Help! Water pump lost prime

[Urlauber]

Need some help... My Pentair Shurflo pump lost its prime and does not want to work anymore. I cleaned out the water tank so that may have been the trigger.

Here is what I've done so far:

1. Ran it for 30 seconds to see if it would self-prime
2. Looked at it sternly
3. Filled the freshwater tank to the brim and started from 1)
4. Connected the city water fill to see if putting pressure on the water line would make any difference
5. Swore loudly

Anything else I could try? How long can it run w/o water before burning up?

[Rlum]

Originally Posted by Urlauber

Need some help... My Pentair Shurflo pump lost its prime and does not want to work anymore. I cleaned out the water tank so that may have been the trigger.

Here is what I've done so far:

1. Ran it for 30 seconds to see if it would self-prime
2. Looked at it sternly
3. Filled the freshwater tank to the brim and started from 1)
4. Connected the city water fill to see if putting pressure on the water line would make any difference
5. Swore loudly

Anything else I could try? How long can it run w/o water before burning up?

You may have to run the pump for a couple minutes. It takes a bit to exhaust the air in the line I would check the intake canister for any leaks. Also open a faucet when you trying to prime. Helps to bleed any air in water line

[avanti]

If you have one of those strainers with the clear plastic cover, check carefully that:
1) It doesn't have a crack from freeze damage
2) That you didn't lose or damage the O-ring.
3) That it is tightly mounted and not cross-threaded

Every single time I had any kind of priming problem, it turned out to be one of the above.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by avanti

If you have one of those strainers with the clear plastic cover, check carefully that:
1) It doesn't have a crack from freeze damage
2) That you didn't lose or damage the O-ring.
3) That it is tightly mounted and not cross-threaded

Every single time I had any kind of priming problem, it turned out to be one of the above.

Thanks avanti. I had not mentioned it but last October while traveling I had the O-ring problem. Needed to solve the problem now, so I just used some sealant on the O-ring and all was well. Have a new strainer ready now.

Your post solved my problem, thanks again.

Bud

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by Rlum

You may have to run the pump for a couple minutes. It takes a bit to exhaust the air in the line I would check the intake canister for any leaks. Also open a faucet when you trying to prime. Helps to bleed any air in water line

Tried, no go.

Tried to suck on the various spigots and outlets. No go.

Disconnected the inlet hose from the water pump. Filled with water, reconnected. No go.

Faucets open or closed doesn't make a diff.

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by avanti

If you have one of those strainers with the clear plastic cover, check carefully that:
1) It doesn't have a crack from freeze damage
2) That you didn't lose or damage the O-ring.
3) That it is tightly mounted and not cross-threaded

Every single time I had any kind of priming problem, it turned out to be one of the above.

Pretty new one. Took it apart. No cracks. O-ring looks good, clean, straight. Tighly mounted and not cross-threaded. Lil metal screen inside is squeaky clean.

[mkguitar]

after I cleaned my strainer i had similar

the water pump on my rv is fairly accessible, I attached a 3' piece of hose and put the end into a jug of water slightly higher

it pulled the water and primed quick quickly, with a gallon of water in the system I reconnected the tank hose and had no issues

I now carry that 3' piece of hose in the van, just in case


--- in the past I had used city water to fill the ( drained) system in the van and that would aid priming
because the water is not compressible and if pushed through a closed system will "pull" behind it



mike

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

after I cleaned my strainer i had similar

the water pump on my rv is fairly accessible, I attached a 3' piece of hose and put the end into a jug of water slightly higher

it pulled the water and primed quick quickly, with a gallon of water in the system I reconnected the tank hose and had no issues

I now carry that 3' piece of hose in the van, just in case

--- in the past I had used city water to fill the ( drained) system in the van and that would aid priming
because the water is not compressible and if pushed through a closed system will "pull" behind it

mike

Good idea, I tried that too. I think the stinker just randomly broke. There is zero sucking power, which, for a pump, blows.

I tried the city water filling and it works well to have the faucets running, however, where we go there is usually no hookup.

So... NO I did not run the pump dry and broke it that way. And YES I like a good challenge but not when I am packing to go for a camping trip. Dammit.

[Urlauber]

OK, so I pulled the beast and did the bucket test. As long as it has water to suck, it works great. As soon as there is the smallest air gap, it stops.

