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Old 05-11-2014, 06:26 PM   #1
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HELP - Water Pump Pulsing after faucets closed

My wife and I decided it has finally warmed up enough to de-winterize our 2013 Forest River 21FSMX Shockwave trailer. We purchased the trailer new in February, so this will be our first season with it. I followed the user manuals directions, filled the fresh water tank, then turned on the water pump, and opened the faucets, and external hose/washer to allow all air and anti-freeze to be flushed out of the system. There seemed to be really good pressure at all faucets, and the pump sounded normal during operation, but noticed the pump was quickly "pulsing" less than every second after all water faucets were shut off. I noticed water running down from below the "box" where the shower hot and cold valves are mounted so removed the box and tightened the fitting which solved that leak. I'm hoping/assuming not too much leaked behind the wall. Unfortunately this did not solve the pulsing water pump problem. After doing some troubleshooting and reading I found that it could be the pressure bypass adjustment screw on the pump itself, but after trying some adjustments it didn't seem to help the situation haha. Being our new toy it is quite troubling and bothering to us haha.

Just wondering if anyone has run into this issue, or knows of any fixes? I'm really hoping this does not mean there is a leak elsewhere in the trailer. I couldn't find anything, but could be anywhere I suppose.

Unfortunately being a Sunday the dealership is not open, but left a message and hoping they will be dealing with this issue promptly this week since we have camping trips planned coming up quickly.

Thanks for any help/advice in advance!

Cheers

P.S. - The water pump part number is SHURflo 4008-101-A65
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Old 05-11-2014, 07:05 PM   #2
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Assuming you don't have any other leaks causing the line to lose pressure...the likely culprit is the pump diaphragm mechanism. They sell rebuild kits and are actually pretty easy to replace. If there is nothing wrong with the diaphragm...then it might be the pressure switch.

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Old 05-11-2014, 08:09 PM   #3
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If you turned the water heater bypass back on...
Might only be the HWT filling up with water...usually 6 gallons, so it takes the pump a few minutes to fill it up.
Does it stop after a few minutes of running continuously ?
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Old 05-11-2014, 08:15 PM   #4
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I didn't see a bypass on our water heater so don't think it has one. I tried letting the pump run for several minutes, and even held open the pressure valve on the hot water heater to release air pressure and it still continued to do it.
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Old 05-12-2014, 06:30 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by SHOCKWAVEJON View Post
I didn't see a bypass on our water heater so don't think it has one. I tried letting the pump run for several minutes, and even held open the pressure valve on the hot water heater to release air pressure and it still continued to do it.
Your bypass (you should have one) may not look like a 3 valve setup; it may only have one valve and a stand pipe (see photo).

However a pulsing water pump is normally caused by a slow pressure leak.

Causes I have found for slow leaks are:

1) Leak at water pump outlet fitting (or "whole camper" water filter). Leaks at pump inlet will cause a failure to prime; not cycle.

2) Check valve to fresh water tank. This valve (spoken of as one check valve, there are actually 3, one for each sub-pump in the pump head assembly) is IN the pump head. Draining the hot water heater through the low point drains during winterizing is the usual suspect. A bit of anode or calcium can prevent complete closure and cause a slow bleed back to fill your fresh water tank till it overflows. (check the FW tank for an increase in level.) Cure: rebuild or replace pump.

3) Faucet valve not fully seated (same cause most times). May need to remove valve body and flush out crud.

4) Toilet valve slow leak (same cause) will fill bowl to overflowing. Cure: Flush out system and replace/repair toilet valve.

5) Pump pressure switch malfunction (normally the pump will not shut off; not cycle). Cure: rebuild or replace pump.

6) City Water Check Valve failure. Look outside at the city water hose connection and look for water running down side. (you will need to disconnect the city water hose to check if connected).

ALL leaks must be located and repaired. A leak undetected can destroy your camper pretty quickly.

Hope this helps.
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Old 05-12-2014, 06:44 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Black View Post
If you turned the water heater bypass back on...
Might only be the HWT filling up with water...usually 6 gallons, so it takes the pump a few minutes to fill it up.
Does it stop after a few minutes of running continuously ?
Black
You mentioned the dealer did winterize your unit.
My second guess is...the winterizing suction hose (if equipped) is left open.
If so...the pump just keep drawing air true the suction hose and can't pressurize the system.
Look around your pump, if your unit have a winterizing suction hose...should be a 2/3' of clear hose 1/2" in diameter...on my Rockwood it is connected to an outside hose connect just like the city water connection but used only to suck in the pink stuff for winterizing.
It happen to me with my first trailer !
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Old 05-12-2014, 07:17 AM   #7
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Bought in Feb so it's a warranty issue and the dealer needs to fix it.
Since you are not familiar with the trailer and have already found one leak
and still have issues- go back to the dealer ASAP.

