Which water pump

Hi all, I want to buy a replacement spare pump for my Corinium….the current pump (I’m assuming it’s a whale) is 4 years old and continues to run just fine!

However I’ve read a lot of post that suggest the Whale pump isn’t the best and is prone to failure….so with that in mind I thought why not get a spare..just in case it fails when I’m not in the U.K. 

What is the best replacement pump…Sureflow???

If so which type is the correct one, there seem to be a number of variants??

Ray

Personally, I would have an access hatch fitted to the bottom of the tank and carry a spare whale pump as you know your system is comfortable with that pump. I know a couple of people who've had to revert back from Shurflo to Whale as well as many who have been happy with the replacement.

I have had whale pumps in all my motorhomes and treated properly they have never failed

Yes Peter that a good idea, one that I might consider…..not just for pump replacement but also for cleaning.

Ive read a few posts about the possibility of adding an access hole …but I wouldn’t fit it to the bottom of the tank…probably the top side?

gef wrote:I have had whale pumps in all my motorhomes and treated properly they have never failed

Do you keep your Motorhomes for long? I get the impression that the whale pumps do fail in due course 
(as does everything it has to be said) 

Ray

Libraryman2 wrote:Yes Peter that a good idea, one that I might consider…..not just for pump replacement but also for cleaning.

Ive read a few posts about the possibility of adding an access hole …but I wouldn’t fit it to the bottom of the tank…probably the top side?

There is already an access hatch in the top but you have to drop the tank to get into it.

My diaphragm pump is a Flojet and it failed at seven years old. I was on a campsite at Wells and had a replacement couriered there, took about ten mins to replace.

gef wrote:I have had whale pumps in all my motorhomes and treated properly they have never failed

How do you treat a pump properly, I thought you just turned a tap on/off?
----------
Richard

Even if you have an access hatch fitted theer is still teh problem of the power connections.  The power lead would need to be threaded up and out of the top of the tank as you won't want to make conections that are then submersed.  The big advantage of the Shurflo is that, once fitted, it is easy to replace or to service. The disadvantage that I have found is that with its greater power getting the mix of hot and cold is significantly more difficult in the shower.
To answer Richard - treating properly invlolves not running a submersible dry - but even then, my Whale failed without warning at 7 years and it had nevr run dry.

I would say..Seven years is a pretty good life.

If you're concerned about the life of your water pump I would consider adding a surge damper if you've not already got one. A Whale or Fiamma surge damper would do the job though I believe there are others available. They can considerably reduce the amount of time the pump keeps re-pressurising the system. They smooth out the water flow preventing the pump juddering on low flows. All in all they reduce the amount of time the pump is working and so likely to extend their life.

I've fitted a Whale damper to our previous Duetto and now one in our Kemerton XL.

Still no answer to original question, given decision to fit Shurflo. Then which model is recommended? trailking 10 or trailking 7?

Trailking 7 is the one they fitted prior to submersible pumps. They were 16psi but that's no longer available,  replaced by 20psi (anything higher and you run the risk of joints coming apart).

Libraryman2 wrote:I would say..Seven years is a pretty good life.

On my van usage that was less than 30 weeks use and the submersible (not a Whale) on my previous Hymer lasted 11 years and may well be still going for all I know.

On surge dampers - I have not had surging since I stopped the pipes from juming about - though I do hear the pump gently pulsing. I don't regard that as an issue fro a diaphragm pump

Paulmold wrote:Trailking 7 is the one they fitted prior to submersible pumps. They were 16psi but that's no longer available,  replaced by 20psi (anything higher and you run the risk of joints coming apart).

Thanks Paul, looking at Shureflo website both Trailking 7 and 10 seem to be 30psi unless I am missing something being not very technically minded.

