# Whale Universal Pump Failures



## peedee (May 10, 2005)

I was just getting my motorhome ready for a few days away before Christmas. The water system had been drained down and on refilling, my water pump will not prime. I have been suspicious the water pump seals have been on the way out for a few months now and the drain down and 6weeks of inactivity seems to have been the last straw. 

This is the fourth time I have had a pump failure and I only seem to get about 2years life out of the seals. 

I have been in touch with Whale who did on the first occasion provide me with a free replacement pump. The second time I bought a replacement pump and on the third occasion I tackled them again about pump performance and they sent me a set of free replacement seals. So I have no axe to grind about their customer service but I remain unhappy about the pumps performance.

Its a good job the pump is easily accessed and I can in fact change it and the seals quite rapidly.

Does anyone else have this problem or can anyone advise what is the likely cause. 2 years is a very short life in my view!

peedee


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

peedee said:


> Does anyone else have this problem or can anyone advise what is the likely cause. 2 years is a very short life in my view!
> 
> peedee


Too short in my opinion, I recommend replacing it with a Shurflo, I've just replaced ours, it was 10 years old and it had a hard life ..


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## guzzijim (May 1, 2005)

No problem with seals but the micro filter blocks occasionally, like you PD I know how to fix it now, takes no time at all.


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Has no one else had any problems with a Whale Universal pump?
Surely I am not the only one?

peedee


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

peedee said:


> Has no one else had any problems with a Whale Universal pump?
> Surely I am not the only one?
> 
> peedee


Not so far Peedee, by by the Lord Harry will you get a rollicking if I check mine tomorrow and it's knackered!

Mr Sod (he of The Law) has been having a go at me lately, so if my pump has had it you will get the blame for alerting him to another possibility for mayhem and mischief!  

Have a good trip (_envy, envy_) we can't get away again until late Jan.

Cheers, and a Very Merry etc.


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Well if it is only me I start thinking it must be something I am doing??? 
Cannot think it is the water because that varies so much with the areas you go to and in any case Whale claim even salt water will not do any damage. So that would only leave chemical treatments when flushing the tank, I only ever use Puriclean and it is claimed to be perfectly safe for this purpose, so I am mystified. 

peedee


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## Zebedee (Oct 3, 2007)

peedee said:


> Well if it is only me I start thinking it must be something I am doing???
> Cannot think it is the water because that varies so much with the areas you go to and in any case Whale claim even salt water will not do any damage. So that would only leave chemical treatments when flushing the tank, I only ever use Puriclean and it is claimed to be perfectly safe for this purpose, so I am mystified.
> 
> peedee


It's Mr Sod again. It's obviously not just me the bu**er is having a go at.

It couldn't be plastic swarf in your system could it, dating right back to when it was new? Just a thought, but that was the cause of a problem I had with a leaking dump valve, and it was a swine to flush it all out.

Cheers


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

There is an in line filter which should take care of any foreign matter which creeps into the system. In any case, I have never found any trace of any foreign matter in the pump housing. What seems to happen is the seals harden and lose their elasticity and then do not seat down firmly. The first signs of the seals failing is pressure in the system is not being maintained and the pump will cycle now and again. There are no leaking taps and what is happening is water is draining slowly back into the tank until there is a sufficient drop in pressure tap side to start the pump again. Eventually the pump fails completely and will not prime. You can quite easily prove it is faulty because you can blow in both directions through the pump. You cannot do this with good seals and you can only blow through in one direction (the direction of flow). I have just changed a set of seals and the new ones were definitely softer and solved the problem.

peedee


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

I fitted new seals to the pump before spending a brilliant few days in the Cotswolds. Cold but a fitting place to visit for a bit of early Christmas spirit!
(read that how you like) The new seals look like they are a different compound to those previously fitted, I guess only time will tell if they last any longer.

I have just updated my motorhome "Live in Report" for the end of the seventh year. If you want to read the whole story click on the link below my signature.

peedee


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

*Drink whiskey instead!!*

Seriously, we have never had any complaints about Whale seals although there are some posts about toilet seals getting hard and can be softened by immersing (I think) in olive oil.

