Replacing House Water Pump

[encantotom]

hi all,

i have the standard dual flojet 2.8gpm pumps in my rig. i decided i wanted more flow for a couple of reasons. i like a shower that is really strong is one. the other is that i am devising the plan to put misters on my radiator for the big ol 8v92 to see if it helps with cooling going up long steep grades. i have looked at quite a few style misting heads and the more pressure the better.

i have done commercial style stainless misting systems and am quite familiar with them have done some experiments with the heads i have leftover. not quite enough flow.

wally replaced both his pumps with the high end vshurflo extreme 4.5gpm pumps andl loves them. i bought a similar one, the Aquatec RV 5.3gpm. it will maintain a steady pressure with no bladder tank. i opted to go with just one and keep the old shurflo as backup since they are so expensive and i am a cheapskate. if i lived full time in my rig and was doing alot more dry camping, i might have done both, but i dont so i doubt i will ever wear out the first one and if i do, i still have a lower pressure one as backup. this pump cuts off at 76psi. so much much higher than the 45 the older one did.

i paid about 165 bucks for the new pump so they are about 3 times more costly than the standard ones. it is also a lot bigger so i am gonna have to do some replumbing and remounting of it all. i will take pictures as i go.

this pump takes a lot more current as well so i will likely do a relay to provide power to it.

later

tom

[encantotom]

an update. i took all the old plumbing out around the pumps, took the mount out, took the pumps out, cut some of the copper (yea i have copper plumbing) and took the bladder tank out. i bought a shurflo extreme filter strainer that is made for high volume pumps and am waiting for another fitting for it. i have the new configuration all laid out and once i get the final fitting i will do a combination of new copper and high pressure water hose to install the pumps. it will be a much cleaner installation than was there before.

i have part of the wiring redone as well. i am using the old power wires that come from the pump 1 and pump 2 switch above the microwave to be the trigger wires for 2 40amp relays and will pull power off the the fuse power block that is in an adjacent bay and locate the relays there to control the new pump setups. power will not be an issue now. the new pump takes wayyy more power than the much smaller ones. i will post pictures once i am all done.

thanks to wally for encouraging me to do this. there isnt too many things left for me to rebuild on the newell.....ha ha

later

tom

[Wally Arntzen]

Well Tom, it's about time that you get another fix-er-upper and start over again, because you probably will drive Darlene crazy with nothing to do.
Congrats on all you have done with the one you got.
Wally

[encantotom]

yea, and it wasnt even a fixer upper, other than a few things, the rest are just things i wanted to change, update or make better.

it sure has been a lot of fun to be able to have it here at the house so i can just step out and work on it when i feel like it. it is kinda like therapy.

tom

[encantotom]

ok, i finished the install today. i had to resolder the manifolds. i got a new shurflo extreme strainer and i put a ball valve in front of it so i can clean the filter without getting a bath. the old strainer didnt have the shutoff valve.

since the aquajet pump draws ten amps, i ran the old pumps hot wires to relays that i put in the adjacent bay as the triggers. then i ran new 10 gauge wires off of the dc panel in that bay to the relays. then over to the new pumps from there.

my old pumps were shurflo classics with 2.8gpm and 40 psi. the new pump is 5.8gpm and 70 psi. huges difference in flow and pressure.

i took the bladder tank out, it was in front of the water filters.

it works great.

the aquajet pump is about 170 bucks. i left one of the old shurflo's as the backup pump.

tom

[chockwald]

Tom (Michael Angelo) McCloud, you are, indeed, an artist! That is beautiful work.

[fulltiming]

Great work Tom. Looks great and will definitely improve the showers.

[Richard and Rhonda]

Nice job. That pump would be a great upgrade for most of us.

[zcasa]

Great Job, Tom. Thanks for the pictures. One of our pumps is out, we found out in Austin. We really should do what you did, but may not be as savvy. I will want to view this project in Creede and maybe I could tackle something similar this fall.

Have a great Father's Day. Actually, to all of our Newell Friends, we wish you a great day today.

David

[chockwald]

Thank you, David.....happy Father's Day to you, too, and to all the other Newell fathers out there....Happy Father's Day!!

[encantotom]

an update on my new pump. it is 75psi so much higher than the stock ones. i have all copper household plumbing in my coach so it can definitely handle the pressure. the only place where it is not copper is at the pumps and filters where i use the clear nylon re-enforced hose. it slips over the 1/2" copper and is secured with hose clamps. i didnt tighten one up enough and it shot off and i had a geyser....

today i was taking a short drive in the rig and when stopped noticed that there was water a gushing out from the water bay door by the hot water heater. actually it was coming from the TP overflow valve off the raritan hot water heater. it hadnt done that till today. so, being the genius i am (lucky guess) i checked the pressure on the TP valve. it is rated for 75psi. gee, the pump puts out 75psi, so it was blowing off at the right pressure, but not exactly what i want....

so i called raritan and they said the tank can basically hold any pressure i could put to it, so i went to home depot and 8 bucks later had a 150 psi 210 degree TP valve and it was an exact match since it was a WATTS like the old one and in it went.

checked for leaks and walla, it is ok.

thats my story for today.....

later

tom

[chockwald]

Was that one of those therapeutic drives?

[fulltiming]

Glad you got that issue resolved. I just checked and I have a 75 psi T&P valve on my Raritan also.

[zcasa]

Thanks Tom. This is important information for any of us needing to change out a pump in the future. What time did you take the coach out and what was the outside temp?

[Wally Arntzen]

Tom, when you showed me you pump installation I did not notice how you clamped the hoses you attached. As you know I think you are running to much preasure but you are kind of a high preasure guy. I suggest you double clamp all of them lines or you may have future blow offs. Also watch all of your faucets for leaking over time, for the possibility of the "O" rings blowing out.

[encantotom]

i double clamped almost all of them.

75psi is less than i have in my house and the coach is all copper and using high end household fixtures, so it should be safe. aquatec says they have little to no problems on too high of pressure. yea, i like high pressure, but more than that, the higher water flow.

time will tell. i will fix whatever else happens....

later

tom