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Old 02-09-2020, 05:44 AM   #1
Jeff n Susan
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Post Backup water pump

I am looking to add a a back up water pump to my rig.
Why? When I fill the fresh water I feel as it abuses the installed pump and I don't want it to crap out when I get a shower!
I am going to add one to my auxiliary water transfer tank that I haul when we go boon docking. That way I can fill the fresh water tank via the city water connection. I want it to be possibly interchangable in case I have to replace the OEM one. Any Recommendations to a flow rate or particular brand?
Has anybody done this?
 
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Old 02-09-2020, 06:37 AM   #2
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I'm sure you raised a few eye brows on this one. You're in a new trailer.



I've been RVing since 2003 and have had lots of problems over the years but never a pump issue. I've never even thought about this an a possible issue.


Just google it and you'll find lots of options however.



Since you will do it anyway, just get the same pump you have in your new trailer...
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Old 02-09-2020, 08:06 AM   #3
Jeff n Susan
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not sure if I want to stay with the OEM or upgrade to a 5GPM flow. Its only a few $$ more, but I think the cycling would be a lot less. Thus less wear. I'm just not sure if the higher flow rate would be interchangeable with the coaches plumbing. I do realize there would be fitting issues, I just wouldn't want to blow the lines apart!
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Old 02-09-2020, 09:12 AM   #4
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I don't think a higher flow rate pump would reduce cycling. The pump normally turns on when flow starts, and doesn't turn off until flow stops and pressure in the line reaches a preset limit to stop the pump. Essentially one cycle per use. If anything, I suppose a higher flow pump could possibly cause an increase in pressure during low flow and cause the pump to cycle on and off during low flow.


From years of reading here, the pump is a low maintenance minimal problem item.
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Old 02-09-2020, 09:26 AM   #5
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I replaced the pump in the old rig with a higher flow rate one and didn't see enough difference to do it on this rig. 9 years of full timing and so far never a pump problem, but I do still have the OEM one from the old rig as a spare.
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Old 02-09-2020, 09:46 AM   #6
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Instead of using an RV water pump to transfer water to the rig when dry camping, I use a Harbor Freight 12 volt pump and it has enough pressure at a very good flow rate to pump into the city water connection and is cheaper than a good RV pump. https://www.harborfreight.com/12v-dc...gph-63324.html
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Old 02-09-2020, 11:20 AM   #7
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Like others have said the water pumps are very reliable components, if anything simply by a backup pump and install if ever needed, putting it inline (as a bypass) is just another place to leak.
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Old 02-09-2020, 11:28 AM   #8
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Having a spare water pump is something you don't need ....until you need it. Wiring in and plumbing in an aux water pump is peace of mind redundancy. I can see his point. I think I'd just carry the spare until I need it if I was going to go to the expense of getting one in the first place. Getting real world data on water pump failure rates would be the deciding criteria.

That is the NAVY storekeeper in me talking though.
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Old 02-09-2020, 12:14 PM   #9
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I think rarely do the motors fail, but more often it’s the diaphragms or valves inside the pump mechanism that fail or gets a bit of grit that stops the pumping action. It might be easier to carry a rebuild kit with all the pieces that can be replaced.
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Old 02-09-2020, 12:43 PM   #10
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hmmm 75-100 dollars for spare pump or 25-30 dollars for a repair kit. If repairing something is your thing I'd get the kit, if you want to get back into operation fairly quickly I'd go for the spare. Choose your poison.
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Old 02-09-2020, 12:47 PM   #11
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No matter the flow rate of your water pump, you are still only going to get so much water out the spigot. The size of the water pipes and the restricted flow at the shower head, the kitchen sink and the aireator on it, will not permit any more water anyway.

The only problem I've ever had with a water pump in 21 years of RV ownership myself was when the screws wiggled loose on the pump diapharam and it let air suck in, causing the pump to cycle on and off for a split second ever 5 minutes or so.

But, as an FYI, here's what I use to transfer water from my auxiliary tank:





Here's the pump I'm using: Click Here. The reason I picked this one, which is a 120 v AC pump is because I have a 400 watt inverter I can hook up to any battery and run the pump.

