Noisy Water Pump 2009 3400RL

[8e3k0]

Well , my son and I did some more investigation but first dewinterized the unit; then put some water to test all fittings etc. While doing the test we found that when the plunger is pulled up on the shower it works okay except water leaks at the tap and into the tube, all fittings are tight but the leak persists.
Also the water pump when building up pressure makes a lot of noise when your in the kitchen area and bedroom. We pulled all the basement rear panels and found a small leak at back of the valve station (lose fittings) Noticed that when the pump runs it echoes through the floor and into the living area of the Monty (it is monted on the main floor level). Tomorrow evening we are going to move the pump down on to the basement floor and just behind the valve station. It will still be behind the rear basement back panel plus we are going to place a rubber pad under the pump with screws to act as an insulator/isolator for a reduction of noise and echo. We do not have to shorten or extend any water lines with this change. Are these pumps normally noisy or is this one a dud?? Appreciate any advice, feedabck or experiences with this situation and Thanks again for all the help. Ellis

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Are these pumps normally noisy or is this one a dud??

Yes and you have the right idea for the cure. We use our pump very little and therefore put up with the noise BUT if I had to listen to that noise on a regular basis I would be doing the same as you.

[sreigle]

That's pretty typical of the OEM pumps, including ours. One thing that is supposed to help (I haven't tried it) is to insert some softer hose from the pump and connect to the harder OEM hose. That is supposed to absorb some of the vibration and lessen the noise. The only other option I know of is to replace the pump with one of those expensive quiet ones.

[KTManiac]

Yes, Mine was way too loud as it built pressure when nearing the shutoff point.

I also moved the electric water pump because two of the PEX water lines were forced hard over the top and against the pump head. I left it up on the main level though, so that I would have extra room for another noise reducing mod (more on that later). It sounded like a damned machine gun as the pump built up pressure just before shutting off. Would it kill them if they had to mount the pump on a 50 cent piece of rubber pad to isolate the vibration and noise of the pump??!!!

Well, now that is all done with a 4 layer alternating density pad, about 3/4" thick, that I concocted the other day out of medium dense neoprene rubber and soft closed cell foam. It helped a lot and cut down the noise quite a bit. It already had soft hoses on the pump inlet and outlet. I think the 2 PEX hoses that were laying tight against the pump head was the biggest culprit. Next, I am going to build a acoustic foam lined doghouse to cover the pump and cut down on pump noise some more.

While I was in there I did a lot of other cleaning up. What a complete rats nest it was under there!! The furnace flange was mostly separated from the floor duct, held in by one screw and some aluminum tape which was not doing the job. The basement was nice and toasty, while we were freezing our patooties off in the coach, ... Gee, I wonder why?!?!?! 3 more screws fixed that problem.

There were two flat 110v quick disconnects laying on the floor, 6" from the water pump, just waiting for a little flooding so they could short out and fry the whole electrical system. Got those up off the floor.

Untangled and reorganized all kinds of crazy configurations of wires and PEX lines to eliminate them from resting against any possible sharp edges to guard from electrical shorts and water leaks.

Tightened all of the Flair-it fittings on the water system. Used foam pipe insulation to isolate PEX lines from the floor, each other, and any chafe points.

Used split rubber hose to grommet sharp edges where wires and hoses came through "bulkheads".

I can't believe the things that they can get away with and still get the RVIA seal of conformance! Heck, on our model, the kitchen sink plumbing is directly above where the electrical panels are, with no shielding from a possible fixture failure and resulting waterfall. Gonna have to do something about that soon.

Next on the list is dropping the belly and search for more disasters waiting to happen! The fun just never stops!!!!

[OntMont]

Camping World (and others no doubt) sell an electronic add-on for the stock pump that converts it into a flow controlled pump. We found that this helped the noise level greatly. We did all the re-routing and padding type fixes, and they did help some, but this controller really makes it much quieter. It is much cheaper than a replacement pump, and only requires minor mods to the existing plumbing and wiring.

