Quick (we hope) water pump question

JaycoNewbies · 09-20-2020, 10:04 PM

We're having to use the water pump for the very first time. Fresh water tank is full. When we run water and the pump kicks in, the sound is CRAZY loud. Whole RV was vibrating. That's stopped, but the sound is still there. So - is this normal? It works, but we don't want to ruin the pump. Thanks for helping out. We're grateful for this site! Jayco Greyhawk 2018 MV29

Screwby · 09-20-2020, 10:20 PM

They are very loud, sometimes you can quiet them down by making sure they are mounted on a rubber pad. A lot of the time what your hearing is the water lines themselves banging against the trailer wall or cabinet since the pump makes them jump around and shake when it’s surging. I traced some spots where mine was banging and wrapped that spot in foam and it made a huge difference.

Tunce the traveler · 09-20-2020, 10:26 PM

I wrapped as much as I could in the grey pipe insulation + rubber mounts for the pump and it was a great improvement.

JaycoNewbies · 09-20-2020, 10:29 PM

Thanks so much! Good to know it's both normal and can be minimized. Thanks, again, for your quick replies!

sturgissteele · 09-21-2020, 05:48 AM

Welcome to the site!

Designer Ron · 09-21-2020, 06:52 AM

Try a computer mouse pad under the pump

SkyBound · 09-21-2020, 06:55 AM

The pump is significantly louder at first as the air bubbles purge out of all of your lines and faucets, and the hot water tank. After a bit of use it will quiet down some. It will still be noticeable, and the aforementioned methods will help some.

Camper_bob · 09-21-2020, 08:19 AM

I installed an accumulator tank and "silencing kit" on mine. I actually installed it on my TT back when I had that, and retained it when we traded to the MH. In my TT it made a DRAMATIC difference. The only place I could even hear the pump running was at the kitchen sink (pump was under that cabinet), and only if nothing else was on and no one was talking.

Like I said, I retained the accumulator tank and the "silencing kit" and installed them in the MH. Difference was noticeable, but not dramatic. Since the water pump sits in its own small cubby under the bed, the quarters are a little tight, so the hoses still vibrate up against the walls of the cubby a bit.

The "silencer kit" gives you more mounting options for your accumulator tank, and isolates the pump from the pex piping by some flexible hoses. I still intend to get under there and do some more work to quiet it down, but other more critical issues have cropped up, so this has slipped down the "to do" list quite a lot.

brooklynchuck · 09-21-2020, 08:33 AM

Just in case there's another factor in the noise, I'll add my experience with a loud water pump: if I don't have the water control valves set to the correct function. I have a 2013 Greyhawk, and it has two dials for water function. Normally, left is set to "3" and right to "5" - but if I switch those to "City Fill (1 & 6) and have the water pump on, it makes a super loud complaint until I shut it off or switch the dials back. Good luck with your solutino! C:

travelingjw · 09-21-2020, 09:15 AM

One of the things we do is when we top off the fresh water tank we turn on all of the sinks, faucets, and hot water heater to assure that all of the air is out of the system. Then I would follow the advice above, listen to where the noise is coming from and put buffering material to isolate the pipes against hard surfaces.

Jagiven · 09-21-2020, 09:33 AM

Those pumps can be noisy. The advice above is good. The pipe insulation to isolate the pipes from bumping into things is a good place to start and is cheap.

After awhile we stopped even noticing the noise.

Tunce the traveler · 09-21-2020, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

I installed an accumulator tank and "silencing kit" on mine. I actually installed it on my TT back when I had that, and retained it when we traded to the MH. In my TT it made a DRAMATIC difference.

What size is your accumulator tank as I’m sure it removed the “knock” when it starts pumping.

**norty1** · 09-21-2020, 10:12 AM

Take a look before purchasing anything. I bought a silencing kit and when I looked at the pump, it already had flexible hoses from the factory.

Isolating the hoses with foam pipe insulation and putting a vibration absorbing pad under the pump helped a lot.

Camper_bob · 09-21-2020, 12:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tunce the traveler

What size is your accumulator tank as I’m sure it removed the “knock” when it starts pumping.

This is what I installed:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Like I said, in the trailer it was nothing short of dramatic in terms of the noise reduction and flow improvement. It used to sound like a jack hammer, and even though it was located about as far away from our primary sleeping positions as possible, it would still wake me up in the night if someone had to use the facility.

In my Greyhawk 29MV, the area under the bed where the pump is located is a little tight to begin with, so there's isn't a lot of room to work in the accumulator tank, and the flex-hoses are looped around in there. Granted, it's been 2-1/2 years since I installed it, and I haven't been back in there since, so I could be remembering it differently than what it actually is.

Anyway, the accumulator tank does smooth out the operation a bit, so the downstream pipes don't bang around quite as much, and the silencing kit serves only as a "suspension" between the pump moving around and the hard pex pipes. With the pex pipes attached directly to the pump, (common in most installations) they have a tendency to hit whatever is around them (the walls) as the pump wiggles around.

I agree that you should try the "cheap" stuff first like putting pipe insulation on the pipes near the pump, but if that doesn't work, I can vouch for the accumulator tank and silencing kit; they do make a significant difference in my experience.

You may also like: