New Water Pump or Accumulator

[Al - K4GLU]

Have a 2007 20' Safari and the water pump sounds like a jackhammer. While I do little or no boondocking I do stay at State Parks many of which have only electrical hookups. So the question is which is the best way to go - add a accumulator tank to the existing pump which would probably be a bit cheaper or go with one the new ShurFlo "quiet" pumps? I've read all the threads on accumulators/pumps but don't remember seeing this question addressed.

[Wayne&Sam]

There have been a few threads about this recently. I looked at my pump last night and the factory used rigid pipe for the connections to the pump. ShurFlo reccomends flexible pipe for the immediate connections to the pump to help isolate the noise. I'm going to try that first, as I'd want that even if I upgrade the pump. And it's only $20 in parts!

[Excella CM]

For my money, an accumulator is always a good investment regardless of which pump you may use. It reduces noise and smooths the flow of water. You can get a glass of water in the middle of the night without cycling the pump and waking everyone up. I think it is remiss of Thor to leave them out in the first place.

[5cats]

Originally Posted by Al - K4GLU

I've read all the threads on accumulators/pumps but don't remember seeing this question addressed.

This thread seems to sum it up pretty well.

Early in the thread, I mentioned wrapping foam insulation around the under-sink water lines -- all the PEX plumbing lines vibrated terribly against everything and each other when the pump ran!

Later in the thread is a discussion + pictures of an accumulator tank install.

My experience is that merely insulating the water lines makes a huge difference. Combining that with the addition of an accumulator tank is about as much as I need. The only improvement I may yet do is replace the over-torqued anti-vibration bushings on the factory pump mount to provide a little more isolation from the soundboard-that-is-the-floor.

If/when the factory pump fails I'll look into a variable speed pump, but I'm plenty happy as is. More importantly, so is my wife

Cheers,
-jd.

[peegreen]

Add a few coils of nylon reinforced PVC tubing to the discharge side of the pump. EZ and inexpensive solution that will cure 90% of the noise and dampen any pulsation.