Ralph Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Early in my recent holiday I got trouble with my water pump. It's a large pump fitted just by the tank (ie: it's not the submersible type). The pump vibrated badly and the water flow reduced to a trickle. I took the van to a Pilote agent in France who decided that the pump needed to be replaced but that they would need to get one from Pilote. As that required 10 days and I wasn't staying in any one area that long I declined and put up with the trickle and just kept more water in pouring containers etc. Then one month to the day after it went wrong I turned on the tap to fill the kettle and it gushed and spat and went back to normal. I realise that it's not easy to diagnose a fault that's not there, especially by e-mail but does anyone have any ideas what happened? No air locks as far as I could tell and the tank was full. I'm obviously concerned that it might happen again but I don't want to replace a very expensive pump if I don't need to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike.wittamore Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Any chance of a blockage in the inlet pipe, a foreign body in the tank? A friend of mine had a similar problem in the cooling system of his boat, it turned out to be a muscle shell in the filter. He was in the channel shipping lanes at the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 mike.wittamore - 2009-10-12 10:11 AM Any chance of a blockage in the inlet pipe, a foreign body in the tank? A friend of mine had a similar problem in the cooling system of his boat, it turned out to be a muscle shell in the filter. He was in the channel shipping lanes at the time I don't think so. I checked this, and so did the man in France but we "thought" it was OK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted October 12, 2009 Share Posted October 12, 2009 Most pumps have a coa**e filter on the inlet side of the pump. Its worth a look to see if any debris (plastic swarf, plant or animal remains etc) has accumulated. If debris gets as far as the pump it might lodge under a valve for a while so the poor pump was pushing and pulling rather than building up pressure. Pump motors are pretty reliable but the plastic valves can get hard with old age. Spare valves and even complete pump heads are relativly cheap and avaliable from caravan dealers or yacht chandlers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 George Collings - 2009-10-12 5:24 PM Most pumps have a coa**e filter on the inlet side of the pump. ?? Sorry I don't understand this bit. I did check the filter and all seemed OK at the time. I'm interested that you say the pump head might be replaceable. I'll have to look into that as I'm sure it would be cheaper than changing the motor as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Sorry about the *** it must have got past my filter. Should read coa**e. What make of pump is fitted. I have pics of a dismantled Shurflo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Strange things happening *** should have read coa**e. as opposed to fine. lets see what happens this time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Did you mean C O A R S E George? The swear filter doesn't like A R S E. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Momma Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 On your main control panel do you have several options for 'Pump settings' ? I had a similar problem when away for a long weekend and thought my pump had failed. Just by chance I went through my control panel and found that inadvertently someone who shall remain nameless (The OH :D ) had for some strange reason been playing with the settings and had switched the pump seting from 'Internal' to 'External'. Switched it back and guess what ........ :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Thanks Dave, now I understand what was mucking me about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted October 13, 2009 Share Posted October 13, 2009 Funny that i expected mor blue pencil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted October 14, 2009 Author Share Posted October 14, 2009 George Collings - 2009-10-13 8:37 AM What make of pump is fitted. I have pics of a dismantled Shurflo. Not sure. I'll delve down to find out (it's a bit obscure) and get back to you. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Posted October 14, 2009 Author Share Posted October 14, 2009 Big Momma - 2009-10-13 10:15 PM On your main control panel do you have several options for 'Pump settings' ? Just on or off :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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