Modern RV water pump time.

[crispyboy]

I guess I am lucky because we just have the typical Shurflow pump and the trailer is a 1994 similar to what is shown in the first picture. I have owned this trailer going on 10 years now. I installed a stiff closed cell piece of foam material between the floor and the pump, installed an accumulator and put a few pieces of pipe insulation here and there and you can barely hear the pump. This pump seems to have decent enough pressure for a good shower and doing dishes, etc.... Getting all the air out of the system is key to having quiet pipes.

 

[Ozymandias]

I checked that pump out and it failed my criteria as the warranty is void if the water is over 104 degrees F. Nice pump otherwise. Summer here can take water in the tanks over 104F easy.

I was just looking for a friend of mine.
Marco has several different pumps, and the one with the PTFE gears is warranty wise limited to 104F. The other pumps don't have that limit. There it is 85°C.

 

[rikbakke]

I replaced a Shurflo Revolution pump with a Remco -AES pump. The Remco was bad out of the box. Also, the manufacture date on the Remco was at least 3 years earlier than my date of purchase. Freshwatersystems.com gave me a full refund and did not want the pump back - very nice.
I bought another Shurflo and installed it after calibration in a homemade flow rig. One thing these revolution pumps don’t like is junk in the freshwater or organic slime buildup if it sits awhile. The symptom is usually the pump check valve leaks when under city water pressure, slowly filling the freshwater tank. The solution Is usually running a lot of bleached freshwater ( think yearly tank sanitizing strength) through the pump after cleaning the upstream filter mesh. Beats removing and dissembling the pump to clean. Or run a few gallons of bleached water from the winterizing intake before the pump if you aren’t sanitizing the freshwater tank

 

[BigPapa]

Y’all forgive me if I’m way off base here. I’ve never messed with an RV, I didn’t even know they had water pumps. Anyway, the pumps your talking about look an awful lot like the heater booster pumps on our school buses. I don’t know if the flow or pressures would work out, but we have gone to this Ametek DurA-Tek pump. They’re pricey, but they’re supposed to last a long time. There’s no seals except for an o-ring between the impeller “bowl” and the head. Being a heater booster pump, heat’s not going to be a problem.

This link is the best description, pics, and video I found, not a suggestion of where to buy.

https://www.directindustry.com/prod/ametek-dynamic-fluid-solutions/product-14270-2008131.html

 

[Ozymandias]

I guess they won't work at all as we need pretty high pressure (30-60psi) and a pressure switch that shuts the pump of at the desired pressure.

 

[Tuesdak]

@rikbakke Same place I purchased mine from due to their reputation as they were not the low bidder. Was back ordered and arrived a month later. Still need to get it installed after some other "shop" work gets finished.

 

[slowmover]

“Duty Cycle” is, IMO, a culprit. High demand (time) and high volume. Wiring not up to the task. Those three are the stresses.

Heavier wiring, “bigger” pump, and look to replace 90 with two 45 joins.

Like everything else on todays RVs, they’re as cheap as can be.
Ownership of RV is about five years of actual use.

The industrial pump above is a good start to investigate the pieces that matter.

An RV is self-contained due to two (2) factors:

1). A volume of potable water
2). A volume of propane.

These two systems have priority. Electricity is optional — not needed — except for the furnace fan and water pump. A travel trailer has no need of an electrical system past road lights, brakes and the above. It is then ready for camping.

Understand that survival always has precedence and choose system components accordingly (for the day it matters).

FWIW, the early post-war trailers still used a foot pump below the sink. A nice addition if the trailer is a keeper.

 

[SnoKing]

“Duty Cycle” is, IMO, a culprit. High demand (time) and high volume. Wiring not up to the task. Those three are the stresses.

Heavier wiring, “bigger” pump, and look to replace 90 with two 45 joins.

Like everything else on todays RVs, they’re as cheap as can be.
Ownership of RV is about five years of actual use.

The industrial pump above is a good start to investigate the pieces that matter.

An RV is self-contained due to two (2) factors:

1). A volume of potable water
2). A volume of propane.

These two systems have priority. Electricity is optional — not needed — except for the furnace fan and water pump. A travel trailer has no need of an electrical system past road lights, brakes and the above. It is then ready for camping.

Understand that survival always has precedence and choose system components accordingly (for the day it matters).

FWIW, the early post-war trailers still used a foot pump below the sink. A nice addition if the trailer is a keeper.

Honey keep pumping I am in the shower!!!! You think RV are expensive, put B O A T in front of anything and check the price!

 

[SSage]

I think my water pump is original, 2005 vintage. Its on and wrapped inside a Styrofoam box, pipes have insulation around the pump, but its still loud enough to wake me up at night.

