Negative Shurflo Smart Sensor 5.7 Water Pump

NWJeeper · 03-13-2009, 10:20 PM

I recently found a good price online for this pump and picked one up for our new Georgetown. The reasons for upgrading the pump were this:

1. Due to the whole house filter on the FR Georgetown motorhomes the stock 2.0gpm pump had a hard time producing decent water presure.

2. I had wanted a quiet pump to replace the old "kerchunking" pump we are all used to.

To start with the installation was a breeze with supplied quick disconnects that were attached to the inlet and outlet hoses after the old pump was removed. It was then just a matter of simply inserting the disconnects into the pump and locking them in with the supplied clips. Installation time start to finish was less than 30 minutes.

Impressions:

1st of all this pump produces an impressive 5.7 GPM and presure up to 65psi which gives us a shower that will rival park hookups even pushing water through the whole house filter. However, the pump is far from quiet which the company claims. It sounds like a diesel truck is parked outside idling when it is running. I am contemplating mounting it on a block of rubber to try and reduce the noise. It also still produces the knocking that we are all used to with RV pumps. I am looking into a surge tank to try and help with the above situations.

Conclusions:

Wonderful presure for a shower or at the kitcen fawcet for the sprayer. Easy installation. Far from quiet as promised.

Overall it is a bit of a disappointment that the pump is so noisy despite the great flow rate.

I would rate the pump as a 5 out of 10. If it were in fact quiet as they bill it to be it would be a 9 or 10 in my book.

dimurrrw · 03-14-2009, 08:21 AM

I wonder if the excessive noise might be the result of the pump working overly hard to push, or pull, an increased amount of water through the whole house filter. The filter restricts water flow. It might be an interesting experiment to remove the filter element to see if the pump quiets down. Just a thought.

NWJeeper · 03-14-2009, 11:55 AM

From reviews I wished I had read before I bought this pump on other sites I am not alone. A lot of others have been less than pleased with the noise of this pump that is touted as being "silent".

chaser1217 · 03-14-2009, 07:51 PM

the 5.7 came standard on my berkshire, have had it replaced 2 times.it does produce great pressure. there is a screw that you can adjust pressure up or down depending on the application.mine is also noisy, what i did to solve some of the noise was to insulate the water lines and the ones that were long i used pipe clamps to stop the chattering.

PumaPro · 11-16-2009, 09:20 PM

Yeah, could be rattling water lines. Noise can be a small price to pay for good pressure, though.

Here's a radical idea: 2 water pumps. Take your stock water pump & hook it in line after your SmartSensor. Set its pressure higher than the preset 45 PSI, so it will kick on before the SmartSensor, which will then only kick on in periods of high demand. Tee into the line after the SmartSensor & after the stock 2.8 GPM, with a check valve somewhere in line between the tees. This way, the water that the SmartSensor pumps will go around the stock 2.8 GPM pump.

I wonder if that could work???

NWJeeper · 11-16-2009, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PumaPro

Yeah, could be rattling water lines. Noise can be a small price to pay for good pressure, though.

Here's a radical idea: 2 water pumps. Take your stock water pump & hook it in line after your SmartSensor. Set its pressure higher than the preset 45 PSI, so it will kick on before the SmartSensor, which will then only kick on in periods of high demand. Tee into the line after the SmartSensor & after the stock 2.8 GPM, with a check valve somewhere in line between the tees. This way, the water that the SmartSensor pumps will go around the stock 2.8 GPM pump.

I wonder if that could work???

Actually I am not disapointed in the pressure it puts out really good. I also know the noise isn't from the lines as the Georgetown came from the factory with the soft rubber lines attached to the pump in/outlets which others buy in a kit as a retrofit. As the pump is outside the living space I can live with it but I am considering an expansion tank which some others here swear by but which I have never tried. That will be next on my list

randy_m · 11-17-2009, 01:13 AM

Just a thought I just came up with, what if you fliped your water filter upside down? Would it act like an accumulator? All they are is a tank with an air bladder. I think I'm going to try it.

Filthy Beast · 11-17-2009, 03:54 PM

I have to go with insulating the pipes. I added a pressure tank and removed the permanent filter because we boondock alot. If you are standing outside next to the trailer you hear virtually nothing. You go inside and it is louder. I had shortened some of the tubing to move it away from the framing members, which helped. I am going to insulate some and that should do it.

rmgar · 06-14-2010, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

From reviews I wished I had read before I bought this pump on other sites I am not alone. A lot of others have been less than pleased with the noise of this pump that is touted as being "silent".

Say... I read the manual and it states "For noise and vibration reduction we recommend at least 18 in. [.5 M] of _" [13mm] I.D. flexible high-pressure tubing to both ports. The pump ports and strainer should not be connected to plastic or rigid pipe." Have you tried that?

Please don't misunderstand... I'm just trying to help.

NWJeeper · 06-14-2010, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmgar

Say... I read the manual and it states "For noise and vibration reduction we recommend at least 18 in. [.5 M] of _" [13mm] I.D. flexible high-pressure tubing to both ports. The pump ports and strainer should not be connected to plastic or rigid pipe." Have you tried that?

Please don't misunderstand... I'm just trying to help.

Our Georgetown was already plummed with flexible tubing. Don't get me wrong it is quieter than the stock pump but just not as quiet as they advertise it to be. It has been in and working for over a year now with no issues and we do really like the increased pressure. Almost like being hooked up in a park. I would up my rating to 7 or 8 out of 10 now after a year of use. I also intend on adding an expansion tank to the system soon as well.

**Herk7769** · 06-14-2010, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randy_m

Just a thought I just came up with, what if you fliped your water filter upside down? Would it act like an accumulator? All they are is a tank with an air bladder. I think I'm going to try it.

While it certainly would act like an accumulator (trapping air in the container once you turned on the water), I wonder if all that water would drain out when you tried to change the filter.

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