Noisy Water Pump

[Jimbob1]

Hi Everyone,

Have recently bought a Bailey Pageant Bourdeux caravan its a brilliant caravan we're very pleased with it,except the water pump when used sounds like a helicopter overhead or someone with a tommy gun.

Has anyone any ideas on quieting this pump at all please?Jimbob

 

[robert_374565566]

yes we had the same problem with our bailey pageant sancerre.took it back in to the dealer they said that we should notice the difference as they put some washes on the bolts but found not much difference, afraid its somethink we are having to live with.

 

[Chrissylizzie]

Hi Jimbob and Robert

This is a common problem with water pumps generally. We had the same thing on our Lunar and no amount of adjustment made any difference. There is a product called a surge-damper sold at caravan dealers, which can be fitted into the water line. We did this and immediately the noise stopped, and it has never returned. It cost either

 

[Royston]

All the Baileys that I have owned come complete with surge dampers fitted within the water system.

Royston

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi Jimbob,

You will have an inboard diaphragm pump, and these like a car engine have reciprocating components, hence the vibration. Some times it can be damped by mounting it in a resilient pad or squashy washers, or even relocating it to a more solid part of the caravan structure, but when it runs it will always vibrate.

Chrissylissie's solution to ad a surge damper, may help reduce the number of times the pump runs, but when it does it will run for a bit longer.

If the noise is too much for you, then the only real alternative is to remove your pump, replace it s with a pressure switch and none return valve (Usually built into the pressure switch), and fit an external pump connection unit and use a submersible centrifugal pump which is almost silent inside the caravan.

 

[grahamgreatbarr]

We have a Pegasus and the water pump sounds like a Pneumatic drill, our dealer says he will swop the pump and if it is any quieter we can have the new one, but if it isn't then we are lumbered.

What I would like to know is .... who is responsible for designing a pump with these characteristics and have they still got a job?

cheers Graham.

 

[Chrissylizzie]

We also had a new pump fitted which made no difference. The surge damper WAS the solution.

 

[grahamgreatbarr]

I think there may already be a damper in the system, it looks like a black plastic toilet roll tube and is inline with the pump.

I will go and get my manual out and check, cheers.

 

[grahamgreatbarr]

Yes Iv'e just been down to the van and its got a " Whale surge damper " fitted, perhaps its not doing its job

Its not black its white.

cheers graham

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello chrissy,

I am pleased that fitting a surge damper has made a difference to the noise, but from what I know of the way they work, by its self it will not change the noise the pump makes but it will affect how often and for how long the pump works.

I can only assume that something else happened when the surge damper was fitted, perhaps a pipe was rerouted that prevented it from vibrating against a wooden panel, or something like that.

Surge dampers became necessary in some caravans, because the storage water heaters like the Carver and Truma models all needed to have a small air cap in the tanks. This was to allow the water to expand when it was heated. The consequence of ths compressed air cap was that the hot water system attained a higher pressure than the cold water, and when a mixer-tap was opened ( for example in the shower) the pressure in the hot tank would push hot water out before the pressure switch on the cold would turn on. This gave alternate surges of hot and warm water rather than a steady temperature.

The solution is to provide a similar air cap for the cold water. This would act in a similar way to the hot, and smoothed or damps out the surges.

The only affect on the pump is to make it run slightly longer after the taps are closed whilst it builds up the pressure in both cold and hot systems, and delay the turn on of the pump when a tap is oped as the water is pushed out by the expanding air caps.

The pump only comes on when the cold water pressure drops below the switches threshold.

Diaphragm pumps will always be inherently more noisy than submersibles.

 

[Chrissylizzie]

Hi John

I can only speak from experience and previous to the surge damper being fitted the pump was expremely noisy, something like a sub-machine gun; it ran on long after the taps were switched off and sometimes we thought a very slight turn had solved the problem, only for it to start again shortly after.

We read about the surge damper and went straight out and bought one. My husband fitted it himself by just putting it in the existing water line and instantly it solved the problem. The pump now stops running almost as soon as the tap is turned off, there is no noise and I can only say that this is the result for us.

 

[Northwood]

I own a Bailey Limousin same problem, mine sounds like its about to blow up, cannnot use late at night or the dog starts barking in the dirrection of the water heater, its a Baiey. Very nice van if it was'nt for the problems. I have found the van looks brill from the outside, issues start when you use it. looking forward to selling mine.

 

[emmerson2]

Mount the pump on rubber.I bought four small rubber mountings with threads on both ends. Fit one end of each onto the pump bracket, then mount the pump on the other end. The result is an almost silent pump.This worked with my Shurflo, but I'm sure it could be adapted for any inboard pump.The bestr alternative, though, is an outside submersible pump.