problem with Shuflo water pump

[monkeyboy]

Howdy

Having issue with the Shurflo water pump... basically... lately, it works very intermittently:

• When it works: when I flip the on/off switch it will start the pump (the traditional pump starting up noise) and water will flow normally from the faucet.
  
  When it doesnt work: when I flip the on/off switch, nothing happens (no pump start thus no water etc). Note that it will do this a few minutes after it was successfully working...

There is no rhyme or reason as to how it occurs. When it works, the pump seems to be good.... so I dont think I need to replace the pump(?). I'm leaning toward the idea it must be electrical related given the intermittent nature but... at the pump? or at the switch?... but not so sure. I had seen some leakage around the bottom of the pump at one point... perhaps it has caused a short of some sort??

Things I have tried/checked:

battery voltage is at a good level.
reseated the back flow valve piping (the shiny metal flex pipe that attaches to the water pump).
h20 pump fuse is good
other electrical connections at pump look okay


I would appreciate any ideas on what to check or try or ???

thanks
Jonathan

[LenS]

Bad switch??

[witoke]

Use a meter to check if the switch is working or not or you can just jump 12 volts from another source or from a battery charger to the terminals on the pump to bypass the switch. My guess would be the switch. You can get repair parts for the pumps if that is necessary.

[BroncoHauler]

Does your plumbing have a pressure switch where the pump won't come on if the system is fully pressurized?


Herb

[monkeyboy]

Originally Posted by BroncoHauler

Does your plumbing have a pressure switch where the pump won't come on if the system is fully pressurized?


Herb

Hi Herb

Sorry for my ignorance... but how would I determine that or locate such a switch?

The plumbing etc was all done by SMB so I assume whatever they standardly do is what I have....

thanks
Jonathan

[BroncoHauler]

Before you start tracing wires for a possible pressure switch, if you don't mind wasting some water, the next time the pump doesn't turn on, open the faucet and let the water run (if it does). As the water runs and the pressure reduces, the pump should come back on if, and only if, your setup has a pressure switch and that is what is preventing the pump from running.


Herb

[monkeyboy]

Thanks for the hint Herb. Pretty sure I had tried something similar in the course of my futzing around with it, but I tried that again last night. Of course, the pump/faucet did not even come on initially and leaving the faucet on for some period of time did not help.

I hope to test the switch next....

[monkeyboy]

Update...

Checked power throughout the system and determined all was good up to the terminals on the pump.

Upon jiggling around the connections at the pump, it made it sputter and then start the small leak (drips) I had seen previously, apparently coming from somewhere in the pump head.

Next steps...

• pull it out and see if I can tighten things up and determine where leak is coming from.
  
  contact Shurflo or local dealer for tech support and/or how to get replacement parts. (it seems to be an older model so hopefully parts are available)

[monkeyboy]

Replaced entire pump head unit with replacement part found at local Camping World store... it is meant to work on any 2088 model. It did fit perfectly and fixed the issue!

I did hear back quickly from Shurflo Support, who basically recommended either replacing the main diaphragm kit#94-238-04 or the switch diaphragm kit#94-237-00 -- I replaced them both I guess. Since I was leaking near the "nose", I might go ahead and try to get a switch diaphragm replacement so perhaps can carry the first pump as a spare...