pump, you’ll first need to empty the tank, lest you have water rushing into your RV by gravity flow. You may need to look around a bit to locate the valve that drains the tank.

With the pump’s master electrical switch turned off and all water drained from the fresh-water tank, you can tackle the removal portion of the job. Don’t attempt to disconnect the leads that run directly into the pump switch—on a Shurflo, these are typically red in color, and have push-on connectors.  One of the leads will trace back to the pump motor, the other is the one you’ll want to chase down to the power coming from the RV’s electrical system. The other black lead coming from the pump connects to the other side of the electrical system. Both the red and black leads may be connected to the RV wiring with a crimp connector—in this case you’ll need to cut the wires loose as close to the connectors as possible.

Next you’ll need an end wrench or possibly a “water pump pliers” (aka Channellock) to remove the water line fittings from the pump. Have a towel or absorbent rag at hand as there will likely be some amount of water in the lines that will gush out when these are disconnected.

With the pump out of the way, it’s time to wipe up the “dust bunnies.”Water pumps are usually held in place either on a bulkhead or floor with three screws running through a rubber “foot” that absorbs vibration and cuts some of the noise. If your replacement pump is identical in size and layout, you may be able to simply pry the rubber feet loose from the pump, leaving the screws in place; then with the feet removed from the new pump, pop the new pump over the existing feet. This can be helpful if the pump is located in a tight fitting location where getting the screws loose is a problem.  In practice, we’ve found pulling the feet more of a hassle than a blessing. With the old pump out of the way, clean up your work area, freeing it from water and dust bunnies. 

Replacing the dead pump with the new is basically a “reverse order” procedure.  However, give thought to the mounting screws that hold down the pump. In one instance we found our pump OEM screws were square heads. As much as we like using square heads, the pump was tucked way back in a dark corner of a low-clearance closet.  Since we couldn’t see the screw to appropriately line up the driver tip to get it out, there was a lot of grumbling frustration before completing the task. When the new pump went in, we used Phillips head screws to make it easier to remove if there is a “next time.”

Replacement pump is installed, and use of a wire tie makes for neater installation and reduces chance of wires being pulled loose.If you bung up the threads on the water line fittings, or in any other way need to replace them, don’t immediately assume you’ll need to spend a huge amount of money on these simple plastic fittings. We’ve seen some dealers ask seven or more dollars for this little fitting, but other dealers are quite a bit more reasonable.  A couple of phone calls may be in order before you head out shopping. 

In this same vein, when you reattach the water lines to the pump, don’t overdo it on the torque.  Simply hand-tighten the fittings, then give a little snug with the wrench.  After you get water back in the fresh tank, add a bit of electricity for good measure, flip the switch, and check for leaks.  Tighten only enough to rid yourself of the leakage.  Overdo it and you may easily crack the fittings.

Russ and Tiña De Maris are authors of RV Boondocking Basics—A Guide to Living Without Hookups, which covers a full range of dry camping topics, and of Camp Hosting USA—Your Guide to State Park Volunteering. Visit icanrv.com for more information.

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Joel Orlinsky
Why not fix it?
written by Joel Orlinsky, March 11, 2012
The most common problem with these pumps is leaking or torn seals. There are inexpensive repair kits available that make replacing the seals an easy job.

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