sundancer268 Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 I ditched the Shurflo and went with a FloJet pump. Much better quality pump often used in higher end boats for the fresh water systems and bait/fish wells and deck washdown systems. Jabsco is the marine version of this pump line. My Flojet 4325-143* is a Jabsco 31620-0092 and has been in service first on my boat and then moved to my travel trailer and then to the motor home. The TT Shurflo went in to the boat prior to listing for sale. Motor Home Shurflo went into the TT as we no longer use it for longer trips. U.S. Navy GSMC(SW) (RETIRED) 1993-11-01, 26 years service with 23 years of that active and 3 years reserve. Now retired after 20 years at local hospital in the maintenance department. 1995 Gulf Stream Scenic Cruiser 34' DP W/6Spd Allison. Road Master Sterling All terrain, Air Force One, towing new 2019 Jeep Cherokee Elite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Art, if you use any smaller type in your posts I'm going to have to get out my magnifier! Size=NaN translates to "Not a Number" but the size has to be a number, so the forum is confused and doing strange things to your posts. If nothing else when you copy/paste your posts use the "paste as plain text" paste option, the post will drop any fancy formatting but it will be readable. This is what a snip of your post actually looks like to the forum: [size=NaN][font='times new roman']Rockin - Yes, I do have a 4008 water pump by Shurflo. I think that I have replaced 4 water pumps over the past 2 years. Interesting that the original water pump still works.[/font][/size] If you blow on the end of the backflow valve you had hooked to the pump does it let air flow? It should and shouldn't need a lot of pressure to let it flow either. Power draw of the pump in operation will vary in my experience. A big spike to start, less as it runs but rising with the water pressure up to the cut-off pressure. If you open a couple faucets so there is little pressure you'll see low power draw but if you crack just one to the point the pump barely keeps running you'll likely see a bit more. It all comes down to how hard the pump is working to pressurize and move the water. In any case you'll run out of water long before you run out of battery. :-) First rule of computer consulting: Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day. Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crstrm Posted September 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Stan, Sorry about the font size and thanks for the info. I hope you can read this better. When I blow into the end of the backflow valve air does not flow through. Is this an indication that the check valve is bad? Looks like I will have to go to a RV supply store and get it replaced. Any recommendations on the brand or model to look for? Art 2016 Leisure Travel Van Serenity S24CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianT Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 I'm puzzling over this one a little bit. If I put a check valve on the pressure side of the pump, it would keep city water from backflowing into the fresh water tank. When on a city water connection, the pump would be turned off. No problem. But what happens when the city water connection is disconnected and we turn the pump on? Is the check valve going to interfere with the pressure that the pump sees to turn on and off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Brian, not if it is working properly, it should have less than a pound of resistance to the water flow, similar to the one that is on your city water inlet. You'd need a pressure meter to see the difference between no valve and a properly working one. Art, if you can't blow though it it is either bad or designed for much higher pressures, like an air or steam system. Like I mentioned to Brian above it should work just about like the one in your city water inlet. It shouldn't happen but maybe the valve is marked backwards and the arrow is reversed? Just to see what happens try blowing on it the other way. If you still can't get any water through it try hooking it up to city water, maybe with a bit of duct tape to make the connection and see if you can get it to flow anything that way. First rule of computer consulting: Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day. Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yarome Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Power draw of the pump in operation will vary in my experience. A big spike to start, less as it runs but rising with the water pressure up to the cut-off pressure. If you open a couple faucets so there is little pressure you'll see low power draw but if you crack just one to the point the pump barely keeps running you'll likely see a bit more. It all comes down to how hard the pump is working to pressurize and move the water. In any case you'll run out of water long before you run out of battery. :-) If battery draw is an issue, one could always install an accumulator tank. They have different sizes, but the 1-liter job works well for me (single) and really cuts down on pump power usage. There are other cheaper tanks that I'm sure would work. Longer runs with fewer initial startup's saves more than you might think. I've also found it helps with 'hose jerk' and a lot better hot water control in the shower without the pump cycling. I would imagine it probably saves on pump wear and tear as well, but I'm not sure about that yet. I only installed mine about 2 years ago and haven't had occasion to dig into my pump yet to check it out, but it would seem to reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 We liked our small accumulator that we had in our first fiver, aside from less pump cycling it really cut down on pump noise as we had it connected to the pump directly and then a loop of flex hose to cut vibration going to the trailer's plumbing. We were not so happy that it was so small, the pump still started and stopped a lot with our typical boondocking water use, just a trickle, but way less than before. On our second fiver we put another small one on the pump ahead of the flexible hose for the noise and vibration reduction. We also added a big one in the basement, just cut it into the line leading to the toilet. It really doesn't matter where you hook one of the accumulators into the system from a pressure standpoint so find some wasted space and stuff one in it. We never paid a lot of attention to power use but several dozen starts while washing dishes surely is going to use more power than less than a dozen for the small accumulator and one or maybe two with both. In Art's situation I'd skip doing anything until I had the system working again, then I'd put a small accumulator between the check valve and the flex hose leading to the trailer's plumbing lines. Try it for a while and think about things before going for one of the big ones. First rule of computer consulting: Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day. Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crstrm Posted September 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Stan, I shoved a ½ hose into a water spigot. On the other side of the hose I inserted a PVC barb stem connector. The check valve was then screwed into the other side of the PVC barb. The arrow was pointing away from the water spigot. I turned on the water spigot part way and water came through the check valve. The only difference in the above configuration for the water pump is that the check valve is connected to a Pex hose that runs throughout the rig. Sorry, I don’t understand how water flows through the check valve in one situation and not the other. Thanks for being patient with me. Art 2016 Leisure Travel Van Serenity S24CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crstrm Posted September 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 Stan, I mentioned this in a prior post, but it might be important. When I installed the check valve on the "pressure" side the pump did not work. No hum, nothing and of course no water. After I removed the check valve the pump started pumping water. Cheers, Art 2016 Leisure Travel Van Serenity S24CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skp51443 Posted September 12, 2015 Report Share Posted September 12, 2015 Art, If the check valve was stuck the pump would only turn a small amount, likely only a fraction of one rotation, before pressure built enough to trip the pump's pressure sensor stopping the motor. You might very well have missed that happening, it goes by fast. Since the valve flows water under pressure (more than you can make by blowing on it though) it is probably working. All I can think of is that it is a high pressure valve of some sort and it creates enough back-pressure that the pump shuts down just as it would if the valve were defective. I don't know what more to suggest at this point but if I was you I'd open up the pump head and clean it, hoping that eliminated the need for the frustrating check valve. First rule of computer consulting: Sell a customer a Linux computer and you'll eat for a day. Sell a customer a Windows computer and you'll eat for a lifetime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crstrm Posted September 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 13, 2015 Stan - Everyone, Thanks for all of your advice. Stan - my next step will be to open up the water pump and see if there is dirt, etc in it. Thanks Stan for giving me an education I will post a solution if I find one. Cheers, Art 2016 Leisure Travel Van Serenity S24CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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