Shurflo Pump Problem

[anniepannieh]

We have a new to us 2004 Bessacarr E410 with aShurflo pump which is rather noisy but works ok for the kitchen sink tap and for flushing the loo but when it comes to the bathroom sink and shower taps, the taps provide water fairly smoothly for a very short time then the pump and the water delivery pulsates noisily (and makes the lights dim) it doesn't matter whether the demand is for hot or cold water. Anybody got any ideas whether this is likely to be a pump problem or a plumbing problem.

 

[TonyJones]

Hi Annie
If the pump does its job perfectly for the kitchen and loo, but not for the shower, it certainly LOOKS like "plumbing."
Only thing is, you mentioned the shower working ok "for very short time."The shower would normally be running for longer at a time than either the kitchen tap or the loo-flush, so you should try (if you haven't already) running the kitchen tap for a longer spell.
If the pump's the problem, then it'll almost certainly play up eventually (ie when the tap has run for as long as the shower would be). If the flow at the kitchen remains smooth no matter how long you run it for, then the pump must be ok, and it's something in the plumbing.
I'm not familiar with your bathroom (!), do you have separate basin and shower taps, or a shower head that pulls out of the tap unit to fill the basin? If the latter, it's worth pulling out the shower hose as far as it will go and examining it for signs that it's been kinked when retracted - that's happened to me once.
That's about as far as I can go from experience & intelligent guesswork - anything more complicated on the plumbing side will be specific to your model, so you'll either need someone with a similar-age Bessie or a motorhome dealer.

 

[anniepannieh]

Thanks Tony,
Hope this message displays ok as my screen disappeared, fingers crossed.
We messed around with the problem yesterday and found that when the system is cold you can run all or any mixture of the taps with no judder /pulsing at all. When the water is heated by mains (and the water gets very hot doing this) then the judder etc returns. It seems to be the cold feed from the pump to the taps thats boucning about then. It seems like a long shot but we thought we'd try heating the water by gas where you have a choice of temperatures, it may be a long shot but we'll see if it makes any difference. We don't really think it will but it does just get another possibility out of the way. I'll post again when there's any progress

 

[anniepannieh]

Further info re the Shurflo pump problem if anybody has any ideas we'd be glad to hear them.
Sorted out the incidence of the hammering and banging noise, it only happens when there's hot water in the system (which of course is when you want to use it) and you try to mix the water temperature down with more cold than hot, ie: getting the water so as it doesn't scald you in the shower. We can continue to use it but the noise is a nuisance, plus it can't be doing any good to the pump, and it's a noise bother for those parked around us. So all you bright folks out there let me know your theories. Many thanks.

 

[Retread]

Bit late on the scene but have you considered that the pump only pumps cold water, this is then forced into your boiler displacing the hot into your taps, I have a feeling that the boiler needs a service, personally from a safety point of view I would not have a hot supply of greater than 65°C which is jolly hot! Banging and crashing from the hot water system might well be caused by the boiler /plumbing being cooled down, can't hurt to have it checked out!