amore
USA
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Joined: 10/03/2001
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Heres the report I mentioned, it's a little late, but the facts are the same.
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More Is Better, when referring to a Motor Home Water Pump
This report was made possible, only through the cooperation of Steve Fischer, SHURflo RV Marketing Manager.
It has been said, "that more is better". Well that may apply to some things in life, but no where is that more evident, then in an RV, or in our case, our 2003 Journey DL39QD Motor Home. This coach has three lavatories, an electric toilet, a shower, a Washer and an outside shower station. At any time, one maybe two or three of these fixtures will be in use, and there just isn't enough water volume and pressure to handle it.
Sure, we have to make concessions and we need to conserve, but I believe you can actually waste more water if you can't preform the task at hand, when you don't have the proper equipment. As in our case, low volume and low pressure from an under sized water pump.
Coming from the factory, our coach was equipped with a standard 2.8 GPM (gallons per minute) SHURflo water pump. In most instances this pump could not handle the job, it just didn't meet the task, and it was noisy. Some of the problem could have been the way it was installed, in any event, it's noisy.
Conclusion, it's time to fine a better pump, and where better to start, then at the source who made the original pump, SHURflo.
Recently, SHURflo debuted a new Series of Pumps called "Extreme" with Smart Sensor Technology. We were fortunate enough to get one of these pumps, that is rated at 5.7 GPM. We were also sent, a strainer, an 18" flexible connecting hose and some connectors.
In comparison, the New Extreme 5.7, is about twice the size of the 2.8 and equally as heavy. As Tim, from Home Improvement would say, "OU-OU-OU"!
The conversion was simple and took me about an hour. At my stage in life, I pittled and fussed a little more than normal. Now, that I've been through the process, it really shouldn't take much more than about 15 minutes.
I started out by first, making sure the water pump switches were in the OFF position and the CITY WATER was shut OFF. With those two tasks completed, it was on to the pump. I use wire snips to cut both electrical connections as close to the connectors as possible. Next, I placed a towel on the pump shelf, to absorb the remaining water in the lines, before I unscrewed the inlet and outlet fittings. The only thing left, was remove the four mounting screws.
Now, on to the main task, fitting the new Extreme in the same space. It took a little finagling and compromising of space, but I got it to fit. With the new Strainer attached to the New Pump, as you will see in the picture, it certainly needs more space then the standard pump and space is hard to come by, especially when the compartment is rather small to begin with. The nice thing about our compartment, is that the shelf is a laminated composition of metal over foam and metal, with carpet on the top. This actually worked well, because it was ridged and it was carpeted. The carpet made a good noise isolator. Another nice feature about our Water Pump Compartment, is that it contains a remote pump switch. This makes it easier for servicing and setting up the system.
Now, that I've been through this conversion, I found it easier to make the water connections, especially with the strainer attached to the pump, if the assembly was loose and not mounted to the shelf. The 18" flexible hose on the outlet side of the pump, is a must and proved it's worth. With the two electrical connections secured, we were ready to start.
When I flipped the switch on, nothing happened, or at least I thought nothing happen. I flipped the switch of f and double check my work. Everything looked fine, so what's going on here? I flipped the switch on again, and the same thing. I was expecting at least a little noise, but the pump is so quiet, I couldn't tell if it was running. "Boy, what a difference, when they say silent, they mean silent." The comparison between the two pumps, is like night and day. After a few seconds of running, the self priming feature of the Extreme 5.7 Pump kicked in and came up to pressure al most immediately and there were no leaks.
Now that we had pressure, it was off to the faucets. We turned on the Bathroom Shower first, because it has the largest head and probably uses more water than any other fixture. It also had the worst temperature fluctuation. The volume and the pressure was much better and the massage feature worked just as if the system was on city water connection. Now, you would think we would be satisfied with the quietness, more performance from the shower, and the temperature being stable, but we weren't. We wanted to see just how good this pump really was.
While the shower faucet was open, we turned on the bathroom lavatory faucet. Get this, there was no noticeable difference at the showerhead, at all. Once again, just like as if it was on city water connection. The improvement so far was beyond our expectations, but we went one more.
One area that always bothered my wife or I, was the kitchen faucet's hand held sprayer. When ever we would use this fixture, which has two settings, while on the water pump, the sprayer setting would not hold, because there wasn't enough volume and pressure. The clincher to this test, is we had the shower on, the bathroom lavatory faucet on, the kitchen hand held sprayer on, holding it's spray position, and then my wife flushed the electric toilet. This is one remarkable pump, everything worked just fine. Before, with the standard pump, we were lucky to get a decent shower, now we can do it all, just like at home.