Fit a F iamma pump £58 and your problems solved. We have plenty of those,

Regards


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Thanks JohnCross for you input, unfortunately to remove the seals without damaging them is not easy. I will try coating a set in olive oil on a failed head and see if that makes any difference but it still leaves me wondering why they keep failing after only a couple of years (200days) use?

peedee


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## 110163 (Feb 25, 2008)

*WHALE PUMPS O RINGS AND OLIVE OIL*

ATTENTION! PLEASE DO NOT USE OLIVE OIL ON OUR O RINGS AS IT WILL PENETRATE THE RUBBER CAUSING IT TO EXPAND AND GENERATE A LEAK OR FURTHER PROBLEMS, USE A SILICONE BASED GREASE WE U P80 RUBBER LUBRICANT!


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Thanks, fortunately I have not yet tried it and now will not. Can you tell me what Whale's predictions are for the life of the seals and have the seal compounds been changed over the last 5 years? As stated above I have only been getting about 200 days use out of them. Should I be coating them with silicone grease on a regular basis?

peedee


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

To complete this story, the current pump seals (valves) have been in use nearly 2 years now and are showing no signs of failure whatsoever. Since I fitted this last new set of valves in 2007, I have, on the recommendation of Whale, not flushed the system with anything but clean water. Whale also have confirmed they did change the compound of the valves, not sure when they did this but I was told this was in fact to provide a valve less likely to be effected by foreign matter sticking under the valve and therefore less likely to leak.

The cause of my failures remains obscure but I do not intend to use any cleaning agents in the system, solely relying on regular use and draining down when laid up to avoid the build up of anything nasty . 

peedee


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## gromett (May 9, 2005)

I had 2 fail in 3 years. I am glad Eura uses the shurflo pumps which seem to be much better...

Karl


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Just to keep this thread up to date. The pump failed again in March 2010 so it ran for 3 years before failing. I did not use any cleaning agent throughout this time. However the failure was different, I think the seals stuck this time rather than failing to prime but I did not investigate the problem any further, I just changed the pump head with the spare I carried and left it that.

peedee


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Just to complete this thread, I sold the motorhome at the end of 2011.
peedee


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## Mark Evs (Sep 25, 2020)

peedee said:


> Well if it is only me I start thinking it must be something I am doing???
> Cannot think it is the water because that varies so much with the areas you go to and in any case Whale claim even salt water will not do any damage. So that would only leave chemical treatments when flushing the tank, I only ever use Puriclean and it is claimed to be perfectly safe for this purpose, so I am mystified.
> 
> peedee


Hi there, I have had some issues recently with my Motorhome Whale pump. After a lot of investigating, it appears that the Puriclean that I used to sterilise the water system has affected the rubber valves within the pump. This has caused them to become sticky and not open and close as designed. I had to dismantle the pump completely and remove said valves. I cleaned them in regular detergent and re-assemble pump. It now the pump appears to working OK. I have written to Puriclean today just to let them know of this issue, and am awaiting a response. I just hope this hasn't shortened the life expectancy or efficiency of my pump!!


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Hi Mark, and welcome to the forum.

That's very good information - tho you may not get too many responses as it's a very old thread. 

Would you have left the puriclean in for a while that it did the damage?


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, they say.

There is another thread about a water leak UNDER the Truma where the cylinder has failed and that failure has been linked to the use of sodium hypochlorite as found in Milton.

Puriclean's Data sheet;

http://www.partinfo.co.uk/files/006A 400g Puriclean MSDS.pdf

List that it has "a slight chlorine odour" and it is described as having "a bleach action" so there MAY be some similarities as chlorine is a VERY powerful bleaching chemical.

So "watch this space" for a response, but use such products with great caution, ensuring thorough rinsing with fresh water after use - when I rinse after using any bleach based product I use hot water to degrade the bleaching agents, obviously Care must be taken as regards how hot to pump through, my suggestion would be around 40 to 45C, but those can ONLY be suggestions as I do not have detailed knowledge of either the contents of Puriclean or Milton, or the components of the seals in pumps and any possible interaction.

I would just urge caution in using such products.

All of the guides to its use that I can find stress the need to rinse or flush with fresh water well after use and also the amount of the substance to use. That is very sensible advice for use IMO.

ALWAYS FOLLOW THE PRODUCT INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY.


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

After my experiences, I stopped cleaning water systems after all how many of those with house roof storage tanks bother to clean them out? . I have now gone nearly 10 years without any problems, we just don't drink the water from the tank but carry a small container to collect fresh water for drinking. This, in effect, simulates house supplies which have the kitchen tap supplied direct from the mains and not from the roof storage tank..
peedee


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