 

[Tuesdak]

You can imagine I was surprised to find this in the strainer. Looks like they drilled holes in the water tank and didn't clean out the filings. The winterizing 3 way valve had some of this stuck in it and is in bad shape as well.

So far the new pump is way quieter than the old one, but, you can still hear it run: a water conservation feature that lets you know when the water is running... It cycles on some low water flow settings: however the flow rate and pressure do not surge as bad as it did with the on/off fixed speed pump.

Drain the hot water heater before attempting this as it wanted to drain out into the pump area.

Made in USA and the production date was after I ordered it (Was on backorder).

Old pump leaking

 

[Ozymandias]

Aside from that, are you happy with that REMCO pump? Is it worth the money? Do you think it is really made in the US with US parts or just assembled or even only labeled there?

 

[Tuesdak]

Aside from that, are you happy with that REMCO pump? Is it worth the money? Do you think it is really made in the US with US parts or just assembled or even only labeled there?

Finally put the pump to the test. Spent 33 days in the RV filling the tank about every other day. (Vs. just using a hose and risking high water pressure damage at RV resort. )

I am glad I went with the lower volume pump as it can stabilize and run at a lower flow rate. Go below that flow rate and the pump shuts off, water nearly stops flowing, then it kicks back on again. Still a PIA to get the air burped out of it when priming it up. It won't shut off if it has air in it just like the last pump.

Much improved over the on/off pump I had.

Fresh Water Systems handles warranty claims painlessly. It died the day after I got the RV back home. Making unusual noise and water flowing back through it when it shut off. Then quit pumping completely in a few min. I have a box with a replacement pump ready to be installed when I get around to it...

The debris turned out to be from fill hose disintegration. It split open on me and made for a entertaining service call. One of those repairs you just pay someone else to spend an hour on their knees doing. The screen didn't pickup anymore debris during the long use.

 

[endoscott]

RV water filter store. Hoses and fittings are superb quality. Buy once, cry once, you won't be having split hoses to deal with. Heavy duty brass fittings. They also have excellent filters and adjustable pressure gauges to alleviate the worry of RV hookups. Great customer service, kind of like Genos. They sell water pumps too but I haven't tried one of those, mine is fine so far, although I did crack the screen bowl with lat years cold weather. Bad design since it doesn't drain by itself when you open drains, now I take it off and dump it out and blow out lines with air like I used to.

 

[Ozymandias]

Wait, the new pump failed again after just a month of use?

 

[Tuesdak]

Wait, the new pump failed again after just a month of use?

Yeah. New in 2021 pump failed after my first major long outing with it. The other one worked for like 18 years of Vacation and the PO's Retirement use.

 

[Ozymandias]

I still think that the MARCO would do the job perfectly, no matter what.
You run it in a Camper, in the "cold water" system, they won't deny a warranty.

And 104° in your tanks, I have a hard time with that without proof as we camped in 115° weather for weeks and the water in the tanks was never warmer then maybe 85° - still chilli to take a shower.

 

[Ozymandias]

Yeah. New in 2021 pump failed after my first major long outing with it. The other one worked for like 18 years of Vacation and the PO's Retirement use.

Like mine and the one in my buddies RV - I said they are crap.

 

[Tuesdak]

Like mine and the one in my buddies RV - I said they are crap.

Do you know what failed on them? Understandably I get nervous about the re-imagined specifications that stop at 104F say for generators and battery chargers. The construction of all ball bearing is a step above some other sleeve bearing pumps I have torn apart.

It didn't cool down overnight at all this year record electric demand and all. I had to replace the RV's fresh water and blank tank flush hoses. Used very little propane on the hot water heater...

Autopsy of the pump. Looks like it got hot. Looks like the internal seal blew out at some point. The valves missing and stuck in the inlet chamber took me a moment to release they weren't where they belonged. The upper assembly looks to have distorted from heat. Not going to be fixed with a simple valve housing assembly. Would need the Upper housing assembly as well. Due to likely heat damage I would also replace the Lower Housing Assembly.

The filter was clear when installed. Now it's white.

Blown O ring and two parts "missing".

Found them. (Upper right) The posts are no longer straight.

Ball bearings throughout the motor and pump. IMO the brushes are a little too hard.

 

[Ozymandias]

On mine the internal check valve leaked so the pump didn't stop running, ignored that and used the on/off switch instead for some time. Then the pump started to leak at the connection between pressure switch and body. That was the time to replace it, of course it failed in New Foundland... no pumps available there in short time.

My buddies, I don't know what failed there.

 

[Ozymandias]

Like said, i wouldn't worry about the 104 statement. Next time I'm in for a pump I go with MARCO - that's for sure. I'm done with that China cheap crap. The Italian one can't be any worse.