We're sold, the SHURflo Extreme Series Smart Sensor 5.7 Water Pump is an "Extreme" improvement over the standard pump. At about $210 per copy with a 3 year warranty, we think this is a great investment for the return in silent performance and satisfaction.
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amore
Vandalia, MI
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Dick A
Spokane
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There is one item that I did not see mentioned in this thread. The older ShurFlo 2.8 had a maximum current draw of less than seven amps. If you have more than one switch that controls the pump, you will have an Intellitec control module rated at seven amps. The new pump requires up to ten amps and Intellitec makes a 10 amp controller. Be sure to check which controller you have. Also, the new 5.7 pump requires at least #14 wire or if the run is longer than 20 feet #12. Low voltage can damage the new pump. The ground wire should also be at least #14 gauge wire. Also, be sure to use the larger screen filter for the 5.7 pump. The older and smaller inlet filter will restrict water flow to the pump.
Note: If you can't run larger wire from the control module to the pump, you can install a relay at the pump location. You will still have to run at least #14 wire from a good +12 volt source to the pump location.
Dick
2009 Tiffin 43QBP
US Gear UTB
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amore
USA
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Dick A
If my memory serves me correctly, the wire on the pump was actually smaller than the the feed or at least the same. My circuit feeding my pump is 10 amp and the pump is rated a 9.5. It should be OK.
You wouldn't happen to work for Shurflo?
amore
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Cloud Dancer
San Antonio and Livingston TX USA
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Joined: 06/08/2001
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ONE MORE ADVANTAGE:
With the Shur-Flo Extreme pump, you can plumb it to a portable 7 gal air-chamber pressure tank. I bought this tank at Lowes, a Water Ace by Myers(horizontal model). This will allow you to run a regular garden hose(with nozzle) to the tank, to serve as a method for rinsing after you wash your motorhome. This solves a major problem for me, as I'm not allowed to wash our new motorhome here at our base park. Now, I just fill the 100 gal on-board water tank, drive over to the K-Mart parking lot, wash the rig with bucket and brush(Turtle Zip Wax), and rinse it down just like I used to do in our home driveway. It's great! Right now, I'm using my 5.7 pump as a portable rig, but I plan to install it permanently in our Dutch Star as soon as I learn all about the installation of the Intellec system. Newmar did something really dumb on my rig. They installed the 3 pump switches at each convenient location, but they're worthless! They won't independently turn the pump ON/OFF at each switch. What were they thinking?
Willie & Betty Sue
Miko & Sparky
2003 41 ft Dutch Star Diesel Pusher/Spartan
Floorplan 4010
Blazer toad & Ranger bassboat
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csnmedic
Melcher, Iowa
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Joined: 03/14/2004
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bruce
can you give me an idea where i may go to find information on installing a new shurflo pump into a '76 forester fifth wheel camper, i have replaced the tank and the old pump is like a compressor and pumped air into the old tank i want to kow if i am going to need to place a switch on the shurflo pump or if it will work on demand only? IF anyone can help me please direct me to get this up and going as camping season starts in 2 weeks here in iowa....
Jason R Davis
box 34
Melcher Ia 50163
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Dick A
Spokane
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Jason,
You should not have any problems installing the pump in your RV. Just make sure the wiring is large enough to carry approximately ten amps. If the wire run is long, I would suggest at least #14 wire. If your current pump has switches in more than one location and is controlled by an Intellitec controller, make sure the controller is one of the new 10 amp versions. I finally installed my new pump a little over a month ago and only had a couple of small problems.
As my controller was located in a spot where it would be difficult to run larger wiring, I elected to use a relay and a new +12 Volt feed and ground at the pump location. The original Intellitec controller now controls only the relay coil load. I used a Bosh automotive type relay and socket assembly.
After installing the pump and new wiring, the pump came right on and provided a good flow of water. The problem was the pump just didn't want to turn off. After checking several things, I decided to disconnect the pressure tank I had installed for my old 2.8 GPM pump. Bingo, the pump worked just as it should. I think I read somewhere the pump should not be used with an accumulator or pressure tank and that seems to be correct. The pump reaches full pressure and volume very quickly. I removed the pressure tank and now have more storage space. I hope the installation of your new pump goes well. 
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Deen
Vancouver, WA
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Cloud Dancer
That's the standard Newmar switch arrangement for a DSDP, you needed to specify the Monomatic controller from the MADP like we did.
Deen - Vancouver, WA
'02 Dutch Star 4090 (41+', triple slide)
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GenXer
Warren, Ohio
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Get the Flojet Variable speed. IT made a huge difference!
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