But they do make one similar that is 12 volt DC only: Click here

The only down-side that might not work for your application is the fact, the pump runs all the time when powered up. It does not cycle on and off.

If you are wanting one that cycles on and off, you'd be better going with another RV water pump, perhaps one that is similar to yours already in the camper. It would need to be attached to the city in connection and then pressurized to keep it from running all the time. This would mimic being connected to a garden hose shore water.
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Old 02-09-2020, 02:05 PM   #12
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DutchmanSport, This is exactly what I had in mind! If my OEM pump ever quits, I could use this one to keep on camping! Thank you!
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Old 02-09-2020, 02:12 PM   #13
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Your original pump is probably noisy anyhow so why don't you just buy a shurflo pump which is much more quite and install it and save your old pump for a spare. This spare will probably never be needed but you can have a quite pump and peace of mind at the same time.
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Old 02-16-2020, 02:15 PM   #14
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Tractor supply has pumps , I also brig a 12V supply to run it than recharge I installed a gauge to make sure the pressure wasn't and issue bout with the overflow a repair dealer said there shouldn't be an issue.
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Old 02-16-2020, 02:59 PM   #15
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The big deal with a higher flow pump is that you will use your limited supply of water faster.
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Old 02-16-2020, 03:51 PM   #16
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I've been using a 35 gal stock tank and a 110v pump both from tractor supply for refilling our fresh water. On our very 1st trip in our new 2018 3811ms the water pump quit pumping, dealer gave us a new one, but didnt want the old one. I tinkered with it and got it to work again. Turns out I did something wrong and needed to prime the pump to get it to pump water.
I now carry this same pump as a back up because there is nothing more miserable than a pump quitting mid shower.
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Old 02-16-2020, 03:56 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BiggarView View Post
Having a spare water pump is something you don't need ....until you need it. Wiring in and plumbing in an aux water pump is peace of mind redundancy. I can see his point. I think I'd just carry the spare until I need it if I was going to go to the expense of getting one in the first place. Getting real world data on water pump failure rates would be the deciding criteria.

That is the NAVY storekeeper in me talking though.
We had a 1997 NuWa Hitchhiker II and never had a problem with the pump except when I forgot the pressure regulator (oops) and the hose clamp leaked on the pump. I think this would be way down on my ‘what if’ list.
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Old 02-16-2020, 04:23 PM   #18
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Fresh water tank filling up on its own

Had this same problem several years ago. The fresh water tank fills up even though lever is turned as to not fill tank. Took it too dealership at the time and they could not find the problem. Several people on the forum said it could be the stock water pump. Bought a new Shur-Flo pump and stopped the problem. This winter as I drained the system the fresh water tank continued to drain for about 1/2 hour, so I know the tank is filling up again after being hooked up to city water. Don't care to be hauling several hundred pounds of extra weight when I don't need the water. Are the check valves in the pump not doing their or what?
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Old 02-16-2020, 04:53 PM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Myers View Post
not sure if I want to stay with the OEM or upgrade to a 5GPM flow. Its only a few $$ more, but I think the cycling would be a lot less. Thus less wear. I'm just not sure if the higher flow rate would be interchangeable with the coaches plumbing. I do realize there would be fitting issues, I just wouldn't want to blow the lines apart!
Don't think you have to worry about blowing the lines apart. Pressure is the psi the pump will deliver. GPM is the volume of water the system will deliver. They increase the volume by using larger impellers on the pump without increasing the pressure.
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Old 02-16-2020, 09:43 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BB_TX View Post
I don't think a higher flow rate pump would reduce cycling. The pump normally turns on when flow starts, and doesn't turn off until flow stops and pressure in the line reaches a preset limit to stop the pump. Essentially one cycle per use. If anything, I suppose a higher flow pump could possibly cause an increase in pressure during low flow and cause the pump to cycle on and off during low flow.


From years of reading here, the pump is a low maintenance minimal problem item.
Easy way to reduce cycling would be to add an accumulator tank after the pump. A 2 gal one would reduce cycling & quiet the pump, on my upgrade list for this year.
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