On edit: I went looking for a link to this product, but I can no longer find it. Maybe it has been discontinued.
I'll try to find the part number next time I'm in our trailer.

[8e3k0]

We moved the pump down on the basement floor with two 3/8 inch layers of rubber under the pump. Rerouted a lot of the hoses, wires and ducting similar to KTManiac. Also used some fiberglass insulation as a barrier wall to absorb the pump noise. The pump works well and no more annoying noise. WOW! From there I caulked a lot of holes that I could see daylight through from inside the basement inclusive of the frame areas. Also added self tapping screws to the insides of all the entrance door frames to the basement, propane access doors, generator access door, and the battery/ hydraulic pump compartment door. Some of these frames only had 4 screws and many were lose. Anyway great progress today and proud of my accomplishments. Pure Predictive and Preventative Maintenance I would say !! Ellis

[jars]

We have a 2007 model pump has always had a loud noise. Found out that where you put the anti-freeze in was sucking some air which affected noise and prime. So I put a fitting that you blow out lines with and tighten it no more noise and the pump keeps prime.

Dick Smith 1529

[richfaa]

The RVIA seal means little. RVIA standards are voluntary. There is no enforcement..Look it up. It would of course behoove the manufacturer to adhere to them....but... to adhere means more cost. Some of the pump noise can be due to unsecured lines banging against the floor and walls. You are never far from that pump hence it is very noisy in any case. We did all the things KtManic post and more on advise from this forum.

[dsprik]

Just went out to the 3400 and looked at my bulkhead. Since we had to run our unit into the dealership for a month or so of work, we totally emptied the basement. NOW is the time to pull the bulkhead and play around with the pump and furnace.

Well... one of the bulkhead screws is missing and another is laying in the floor. I have pulled that bulkhead probably 3-4 times. The screws main purpose is basically to keep the bulkhead from jiggling around - there is no pressure or gravity that tries to move it. I am looking at my package of heavy duty velcro laying on the floor that I need to put away and it got me thinking...

Don't need a lot of it... Sure would be handier than the screws. I will let you know how it works...

Dick, where was that leak in your winterizing connection? Inside the bulkhead or outside in the shore station?

[TAKPAK]

Our 2007 3400 pump made a horrible noise when we first got it. I also checked in the pump area and found loose screws, piping against the walls, etc. I secured everything, moved the lines away from surfaces and insulated them wherever they touched something. One other thing I did was to add one of the expansion tanks you can buy for these pumps. If I remember right, mine is a Flo-jet. Small tank with an air bladder. Attached right to the pump and the water line, no tools needed. That quieted the pump down a lot, plus it cycles a whole lot less too.

[8e3k0]

Our pump noise has been elimainated with the changes to lines and pump. One must realize that is the pump is the cheapest on the market and made in China with a very low pump displacement. We may replace this later on with a quality pump that has a higher displacement for output and reliability plus install a expansion tank. Ellis

[KathyandDave]

On a related note, we had to replace the converter under the stairs in our 3400RL because of strained wiring and loose connections in the converter. I found the usual rat's nest. Also, the supports for the stairs were inadequate. So, I reorganized some of the wiring and tubing, relocated the receptacle for the converter, installed proper bracing to accept the stairs and rebuilt the stairs. Now, the stairs don't wiggle when you walk on them and the converter is solidly secured to the floor with secured wiring. We have the same noisy pump problem as others report, so I guess I'll be "going in" again this summer. Thanks for the great posts.

[dsprik]

Just finished playing around in my basement with that area. I insulated all pex water lines that were touching and also insulated (1/2" pipe foam) one hose that was laying on a sharp metal edge of the furnace. Also I used Gorilla tape to tape a couple of wires that were laying right on top of the furnace. Can't believe I didn't have a problem with that...

BTW, I did not use my velcro idea. I just put the screws back in and caulked them.