Water pump location

Making work plan to replace my submersible as fitted pump on Warwick xl to shurflo. Have identified a couple of options  for locating it but would be interested in position AS fit one in new model vans with one from build.

Interested as well, I am contemplating building a shelf to sit above the location of existing pressure switch, I have some 12mm pipe to attach Shurflo to existing piping where pressure switch is, the power cable to pressure switch will provide power and there is a ground cable (orange and white) accessible in the wiring loom at rear.

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Are they fitting them from new again?

Bilbobagins……that’s exactly the space I have in mind. My heating ducts are more of a jumble than yours appears to be but I can unjumble them.

Paul…not certain but thought they were.

Why change the submersible pump it seems fine on my 2020 Warwick XL so much quieter than the shurflo in my old van

Fontie wrote:Why change the submersible pump it seems fine on my 2020 Warwick XL so much quieter than the shurflo in my old van

An awful lot of owners have trouble with the pump failing to do what it's for - pump , mainly due to airlocks. The shurflo maybe a bit noisier but it's very reliable .

Fontie wrote:Why change the submersible pump it seems fine on my 2020 Warwick XL so much quieter than the shurflo in my old van

Pretty much as Paul said……..
Can be bit of a faff refilling after drain down,Needs pressure switch adjusting when changing from on and off grid which I do frequently and if it does become defective no straight forward swop/ repair without more work than you would want if away from home. Agree it works ok when it works and not obtrusive,just thinking about future proofing. Whilst I cannot say it’s a must do  project I feel it’s a improvement to the system.

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I fitted a surflo pump to our warwick XL 2015 model just a month ago.  On our model the heater pipes seem different to some.. On ours the outer pair feed the bathroom and small outlet on the cab step, the inner pair feed the 2 outlets under the drivers side bed... I deliberated a while about fitting a platform in the area but in the end mounted it on the side of the control unit box. 

I disconnected the pressure switch wiring and pipes but left it screwed to the floor. One of the wires is a positive switched feed which I extended to reach the new pump, the other negative connection I taped safely to the loom. Next I removed the wooden top cover off the electric control box cover having turned all the power off. Inside there is plenty of spare room on the relevant side. Having decided where to fit the new pump on the LH side, I screwed some battens inside the box for the fastenings to the shurflo to screw into. I also fastened a negative cable for the new pump to a spare hole on the metal chassis within. In addition to the four screws on the new pump which hold it to the side of the box I also mounted a scrap piece of 3x2 under the pump to carry the bulk of the weight with a bit of foam on top to help reduce the vibrations and screwed the 3x2 block from inside the box of electrics...   

Having screwed the new pump in place, next came the plumbing side of the project. I discovered the pump comes with one straight and one right angled connector, I bought an additional right angled connector as the straight one wasn't suitable. I also bought a couple of metres of 12mm rigid pipe, same in 1/2 inch flexible pipe, new 11-16mm jubilee clips and some push fit 12mm elbowed connectors , and some connectors called 12mm to 1/2 inch whale stem hose connectors which fit the flexi hose on the one side and click, push fit, into the existing pipework on the other, all from ebay.

The pipework was sorted with a minimum of alteration and I was pleased to find the the pump filter on the input end , just turns and screws to the pump in the room available ok. I found I didn't need all of the pipe I had bought either, but thought it better to have a bit to spare..

Hope this helps..

Justus2………thanks for posting the pics, I can now see there is plenty of space in there to fit the pump.Mine looks a little more cramped because of the way AS have fitted the ducting pipes,mine are opposite to yours for some reason whereby the ducts to front and bathroom come off the inside outlets which crowds the space with ducting but I can rehash that.
Does your new pump run ok without addition of accumulator? It’s one other thing I have been pondering but if it’s not necessary I don’t have to find space for that either.

Paulmold wrote:

Fontie wrote:Why change the submersible pump it seems fine on my 2020 Warwick XL so much quieter than the shurflo in my old van

An awful lot of owners have trouble with the pump failing to do what it's for - pump , mainly due to airlocks. The shurflo maybe a bit noisier but it's very reliable .

Totally agree with your comments.

Never had a problem since replacing it.
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Richard

Kdc wrote:Justus2………thanks for posting the pics, I can now see there is plenty of space in there to fit the pump.Mine looks a little more cramped because of the way AS have fitted the ducting pipes,mine are opposite to yours for some reason whereby the ducts to front and bathroom come off the inside outlets which crowds the space with ducting but I can rehash that.
Does your new pump run ok without addition of accumulator? It’s one other thing I have been pondering but if it’s not necessary I don’t have to find space for that either.

I didn't fit an accumulator and it seems to work fine. However, I should add that it was and end of season job and we haven't actually used the van in anger since I fitted the surflo, but it seemed ok on the drive on all taps and shower. I would imagine changing your heater outlet ducts will be fairly easy to do, I took the ones feeding the drivers side bed off ours when I fitted the pump as they were rather in the way. Beware the little metal clips on the pipe at the boiler end, they tend to fly off and searching for them is a challenge. In fact I had to remove the air inlet panel under the drawers on our van as one of them flew off into where the boiler is and it was the only way to retrieve it. Interestingly as our van is now 6 years old there was also a fair bit of fluff around the boiler behind that panel which I vacuumed up....

