# sureflo water pump



## riverboat2001 (Apr 2, 2009)

Hi not sure if we have a problem or not!!
We were on a site yesterday hooked up to the mains electricity supply
With 5 lights on fridge on and tv/aerial booster on,when I used the water the sure flo pump kept running after turning tap off.
Switch a light off or switch to habitation battery or car battery and it worked as it should.
Also Battery level indicator moved into yellow when all on.
Question is do we have a problem or were we just at the sites supply ampage limit?
Thanks for any suggestions


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## inkey-2008 (May 24, 2008)

Thats a good one, with the hook up and your battery you should have enough power. Was the battery on charge??. 
The hookup only supplies the mains and charger so if the charger was off then you could be overloading the battery but it would come back as you turn off a light etc.
Have you tried it with out the hook up plugged in.

I have a thought it could be an earth fault to a relay, and a back feed holding the relay in. Just a thought.

Andy


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Filter - or valves?*

A couple of other possibilities here. Sounds like the pump is struggling to get up to pressure other than when on mains, so if the electric supply/earth is OK, it just may be:

1. The 'rubber' valves are in need of cleaning/replacement - you can buy a service kit for about £12 and the job is very easy to do. Mine were coated with a white gunge when the pump kept running on, probably from desalinated water in Spain. Easy to clean off (a bit like toothpaste) but I replaced the valves anyway. PM me if you want to know more about how to do it - takes 15 minutes.

2. Have you cleaned out the filter on the pump? Again, a simple job to do. It's supposed to be an annual event.....

Ray


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## riverboat2001 (Apr 2, 2009)

Rayhook the problem was on hook up off switch to battery and the pump switched off,
The problem only occured with 5 lights fridge tv/booster ON hook up 
turn off a light and it worked normally. 

Andy
Your asking things way over my head


:? :? :?


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*I think I'm getting there*

Andy,

I'm having a bit of a problem getting my head around this:

1. ON are the fridge, 5 lights & TV
2. Also ON is the pump (if it's switched off, how come it's running?)
3. Both your leisure battery & engine battery are switched OFF
4. The EHU is ON - and charging one or both batteries?

The pump runs on but achieves pressure when you turn out one of the lights. Follows it's not getting enough electricity, or can't cope with only the power it's receiving even though it's running.

You've all options open here but the choice is between electrical (not enough power) or mechanical (as my previous post). Have you tried to replicate what happened on a known EHU where there's 'plenty' of amps?

Ray


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## riverboat2001 (Apr 2, 2009)

pump is switched on but not running til i turn tap on to run water then when i turn tap off pump keeps running, switch of a light or switch to `leisure battery and hey presto pump stops running- run water pump comes on stop running water pump goes off. :? :? :? :? :?


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## inkey-2008 (May 24, 2008)

Been thinking about this.
The pump should have a pressure switch that shuts of the power when the set pressure is reached. So in theory it should work or not.

If the power is really low and the pump is running slow, and the glands in the pump are not sealing as they should, it may not get enough pressure as "rayhook" has said so the pressure switch would not cut out the pump. 


Andy


ps ray I am not the original poster just trying to help.


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## Roger7webster (Oct 10, 2006)

I would suggest the pump load is exceeding the battery charger output when you have a high additional load eg 5 lights etc
You need to add the the loads and compare 
The pump is running on because it cannot reach the pressure switch set pressure. This is proved because it can when the base load is reduced ie switch of some lights


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## riverboat2001 (Apr 2, 2009)

Back home now, will probably get van hooked up on Thursday and try to replicate it.


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Oops - but no change here then*

Andy,

Getting more confused as I get older!

Riverboat,

It still all comes down to either electrical or mechanical - or a combination of the two. If the seals are naff, it'll need 'maximum' power to work when normally it would do with less. If it's electrical, you need to find out where the power's going. 5 lights at say 20W each plus the fridge and TV isn't much on an EHU.

Look forward to hearing what happens when you hook up at home.

Ray


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## Roger7webster (Oct 10, 2006)

It depends on the battery charger output!!


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Why switch off?*

Roger,

Yes. The real question I suppose is why turn off the leisure battery in the first place? Unless the pump is the more expensive 'efficient' version (unlikely if OE) it does draw a fair amount of current. If the battery charger's not up to it there's no reserve power from the leisure battery.

I'd also ask why turn off the engine battery which presumably disables any alarm system fitted as well as cab door lights etc.?

Ray


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## Roger7webster (Oct 10, 2006)

Ray
I agree, no reason to isolate the batteries that I can think of.


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## riverboat2001 (Apr 2, 2009)

In our old van we used it on hook up with 3 way switch on leisure battery as this is what the guy who sold us van showed us.
However our newer van has a swift handbook which says when on hook up put three way switch to mid position,I have wondered about this but assumed Swift knew what they were talking about so have been following that.
It is however not possible to not isolate one or other or both as the switch only has left switch hab batteries right switch car battery or mid which I assume is neither?
I did work out we were using power delivered to its max but it did seem wrong somewhere....
Thanks for your input guys.
Paul


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Neither or both*

Riverboat,

Time to test the centre position. Disconnect your EHU and put the switch in the centre position. Turn on a light - if it comes on the leisure battery's still connected. If not it ain't!

It's more normal (I think) to have both batteries connected - anyone else disconnecting batteries when on EHU and why? I don't have the option.....

Ray


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## riverboat2001 (Apr 2, 2009)

In the centre position off EHU nothing works.
So does this mean I have a problem


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## rayhook (May 15, 2005)

*Just one solution*

Riverboat,

If I were you, I'd leave the leisure battery on while connected to the EHU. The EHU is then powering 240v sockets plus charging the leisure battery (and maybe the engine battery depending how your van is wired).

12v circuits are then being fed by the leisure battery which in turn is being supplemented by the battery charger. My guess is that everything will then work.

The best test of the waterpump is to run it on leisure battery only. If it achieves pressure then the seals are OK (but it wouldn't hurt to clean out the filter!). If it doesn't get up to pressure on battery alone then it's seal replacement time - or maybe new leisure battery time.

Why Swift have chosen to disable the engine battery I don't understand but that's a different issue - and I don't know just what's being disabled when you do switch it out.

Let us know how you get on.

Ray


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