You probably should have let them de-winterize it the first time and you
could have watched. There are a few tricks that you need to know....

Good luck!
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Old 05-12-2014, 07:26 AM   #8
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my old trailer used to do this when you first open one of the lines was air locked. It didn't sound normal when the pump cycled, never did figure out what I did to get it to stop Just kept opening and shutting valves till it stopped. Try the overflow on the hot water cracking it open seems to me it took care of air in lines.
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Old 05-12-2014, 07:55 AM   #9
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ok .. .i had the exact same problem a couple of days ago when de-winterizing the Aframe. Everything worked fine ..opened the bypass to hwh .. first ran water via direct water connection .. then filled the fresh water tank, and started the water pump. The pump cycled very second or so ... and i was running around checking for leaks ... then i remembered last year ... it was the darn shower turn off gismo at the top of the shower head .. pushing it into the box, i must have hit the button to half open the shower head ... which caused the cycling... no water was coming out of the shower head, so i turned it to the off position .. and all was good ...

hope this helps .. d-mo
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Old 05-12-2014, 08:07 AM   #10
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ok .. .i had the exact same problem a couple of days ago when de-winterizing the Aframe. Everything worked fine ..opened the bypass to hwh .. first ran water via direct water connection .. then filled the fresh water tank, and started the water pump. The pump cycled very second or so ... and i was running around checking for leaks ... then i remembered last year ... it was the darn shower turn off gismo at the top of the shower head .. pushing it into the box, i must have hit the button to half open the shower head ... which caused the cycling... no water was coming out of the shower head, so i turned it to the off position .. and all was good ...

hope this helps .. d-mo

I do have a button on the shower head but all that seamed to do was change the flow pattern from the shower head. Being that I don't have a tub, and just the shower all we have is the shower head and no faucet so I don't think we'd have a button to completely shut off the shower head. If the hot and cold water valves are shut all the way this should prevent any water pressure leaks at the shower head itself right?

Thanks for the help so far everyone. I'm really eager to hear back from the dealership this morning. Like previously mentioned it is under warranty, and they will have to make it right. I have a list of several other things I found that they need to address while it's in as well.
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Old 05-12-2014, 02:16 PM   #11
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Originally Posted by mark0224 View Post
my old trailer used to do this when you first open one of the lines was air locked. It didn't sound normal when the pump cycled, never did figure out what I did to get it to stop Just kept opening and shutting valves till it stopped. Try the overflow on the hot water cracking it open seems to me it took care of air in lines.
The air hammering of opening and closing faucets "may" free debris in the water pump check valve.
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Old 05-12-2014, 03:11 PM   #12
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Thanks again for all of the help guys! I think I got'r beat. I got a call back from the dealer this morning but they wouldn't get it in until next Wednesday, so decided to continue problem solving a bit myself. Turns out there ARE two bypass valves (one on the cold one on the hot) on the back of the hot water tank (located behind a panel I didn't think to check beside the bed). One was open just a bit so it was obviously pumping a small amount into the tank, which explains why there was pressure building in the hot water tank, and the pump kept pulsing trying to fill it. Once I switched open those valves it filled the tank and lines and operates as normal. Added the bleach/water solution, got it filled up and letting it sit to sanitise as we speak. I feel much better now!

Also managed to swap out all of the interior bulbs for LED's. I had already swapped the exterior flood lights for LED's since one was burnt out already and figured what better time than the present to do so haha.
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Old 05-12-2014, 03:15 PM   #13
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I had a small issue like this, turned out it was a loose fitting at the water pump that was letting the pump suck air.
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Old 05-12-2014, 09:02 PM   #14
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Grrrr found another leak.... Decided to hook up the city water with a regulator. Turns out the fitting on the back of the city water hook up wasn't tight.... Water all under the fridge, furnace etc etc.

Needless to say it is definitely going in now. Who knows what else was missed before it left the factory AND the dealership.... Hopefully not too much water damage.
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Old 05-20-2014, 07:04 PM   #15
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The Shockwave spent the past week at the dealer, and everything finally seems to be sorted out. They swapped out all of the plastic fittings with brass, and no more leaks or sweating. Also had them tend to a couple other things I noticed with the trailer after going through it, and it appears she is now officially ready for her maiden voyage this coming weekend.

Thanks again for all of the help and advice everyone! It's great to know there is such a great resource and friendly atmosphere available to Forest River trailer owners.
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