When our submersible Whale water pump was changed, under warranty, for a Shurflo, a Trail King 10 (2095-403-443) was fitted which operates at 2.1 Bar which equates to 30psi.
We checked with Truma about the suitability of this and it was confirmed that would be ok as the Combi 6E is rated at 2.8 Bar max.
Originally we understood that a Trail King 7 would be fitted but were assured that the 10 would be fine.
Being of a worrying nature, I frequently check for leaking connections or the pump running when it shouldn't be! Just in case!
Yes it is noisier than the old submersible as it sits inside, under the bed, but that's not a problem for us and it is easily accessible and hopefully less prone to any failure/freezing/problems etc
We did wonder about swapping it over to a Trail King 7....but....

Just to add, reading the original post again, that we wouldn't have considered changing the pump except that it failed right at the beginning of this year's first trip! Due to Covid and workshop restrictions we had to wait a while before it could get booked in but we managed quite well without a pump at all for several trips (two nights at a time). Bottled water, bucket/water carrier, kettle and a squirty bottle for the loo. Not ideal but all possible. (Actually rather like our previous VW camper van!)

Thanks all for the informative posts.
My opinion is that I don’t fancy changing out the pump when I’m away from home, I don’t see it as a particularly easy job!

Im sorry to say Peter that it doesn’t look like a 15 minute job….if you have to drop the tank.
carrying a spare seems a good idea to me given the wide ranging lifespan of these pumps..and I guess seven years might seem a long time but on reflection; if the vans not used a lot, 7 years can be a short life.

Im still not sure which pump is best but I’ll do some research now I know what pressure I’m looking for.
Thanks for link Paul.

Thanks all
Ray

Libraryman2 wrote:

Im sorry to say Peter that it doesn’t look like a 15 minute job….if you have to drop the tank.

As I said it was a diaphragm pump not in the tank but fixed to the side wall of a cupboard, just 4 screws and two push fit pipe connections.

In 3 caravans over 25 years we had 2 submersibles (one in an external water barrel and one in an internal fresh water tank) and one diaphragm.  I can't remember their makes.  Although the submersibles suffered from airlocks and the diaphragm once had a blocked filter, none failed but if they had it would have been an easy DIY task to replace them.  Over my first 2 years 4 months with the Nuevo I got through 3 Whale submersibles (which I didn't run dry) and 1 Shurflo diaphragm.  The first failure after 4 days was the Whale submersible in the freshwater tank.  The Shurflo diaphragm which replaced it failed after 4 months.  The other 2 Whale submersible failures were the external pump for the water barrel for which I now carry a spare.  Take aways from this are that no matter what pump you have its prone to failure, the Shurflo diaphragm is more reliable than the Whale submersible and in the Nuevo is much easier to replace than the Whale fresh water tank submersible.  Bar the one failure, we have been very happy with the Shurflo and have not experienced any problems controlling the shower temperature.  When the Shurflo failed we were on a full facilities site so it didn't stop us using the van but when the first Whale failed we were on a no facilities site and had to return home early and were not able to get it repaired for the best part of a month.

Libraryman2 wrote:Hi all, I want to buy a replacement spare pump for my Corinium….the current pump (I’m assuming it’s a whale) is 4 years old and continues to run just fine!

However I’ve read a lot of post that suggest the Whale pump isn’t the best and is prone to failure….so with that in mind I thought why not get a spare..just in case it fails when I’m not in the U.K. 

What is the best replacement pump…Sureflow???

If so which type is the correct one, there seem to be a number of variants??

Ray

If you are looking for a 'spare' you already have one as the Whale submersible in the freshwater tank is exactly the same as the Whale submersible you should have for the external water barrel/Whale inlet socket.  Swapping them over isn't straight forward as the freshwater tank has to be dropped to do so.

Thanks Caraman, that really helpful, I had no idea what the internal tank pump looked like, now I know…
Thanks for the run down of your experiences, it shows that they are prone to failure but but can equally last quite a long time.

Ray

Libraryman2 wrote: .... I had no idea what the internal tank pump looked like, ....

Nor apparently did my Marquis dealer.  When mine failed after 4 days and after Marquis confirmed it was u/s they applied to Whale in Bangor NI for a new pump under the warranty.  When eventually it came it was exactly the same as the pump I already had for the water barrel which they could have used in the first place.  It was at this point that I started to lose confidence in Marquis!