So our water pump died and would no longer create enough suction to pump water through the lines in the RV. Since we were going to be staying at Lazydays in Tampa Melissa called their service department so we could see about getting it in to have the water pump fixed since it was still under warranty. When she called service told her that we would have to pull the trailer over to their service line and dry dock in the RV until they could get to it…this could be up to 2 weeks! They have over 100 services bays and every one of them is full for days working on RV’s! This was crazy, so we decided to save ourselves the hassle and just go ahead and buy a new water pump and install it ourselves.
Below are the instructions for replacing our ShurFlo water pump and pictures of the installation and what we had to do. So without further ado, let’s get started on what we had to do…it was really an easy swap but you need to make sure you have a few towels ready for the water that is going to be flowing out of the lines so you don’t get water in places you don’t really want it.
Step 1: Removing the panel covering the water pump
Every RV is different, it just so happens that our water pump is located in the front storage bay on the driver’s side of the RV. There were 4 screws holding up the paneling between the storage bay and the water pump access area.
Step 2: Checking voltage on water pump line
Never, never, never work on anything electrical without first checking to see that there is no voltage. Not only do you have the risk for electrocution but you also run the chance of damaging the unit or its electronic components. Because the water pump in RV’s are typically run on DC power you will only be dealing with two wires…positive and negative. Take your volt meter and turn it to the DC setting and you can set the DC output to either 20 or 200 volts…typically 20 volts is OK to use since 9 times out of ten every DC item in the RV is 12 volts. Place the positive lead “the red one” on the positive wire and the negative lead “the black one” on the negative wire. You should get zero volts, but to double check make sure the appropriate breakers or fuses in your panel are OFF or removed before you start working on anything in the RV.
Step 3: Removing the water pump
Before we remove the water pump we’ll want to make sure there is no more water in the line coming in OR out of the pump system. Loosen the water pipe on the “in” side of the pump first. Make sure to have the appropriate towels setup in case water starts coming out. In our case, because the pump did not work there was no water on the coming in line. Next you will remove the “out” line. This one typically has A LOT of water in it. Make sure you are ready with towels, yes, plural, because it will usually soak them. Have extra towels to dry up what the first towel cannot. Once the water lines are removed and you have secured the lines from water coming out, you will next cut the positive and negative cables, if your water pump is setup with crimped cables, which they typically are. Make sure to cut the wires as close as possible to the connection point and do NOT cut the wires on the water pump side. Un-mount the water pump from the wall and remove from the RV.
Step 4: Installing the new water pump
First, mount the new water pump in the same location that you just removed the old pump from. Hook up the water lines again starting with the “out” flow and finishing with the “in” flow line. When hooking these lines up you will want to install Teflon tape or nylon tape around the thread fitting side. Wrap the tape around at least 2 times but no more than 3. The tape ensures that you will not have a leak after turning back on the pump and pumping water. Now you will finally hook back up the positive “red” and negative “black” wires again. Make sure you use the same kind of wire nut or crimp connection to tie the wires back together. You may want to use black electrical tape to secure the wire connection after they are tied together. Once all looks secure and you have made sure that you have connected the polarity of the wires appropriately…I.E red to red and black to black then you can turn the power back on to the water pump. Once the power has been turned back on via the circuit breaker or fuse in the control panel you will want to test it by turning on the water pump switch in the RV and then opening any sink faucet COLD water. With-in a few seconds up to almost a minute to prime the water you should get flowing water again!
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