ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? November 06, 2017, 11:49:58 pm We have the ShurFlo 4008 pump. This evening we had just finished dishes. The next use was the toilet and when we attempted to get water into the toilet nothing happened. After that, no faucets worked.Fortunately, we have city water here and I hooked that up assuming that the pump has failed. With the city water hooked up, I turned on the pump again and now it works. We turned off the city water and again when we tried to flush the toilet we got nothing and again when we ran both the city water and pump the pump worked.So, is it the pump?Jim
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #1 – November 07, 2017, 03:16:12 am Hi Jim and Gayle. The symptoms are coming through a bit garbled here (at least to me). When you are hooked up to city water, and it is turned on, why are you turning the pump on. With the pump off, you would have water flow at all of the faucets and toilet without the pump. When you say you turn on the pump, does that mean the pump is making noise as if it were pumping?. How can you tell if the pump is working, if you have the city water turned on? There is a pressure switch inside the pump that turns it off when the waterlines are pumped up. Even though the water pump light is on and the switch is on, the pump is off, until you open a faucet or valve. Then the pressure drops until the switch inside the pump, turns the pump on to try and maintain pressure. Possibly that isn't working right. If the pump cycles at all, that indicates the fuse and wires are ok. With city water keeping pressure in the water lines, I wouldn't expect the pump to do anything, even if the pump light is on. RonB 2 Likes
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #2 – November 07, 2017, 09:15:48 am Quote from: RonB - November 07, 2017, 03:16:12 amHi Jim and Gayle. The symptoms are coming through a bit garbled here (at least to me). When you are hooked up to city water, and it is turned on, why are you turning the pump on. With the pump off, you would have water flow at all of the faucets and toilet without the pump. When you say you turn on the pump, does that mean the pump is making noise as if it were pumping?. How can you tell if the pump is working, if you have the city water turned on? There is a pressure switch inside the pump that turns it off when the waterlines are pumped up. Even though the water pump light is on and the switch is on, the pump is off, until you open a faucet or valve. Then the pressure drops until the switch inside the pump, turns the pump on to try and maintain pressure. Possibly that isn't working right. If the pump cycles at all, that indicates the fuse and wires are ok. With city water keeping pressure in the water lines, I wouldn't expect the pump to do anything, even if the pump light is on. RonBI turned it on after hooking up to the city water connection just for the heck of it. Also, I had been told several years ago, by a Shurflo tech, that even when hooked up to city water it will still turn on if the city water pressure is below a certain point and I don't remember what that was. I have found in the past that is true. In fact, I am currently using a cheap regulator which makes the pressure here pretty low and because of that when I turn on the faucet or flush the toilet the pump also comes on and we have better pressure. In the past, we have used that only when we were taking a shower and it helped.It appears that when on the pump now only works when using faucets but when you try and flush the toilet that stops it from working until you turn on city water. We have had several pump failures in the past, especially with the Shurflo Extreme 5.7 and I haven't experienced this before. We installed our first 4008 model in 2009 and this would be our third one of those.Jim
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #3 – November 07, 2017, 12:03:07 pm Jim It sounds like the pump's pressure switch isn't working. It is somewhat adjustable but it's likely that is has gone bad and cannot be adjusted. A new pump is probably in order.We have had five pumps in 15 years, with the 4008 being the most dependable.An spare water pump has been on my list of suggestion items to carry for years, they almost never go out at convenient time and/or place.In our LD, if connected to city water and the pump is turned on, the pump will use water from the tank and 'ignore' the city water. It will empty the water tank if left on long enough.The last time we connected to city water was over ten years ago, preferring not to exposed the LD's water system to pressure surges the campground's water system. IMO, a worn out pump is easier to replaced than repairing a blown water line.Larry
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #4 – November 07, 2017, 12:04:39 pm I would take the pump out, remove the diaphragm cover and clean the gunk off of it.You may also try turning the adjustment screw 1/4 turn clockwise.Simple and I'll bet it works.