So basically it lost its self-priming abilities. Which is a bit of an issue because it is installed above the water tank, with both in and outflows going straight down for a couple of feet. No idea how to prime it.

[GeorgeRa]

Perhaps disassembling

and cleaning could help.

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Perhaps disassembling

and cleaning could help.

Yeah, I disassembled. Looks good. Brand new. Nothing to clean.
Was hoping for an air gap or kinked gasket or loose something, but everything was pretty much in tiptop shape.

Oh well... bought a brand new one, we'll see if that works out.

[mloganusda]

Can you relocate the pump to be even with the water tank? This would make for an easy draw from the water tank. Most pumps are located level with the water tank. These pumps do not have much power to draw water up.

[booster]

Originally Posted by mloganusda

Can you relocate the pump to be even with the water tank? This would make for an easy draw from the water tank. Most pumps are located level with the water tank. These pumps do not have much power to draw water up.

Most of the pumps I have seen are mounted inside the van and the fresh water tank is under the van, so they need to lift a couple of feet.


Have you seen ones with tanks inside the van or the pump underneath the floor?


I think the Flojet pump we have is rated at 6' of lift.

[GeorgeRa]

My water tank is under the floor and the pump is up about a foot inside the B pillar, never had priming issues.

[Urlauber]

Thanks guys! Just bought a new pump, rather than going through warranty service hell I will simply replace it and see what happens.
Not going to re-design the RV... I am not good with Pex tubing, and most likely the pump just conked out prematurely for some reason. Luckily they are not very expensive. Hope the new one will suck better.

[Urlauber]

Just installed the brand-new replacement pump and it sucked it right up!

No more priming issues, good pressure, etc. So the old one for some reason just failed. "Old" it was not... manufactured last year, and used a couple of times. I hope this one will do better.

[Bud]

Originally Posted by Urlauber

Just installed the brand-new replacement pump and it sucked it right up!

No more priming issues, good pressure, etc. So the old one for some reason just failed. "Old" it was not... manufactured last year, and used a couple of times. I hope this one will do better.

Good news stories are good for the forum, thank you.

Bud

[Rlum]

Originally Posted by Urlauber

Just installed the brand-new replacement pump and it sucked it right up!

No more priming issues, good pressure, etc. So the old one for some reason just failed. "Old" it was not... manufactured last year, and used a couple of times. I hope this one will do better.

Glad to hear! Sometimes they are just defective, other times, they last forever even with lots of abuse.

[Trav59KL]

The on board water pump in our brand new Travato would not pump water, We weren't dry camping and didn't pay much attention, but found it vexing. Pump would run, but would not pull any water. City water worked fine (although the Travato inlet location, requiring the doors be left open, is annoying).

Finally, after looking into a pump replacement, the installed pump opted to work and has worked ever since.

I can only assume it was a priming problem and that we didn't run it quite long enough (although it should have been enough).

I dread the though of replacing the 59KL water pump. Although there is a side panel that accesses the pump area, it attached to a mounting board, and the screws (or bolts) are relatively inaccessible.

CM

[Urlauber]

Originally Posted by Trav59KL

The on board water pump in our brand new Travato would not pump water, We weren't dry camping and didn't pay much attention, but found it vexing. Pump would run, but would not pull any water. City water worked fine (although the Travato inlet location, requiring the doors be left open, is annoying).

Finally, after looking into a pump replacement, the installed pump opted to work and has worked ever since.

I can only assume it was a priming problem and that we didn't run it quite long enough (although it should have been enough).

I dread the though of replacing the 59KL water pump. Although there is a side panel that accesses the pump area, it attached to a mounting board, and the screws (or bolts) are relatively inaccessible.

CM

May have been a similar issue. In my case, there was zero suction power for air... so it would never prime. Did a bucket test and as soon as the inlet was filled with water, it worked just fine.

I called Pentair and they will send me a replacement without much fuzz.

Thor Rize has the water pump behind the "pantry" storage cabinet. I just need to slide out two drawers and it is right there, somewhat difficult to access the screws, not because they are hidden, but because they are smack centered behind a horizontal cabinet piece of wood. So only reachable with an angle, weird, but doable.

I found a small leak in the back, behind a bathroom panel. No wonder, that plumbing looks like a friggin Lego challenge. Can't believe how many elbows and connectors they managed to put in there. Even a few capped off dead ends.