Shure Flo Water Pump 72 Safari bad?

[RichHog]

So now on to the water pump. Checked DC Voltage into the fuse holder connected to pump (orange wire) 13V. Pulled fuse out, couldn’t read what is was but metered it and it was blown. Replaced with new 1 Amp fuse. Turn on the water pump switch it lights up as before nothing. Open fuse. New fuses blown.
Replace Shureflo pump?
Also before changing fuse when I turned water pump switch in and it lit then would hit the Am-meter it would drop to red. Turn off switch it goes back to green normal. Thanks for any help.

[Bill M.]

Maybe you made a typo? 1 amp will not run a water pump. Try a 10 or 15 amp fuse just to see if it works. You could pull the fuse and meter across the pump leads just to see if you have a dead short there. I have had to change several pumps in my 2 trailers. But blowing the fuse is not the way mine have gone out. Changing a pump is a fairly inexpensive and easy repair.

[RichHog]

Originally Posted by Bill M.

Maybe you made a typo? 1 amp will not run a water pump. Try a 10 or 15 amp fuse just to see if it works. You could pull the fuse and meter across the pump leads just to see if you have a dead short there. I have had to change several pumps in my 2 trailers. But blowing the fuse is not the way mine have gone out. Changing a pump is a fairly inexpensive and easy repair.

Thanks didn’t know what the inline fuse was supposed to be. Thought that since it was 13V dc I would rather it blow there that at the new blade fuse box I just installed. But the old Univolt should have something I can steal there. And typically doesn’t the pump need to sense water to start up?

[RichHog]

So the 20amp fuse from the Univolt didn’t blow but nothing happened the pump. But I did turn on the ampmeter in the control panel and it went from green to red when the pump switch is turned on. What next?

[GMFL]

Replace the pump

[RichHog]

Working on that. What is it that a vintage trailer really needs everything replaced. I mean 45 years is a good run.

[azflycaster]

The pump does not need water to run. If there is water in the tank it will prime itself by pulling water out of the tank, hopefully.

[RichHog]

New Sureflo pump installed. The 72 model is almost identical. Flipped on the pump switch, nothing, nada. Time to trouble shoot.
First check will be power.

[RichHog]

Good News Bad News. The inline fuse next to the pump escaped during connecting and is probably at the belly-pan now. So replaced the fuse and made sure it stayed in. Powered up and the pump now works. However no water is being drawn out of the fresh water tank. When I first looked at the plumbing after putting water in that tank I noticed that the line coming out of it has a T connection that is a drain that goes out through the bell pan to the ground. The right side of the T goes to the pump filter and then to the pump. There aren’t any drain valves anywhere I can find to control or drain water. I’m thinking that the PO when they put in pex lines might have cut a few corners in the reworking. Since there is no way to close off the bottom drain to ground I would think that the pump can’t pressurize the lines and pull water out. Anybody out there have a thought on this?

[Bill M.]

Any leak on the suction side of the pump will keep it from working. Even a small one. My guess is that the PO did not use the fresh water tank and maybe had an external line to add winterizing fluid? Anyway you need to get rid of that and get the suction line airtight. And the pump will run whey dry and it does not hurt it much. Unless it runs for days.

[RichHog]

Thanks Bill. I guess I best to remove the T as can always drain the tank by pumping it dry. Don’t know what the original plumbing was like. Would have to drain the fresh water tank from below.

[ddhisself]

My '73 Ambassador 29 ft has 4 drain valves (they look like older outdoor faucets) that must be closed to allow water system to pressurize. My first time out with my trailer, I almost never figured out how to get water pressure. 2 of them are below the water pump, near belly pan, accessed from interior. The other two are in rear compartment. I have no idea if yours is similar. Don

[RichHog]

So I remembered I have a service manual for the 72 trailers and there is a water schematic that shows the location of the 4 drain valves and pipe connections which I’m pretty sure don’t exist any more. I thought of printing it out on large format paper so I can try to hunt down what is and I isn’t there. Like don’t think there is a pressure regulator anymore. No back flow check valve and no drain valves. Oh well...