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #5 – November 07, 2017, 12:18:05 pm When the pump works with the faucets, is the flow good? If so, it is possible there is a restriction in the toilet supply that is keeping the line pressure above the cutoff for the pump pressure switch. With city water attached, that may allow the switch to turn on the pump. In any event, the pump not turning on has nothing to do with the pump other than possibly the pressure switch.Steve
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #6 – November 07, 2017, 02:52:59 pm Thanks for the ideas. We do have a spare 4008, however, it's the last one that failed and I replaced the front end of the pump after I installed the current pump.The new wrinkle is we have been out this morning with the water turned off. Just got back, turned the pump on but not the city water and the toilet is now working on the pump. Not sure what that means but guess I will wait and see.We haven't connected to city water in years and only did last night because of the pump problem. We will be here for a while and can see what happens.Jim
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #7 – November 07, 2017, 02:57:37 pm Quote from: Steve - November 07, 2017, 12:18:05 pmWhen the pump works with the faucets, is the flow good? If so, it is possible there is a restriction in the toilet supply that is keeping the line pressure above the cutoff for the pump pressure switch. With city water attached, that may allow the switch to turn on the pump. In any event, the pump not turning on has nothing to do with the pump other than possibly the pressure switch.SteveThe pressure seemed normal until the pump quit working but I'm not certain because we don't generally turn the water up very high. As I posted just now it is working now with the toilet. I am going to try Don's suggestion of turning the adjustment up a 1/4 turn and see what happens. Whenever we fill the tank completely it frequently doesn't sound right when running in the first day or two. I can't really describe the sound but it sounds perfectly normal now.Jim
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #8 – November 07, 2017, 07:04:58 pm "I am going to try [ ] turning the adjustment up a 1/4 turn..." I believe the Allen wrench you need is an 11/64th !
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #9 – November 08, 2017, 08:39:49 am It does not work, but now it does is exactly what we were experiencing this spring. Removing the goop helped, but the adjustment completely solved the problem. I think it was Steve that suggested that. A 1/4 or 1/2 turn should do the trick. 2 Likes
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #10 – November 08, 2017, 04:54:34 pm Quote from: Lazy Bones - November 07, 2017, 07:04:58 pm"I am going to try [ ] turning the adjustment up a 1/4 turn..." I believe the Allen wrench you need is an 11/64th ! Steve, it's 5/64. I had checked the Lazy Daze Companion first to be sure which screw I was adjusting and in the info there it listed the size. Since I last posted it stopped working last night when we turned on the kitchen faucet. Made the adjustment today and so far so good but only time will tell. I didn't try cleaning it as Don suggested since it was more work and I would need to empty the fresh water tank which I didn't want to do.Looking at the photo of the pump. I wonder why the black powder coat has come off over time? You can see the pile of it to the left of the pump.Jim
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #11 – November 08, 2017, 07:27:06 pm "Steve, it's 5/64."Oopps! See what memory does for you?Looking at your photo it appears you have even less room to make that adjustment than I do. If I ever have to replace my pump I'm going to try to rotate it 90° CCW so that the head is in the clear. 1 Likes
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #12 – November 09, 2017, 05:49:41 pm Jim, I am wondering if that flaking off of the coating is an indication of high heat? That is worth a call to Shurflo to pick their brains on this.On a side note, the elbow located so close to the pump is something Shurflo discourages. Were it my pump, I would get the two hoses that are part of the pump silencing kit and form a loop between the pump and the next connection point. (Just what you need - more clutter in that space!)Ken F in NM
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #13 – November 10, 2017, 11:38:23 am I know that Shurflo recommends against that kind of angle and I have thought about that kit. I wonder if I have room under there? I do have another straight fitting I can substitute. Can it be looped more than once?Jim
Re: ShurFlo Water Pump Failure? Reply #14 – November 10, 2017, 06:19:13 pm Ed and Margee, I did not do the kit. (I didn't know about the kit when I re-plumbed that area.) I did re-arrange the pump placement and used a straight fitting on each side, with the hoses making a spiral loop of at least 180 degrees. Was my pump quieter after that? Maybe a little...I would not have done it just for the noise. I did a fair amount of other stuff. I put in an accumulator tank and a pressure gauge, as well as shutoff valves on each side of the pump so if I have to pull the pump, the escaping water would be minimal.Jim, it can be looped as much as you want. You could do a 90 deg bend up, then another 90 in a different plane to follow the top of the compartment, keeping the hose somewhat out of the way. Given your very tight space, you might not have room to do a 90 bend without putting a kink in the hose, something you definitely do not want to do.Ken F in NM
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