sureflo water pump

[boxerbob62]

morning everyone, does anyone know how to reduce the pressure in a sureflo pump?the one in my van seems to be putting to much water into the henry heater and it cant cope with it.

[Derek Uzzell]

To the best of my knowledge the flow-rate/pressure of the type of SHURflo water-pump normally fitted to motorhomes cannot be reduced by adjusting the pump itself.

 

As will be seen from this advert

 

http://www.thecaravanshop.co.uk/waterpumps/accessories/shurflo-water-pumps/cat_16.html

 

SHURflo pumps are marketed with differing flow rates and different preset pressures. So, if your SHURflo pump were, say, a 12V “Trailking 10litre 45psi” model you could reduce the output pressure by replacing it with the 30psi version, or really reduce the flow-rate and pressure by fitting a 7litre 20psi pump.

 

There are generic instructions for SHURflo pumps here

 

http://www.holdsworth.vwt4camper.info/SHURfloWaterPumpInstallationAndOperationManualT4WM.pdf

 

You’ll see that it’s possible to adjust a pump’s pressure-switch to address ‘rapid cycling’ or if the pump runs too long after a tap is turned off, but such adjustment will not alter the pump’s factory-set pressure or flow-rate.

 

You haven’t provided any details of the motorhome involved, but I believe the Henry water-heater is normally installed as a replacement for the obsolete Carver Cascade appliance. When a motorhome has a SHURflo pump, this tends to be the basic 7litre/20psi model and this is normally perfectly adequate. If your vehicle has that pump I would expect the Henry heater to be able to handle the pump’s flow/pressure without any difficulty provided that there is no problem with the heater. You haven’t said what has led you to conclude that the pump is too ‘powerful’ for the water heater, but if the heater is leaking it’s more likely that the fault lies with the heater not the pump.

 

(It is possible to obtain pressure-reducers for caravan/motorhome water systems, but these reduce the pressure of a mains water-supply to the leisure vehicle. I don’t recall reading of anyone wishing to lower the pressure of water delivered by a caravan/motorhome pump, though there have been instances where people have inquired about obtaining a higher water pressure.)