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annedfriend · 08-28-2014, 03:35 PM

Our water pump and heater work great BUT every time we turn the water on there is a loud banging noise. Is this normal? Can we get rid of it? Thanks so much for any help you may offer.

Castaway · 08-28-2014, 03:38 PM

Check for air in the lines

dwightdi · 08-28-2014, 03:45 PM

Open the cabinet where the water pump is and use a stethoscope to locate the source. It is likely a pipe banging on something. If it is just the line, you might think of adding a short section of flex plastic line to the pipe instead of screwing it directly into the pump. Another thing would be to add rubber suspension to the pump mount.

idroba · 08-28-2014, 04:10 PM

My 2014 FC 20' came with a fancy variable speed pump. It is hooked to AS Pex water system with more 90 degree elbows than you can shake a stick at (I counted 17 from the water tank to the kitchen hot water outlet). The original installation surged and sagged and rattled and was annoying over 75% of the time. Now and then it was quiet. The dealer could do nothing but sympathize with me.

I removed some of the elbows and used more swept bends. I added a 1 gal accumulator tank (against the pump manufactures recommendations). I put foam pipe insulation around some of the rattling pipes. It is better now, but still is noisy when the pump runs, but at least that is much less frequent due to the accumulator tank.

I am neither impressed with the fancy pump, nor the AS plumbing system. The replacement PEX system I put in my 20' Argosy with a simple pump and accumulator tank is so quiet I rarely know when the pump is running. Not so with the new AS.

I can neither figure out why the new system is so noisy, nor have I found a solution. I am about to change to a simpler pump which does not have the variable speed system.

Bottom line to the OP... good luck, there is no simple solution to the problem that I have discovered.

Jim Flower · 08-28-2014, 04:11 PM

Castaway had a good suggestion. Also, Sometimes the water heater does not establish an internal airspace and that could lead to a racket. I never could discover the cause in my old Safari so I just minimized the rattling by installing an accumulator. At least it didn't make a noise in the middle of the night. Good for a few flushes. Jim

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Jim Flower · 08-28-2014, 04:17 PM

Idroba, my issue was in a 97 Safari with the old one speed pump. I think a pipe just ends up leaning against something solid so, short of taking off the belly pan, not much one can do. You certainly have tried hard. Jim

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Wayne&Sam · 08-28-2014, 05:02 PM

On my '14 the pump got loud after a couple of trips. The shelf the pump is mounted on was loose. One side of the shelf had been screwed in with one screw that was too short and too close to the edge of the support it was trying to hit. A couple of longer screws and it got back to a reasonable noise level.

polarlyse · 09-01-2014, 08:50 AM

I don't know anything about the variable speed pumps but I might suggest simply trying a different non-variable pump just to see if the noises persist.

Tyvekcat · 09-02-2014, 01:12 PM

Yeah, unfortunately mine rattles too. I put that 'foam' that Lowes sells to keep pipes from freezing, like idroba said, on every water line I could get to. I have the accumulator tank to add, but there isn't much room under there. I have the inlet and outlet lines into the pump in coils, with no sharp bends to reduce the turbidity and that hammering sound. I wrapped those in foam too. I wrapped the pex lines, where they go into the tanks under the floor and as far as I could reach under the floor where the hot and cold go across the frame to the bathroom. Wrapped the lines where they go over the wheel-well to the galley area. I just didn't get to add the accumulator. I will eventually.

I hope it works, will try it out later this month
have a good one,

idroba · 09-02-2014, 01:19 PM

It is nice to know that I am not alone in my frustration with making a quiet water system, and that others have had the same problems, even after work done on it which should have solved the issue.

Jim Flower · 09-02-2014, 01:48 PM

The accumulator tank I put in was a small residential one from Home Depot and was about the size of a gallon jug. It can be installed anywhere in your cold water supply side so your options should be plentiful. I did not have to add air to it during it's 13 years of operation. Good thing because it was jammed way up under the counter beside the sink between the sink and the outside shell. Jim

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PharmGeek · 09-02-2014, 02:41 PM

My pump is loud when it runs...I just chalked it up to simply it being a loud unit and have not tried to correct it in any way....we have not at all boondocked in it so it has not been annoying....but I was rather alarmed at how dern loud the thing was...then again, the AC unit overhead is super duper loud so whats a bit more noise?

Seriously though, I guess I will too need to look at all the pipes...mine has not been percieved as a sorta noise of a pipe rattling, but just what sounds like a loud humming...

gandttimes · 09-02-2014, 03:00 PM

We had the rattle in our pipes on our 20. Airstream replaced the pump and I added the flex lines to no avail. It didn't do it all the time, which was more frustrating. I finally talked to someone at A/S and he suggested that somehow air was getting in the lines and to do a quick bleed on the dump lines in the back compartment and the lines under the seat by the water heater whenever it happened. I started doing this and I never had any more problems.

George

Jim Flower · 09-02-2014, 03:00 PM

That may be curable with some rubber type padding under the pump. The pump in my 2012 is almost silent. It is very difficult to hear. I am a happy camper since we Boondock most of the time. Very seldom use the hook ups even when we have full services. Jim

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PharmGeek · 09-02-2014, 03:01 PM

I'll check it out soon for sure!

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Jim Flower · 09-02-2014, 03:09 PM

Also, if any air is getting in on the suction side of the pump, there will also be a tendency for the piping to make a racket. Jim

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annedfriend · 09-03-2014, 04:24 PM

Thanks so much everyone!! We love the wealth of information offered at airforums!! We solved the problem by getting the air out of the hot water heater - opened spigots, turned water pump on - that was it. ahhhhh.....so much better

TBRich · 09-03-2014, 11:56 PM

Our water lines start knocking really abnormally loud once in a while. For us, the water pump is secure and there seems to be no undue vibration at the pump itself.... so I've determined it's air in the water lines. Since air gravitates to the highest point in the sytem, I turn off all the water faucets, lay the shower head in the shower stall (or — if we are dry camping — into a dish pan that I then dump into the toilet) and run water through the shower for a while. It may take a couple of times doing this but it always works to get the air out.

PharmGeek · 09-04-2014, 05:44 AM

I fiddled some with it last night - think I got am some air out of hot water lines but I still think I have some - it's most notable when I use the toilet water fill/flush

I'll need to try the shower longer and I did not so the outside shower so maybe that's it

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DoublTrouble · 04-22-2015, 09:44 AM

I had an SOB for 15 years and the pump noise was a known quantity. My new '15 CCD pump seems louder. It is not the typical rattle sound but the revving sound and the water output is fast then slow.......
Is that a normal behavior?
Is that the "beauty of the variable speed pump?

This is our third trip out. Normally we are full hook up folks. But, I set up on the pad one foot further than my fresh water hose would tolerate! I decided that we could tough it out for the night.