Water Pump Questions and Discussion

[BamaBob]

Over the weekend we stayed at a "Redneck Riveria" RV Camp

One thing was apparent: the water pressure was...well..low...really low...low enough that our Oxygenics functioned like a standard cheap-O stock shower head

Over lunch, I chatted with some RVers at work (all engineers of course ) and we started wondering if in cases such as mine it would not be better to upgrade the RV water pump to a higher output pump and use the FWT when camped at a park with low water pressure.

Floor is now open for discussion (away from our 5er, I cannot even open the door and tell you WHAT pump FR uses in the Rockwood 5er series )

[dcheatwood]

I've always thought that I'd upgrade when original goes out. Would solve pressure problem.

[Toby]

Wouldn't that mean you'd also fill your GWT and drain your FWT even faster than before? That's what I would be worried about.

[Kaadk]

Why do you need to upgrade the existing water pump? Couldn't you just use the low pressure to fill the FW tank and use it as normal?

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

I've always thought that I'd upgrade when original goes out. Would solve pressure problem.

I feel the same way...and I have a sneaking suspicion that Rockwood is already using the Sureflow 3GPM pump (will confirm when I get home )

One thing: a colleague dropped by to mention is to look in to installing an accumulator - he said this would keep the pump from constant on/of cycling. I ned to look into that perhaps!

[dcheatwood]

Originally Posted by Toby

Wouldn't that mean you'd also fill your GWT and drain your FWT even faster than before? That's what I would be worried about.

Not sure why you'd fill gray tank any faster than on city water unless you mean more pressure means more water.
I think the op is trying to get enough pressure to have a nice shower and city pressure was low and current pump is not pressurizing enough.
I'm just gonna stick with what I have and replace with larger pump when this one goes out. I see his thought process here and have considered it myself.
I seldom dry camp so filling the gray tank fast is not an issue for us. I sometimes leave it open and draining until the day before we leave, then close it to catch some "rinse" water.

[Toby]

Originally Posted by dcheatwood

Not sure why you'd fill gray tank any faster than on city water unless you mean more pressure means more water.
I think the op is trying to get enough pressure to have a nice shower and city pressure was low and current pump is not pressurizing enough.
I'm just gonna stick with what I have and replace with larger pump when this one goes out. I see his thought process here and have considered it myself.
I seldom dry camp so filling the gray tank fast is not an issue for us. I sometimes leave it open and draining until the day before we leave, then close it to catch some "rinse" water.

I guess so. More times than not I'm camping with no hookups except electric so pumping more water through means go through resources faster/sooner. If you have full hookups all the time then it's all moot. I've never used the pump with city hookups either.

[BamaBob]

Originally Posted by Kaadk

Why do you need to upgrade the existing water pump? Couldn't you just use the low pressure to fill the FW tank and use it as normal?

Kaadk,

The thought process here was to switch completely off low pressure city water and use the water in the FWT powered by a higher flow rate water pump to give a more satisfying shower

David is right though - like him, I rarely dry camp and hopefully will not encounter such low water pressure again ) I'd rather spend $80 someplace else than on a water pump that might get used 2 times a year

The accumulator tank for WP noise reduction however sounds interesting.....

[Kaadk]

Originally Posted by HSVBamaBob

Kaadk,

The thought process here was to switch completely off low pressure city water and use the water in the FWT powered by a higher flow rate water pump to give a more satisfying shower

David is right though - like him, I rarely dry camp and hopefully will not encounter such low water pressure again ) I'd rather spend $80 someplace else than on a water pump that might get used 2 times a year

The accumulator tank for WP noise reduction however sounds interesting.....

Ah, ok, it wasn't clear that the pressure from your water pump also sucked. The one time I encountered moderate pressure, I just put some in the FW tank and then used the onboard pump to take a shower. Haven't really had any situations where the water pump wasn't as strong as I'm used to seeing in the campgrounds. Then again, I believe the onboard is already a SureFlo. Might make a difference.

[Witch Doctor]

It's my understanding that the pump that they choose to use is the GPM of the # of fixtures it has to supply. An accumulator tank only helps to prolong the cycle that it makes. If you look up sureflo water pumps it will ask the # of fixtures needed then give you a model # to handle that.

[gtcouple]

For what it is worth, we camp on a seasonal site that sometimes has very low water pressure, I keep water in my fresh water tank at all times and just leave the pump switched on, most of the time the park water pressure is o.k., but when it drops my pump kicks in automatically and boosts the pressure up, the pump pressure is actually better than the park pressure.
Cheers