Water pump

[jordano]

Our Autotrail Cheyenne has not been used for a few months went to use the shower it came on but with good pressure, but stopped after about 30 seconds if I leave it for ten minutes it starts again but stops again the tank is 75% full and battery's are fully charged there is one thing I can think of, we are not level, can this stop the pump working?

[bolero boy]

when you say 'it stops' do you mean the pump cuts out or that warer seems to run out, ie getting spray then air....?

it may be the pipes need bleeding of air after a period of nin use.

does the other taps (kitchen and washroom sinks) work properly on both hot and cold?

[Derek Uzzell]

jordano

 

As there is plenty of water in the tank I can’t see how your motorhome being out of level could stop the shower working.

 

As bolero boy advises, the first thing to establish is whether the problem applies only to the shower or to the other water outlets too. If you turn the kitchen-sink taps on, does the water from the taps flow indefinitely, or does the flow also stop after 30 seconds?

 

I believe your Cheyenne is 2009-vintage and (based on your earlier postings) that you will have owned/used it long enough to know how its water system should operate when it’s functioning properly.

 

It’s likely that the water-pump will be a SHURflo pressure-sensitive type, so you should be able to hear this rattling away when water is being delivered to the shower/taps. Presumably what’s happening is that the pump runs for a while (and should be audible when it’s running) and then just stops. If that’s correct, I’d expect the pressure of the water flowing from the shower-head/taps to drop simultaneously with the pump stopping and the flow of water then to dwindle quickly. If you leave the shower (or the taps) turned on when the pump has stopped, does the pump spontaneously begin to operate again after 10 minutes, or are you turning the shower/taps off, leaving them off for a while and then turning them on again?

 

I’m guessing that the problem lies with the water-pump (that, if original, will now be 6 years old) and it could be theorised that the pump overheats, cuts out, cools down and then restarts, and that this sequence repeats. A generic SHURflo guide can be found here

 

http://tinyurl.com/h92j3nc

 

and the Troubleshooting section includes the question “Is the motor hot? Thermal breaker may have triggered; it will reset when cool.”

 

Dunno – I’d want to see the problem happen and, if it looks like the water-pump may be the culprit, I’d want to remove it and test it.

[George Collings]

Sounds like a poor electrical connection that has a high resistance so it quickly gets hot and breaks down. After cooling it goes through the cycle again. Check the 12 V fuses by removing and replacing a few times. If that works gently clean off (dose of contact cleaner) and with a bit of luck problem solved for a while or better.

 

If no luck there working back from the pump check any plug in connections using similar method. The electrical end of Shurflo pumps is reasonably reliable its the valves and diaphragm that get dodgy after a while due to the rubber/plastics hardening with age.