Was waiting for Santa to bring s multitool for Christmas before attempting pump install, just been out in the van having a good look at space available, fittings needed etc and have had a change of mind, easier install will be level with back of battery box,near to wheel arch, will then box in battery box and pump to prevent damage. Will allow floor mounting with plenty of room to reach filter, adjuster screw etc. Now need to order more 12mm pipe to reach.

However. When mocking up what will connect where for plumbing had a doubt about which way water flows. I presume inlet from cold water tank goes through the dump valve, then splits for pressure switch, is so confused about spur that goes off before pressure switch, then splits

Or.. does water from fresh water tank come in through pressure switch, then splits to cold water spurs and dump valve which protects hot water boiler?

Obviously need to connect inlet from fresh water tank to filter side of pump. So in photo below does right or left end of existing pressure switch correlate with filter on Shurflo?

My simple mind is frazzled for what should be straight forward. Help appreciated[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The feed from the tank goes through the pressure switch, then splits to cold and hot supplies.

Thanks. That is really helpful, and if wired correctly on original installation should make selecting the correct blue wire to power the new pump less of a guess.

Finally finished installation which was delayed due to me changing location of pump. It now sits rearwards of the wheel arch near to leisure battery box, extended hose was delivered today and fitting was straightforward, runs along back of leisure battery box. Old pressure switch had already been removed and suitable connectors purchased as per other installation descriptions.

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15amp in line fuse added as extra protection with spade terminal crimped onto wire and connected to existing power input to old pressure switch. Ground wire fed into box holding EC500 and connected using crimped female blue connector to ground terminal as per photo. Just need temperature to increase so I can fill with water and test plumbing, but pump works ok when switched on at panel.
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Completed shurflo installation today,same location as Justus2 ,against the box containing control boards. Instead of fitting batterns to secure pump  into I made an L shape board which I screwed to outside ofbox (from inside) and to the floor.The intention being to mount pump on something a little more  substantial  to cut any noises transition.  Very pleased with end result and works lovely without an accumulator. Going to be bliss not having to fiddle with pressure switch to suit supplies,there is also better flow from taps.
It took a full day to do as I had hurdles to work through. My heating pipes from boiler were mounted such that under bed outlets came from back (Outboard) and bathroom and front came out the front (inboard).Resulting in a space full of ducting when it need not.No problem reconfiguring. The biggest hurdle was the pump wouldn’t prime,this turned out to be a push fitting in suction line from tank which was behind the boiler sucking in air,guess it got disturbed during my work. No idea why one was there as it’s not necessary but there was no way to access it.I pulled the suction pipe back through the floor and ran a new one by inline connecting under van and terminating under bed where it was accessible. Roll on test out camping.

I see the Shurflo pumps come with different psi, what psi pump are you guys using. I'll guess 20psi ??

Yes. 20psi is what is recommended.

Double post

Re my post above. Word of warning, do not do as I suggested and connect ground (-ve) wire to the ground terminal behind EC500.

Everything seemed to be working fine but one or two electrical gremlins appeared

Firstly Truma CP kept not recognising when EHU disconnected. Trying to sort this resulted in blank screen with just time and service icons. Resolved by removing both cables from back of CP an reconnecting after a couple of minutes, effectively rebooting the system.

Secondly although water pump worked fine when a tap was used and pump activated while Truma switched on, a E255H warning would come up on the CP and Truma would shut down. Happened everytime.

Today I have rerouted the ground cable and connected it to a orange and white ground cable under the driver's side bench.

Result is pump works, using taps doesn't destabilise Truma on gas, electric or combi. Connecting to such a white and orange wire is what the ASOC factsheet recommends. Lesson learned for future projects, better to follow those who have successfully gone before then improvise and wing it

Sorry I have only just read the thread on this subject. Worries me a bit. Never had a problem with our pump in 4+ years but we spend a lot of time abroad and I like to think that I can do most emergency repairs. However I have never thought of how to access the existing pump or switch which I now assume is in the underslung tank? Any pics of how to get at it would be appreciated.
Thanks to you all for an important item

We too use our van a lot overseas and didn’t want to deal with a submersible pump failure that would involve dropping the tank to resolve. Likewise the Whale fresh water filling system. We had a Shurflo and a hole-in-the-side filler fitted as part of the purchase deal for the van. 

I felt they were appropriate measures to take to reduce the risk of a critical failure while miles away from home and with limited support.

Tim

My submersible lasted about 7 years before it failed completely. Luckily the failure happened just three days before the end of a 4 week trip to France. We had to use a Jerry can for all water for those 3 days which was hard going. I would not have wanted to fit the Shurflo away from a decent tool kit.