Water pump failure - twice.

[Greggo]

Twice, without any warning, Ive had two water pumps simply stop running. Both mid trips, been in campgrounds a couple days. Fresh tank half full or more. No buzzing, smells, no nuthin. Checked connections. I tried everything, even sucked on the open faucet once to create a flow. In line filters were clean. I just replaced the pumps and now take a spare and use wire nuts for a quick change.

What gives?? More mysterious to me than UFOs or who built the Pyramids! Thanks!

[oldwave]

I wonder if the wfco is putting out too much voltage, might be time to meter the voltage at the pump

[Centex]

Were the pumps running with an open faucet when they just stopped, or had they cycled-off due to reaching shutoff pressure and then would not restart?

Most of them have an internal thermal protection device with auto reset which might take hours to reset - did you try them again after a long period of shutdown?

Have you by chance disassembled the failed pumps to look for any signs of the reason (e.g. locked rotor, indications of arcing, etc)?

Checked your karma lately? (joke - nothing personal )

Now that you're set up with a quick change spare, the current pump will probably run for 10 years

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by Centex

Were the pumps running with an open faucet when they just stopped, or had they cycled-off due to reaching shutoff pressure and then would not restart?

Most of them have an internal thermal protection device with auto reset which might take hours to reset - did you try them again after a long period of shutdown?

Have you by chance disassembled the failed pumps to look for any signs of the reason (e.g. locked rotor, indications of arcing, etc)?

Checked your karma lately? (joke - nothing personal )

Now that you're set up with a quick change spare, the current pump will probably run for 10 years

Nothing could be more true for me than carrying a spare or an emergency kit that I never use.
Who carries a snake bite kit in their pack so long that the rubber suction bulbs dry out, crack and begin to disintegrate like an old tire thrown in the woods. Good luck on your current pump.
Iowa Dave

[cpaharley2008]

Reminds me of the adage: "an ounce of prevention........

[Greggo]

Dave, karma has a sense of humor. We never get a flat or run out of gas next to a gas station. Ive always said Murphy was an rv'er!

[Iowa Dave]

Gee thanks, I have one in the Escape and am not sure I should t have another one or two. When I worked on for the parks department we had extinguishers on every truck, every mower and in all the buildings in multiple rooms. I assigned a foreman to inspect for them and once a year we had them recertified over a weeks time by changing out some that weren’t necessary in the winter as the buildings were locked up and unoccupied. The guy who did that for me only complained the first year till he had done it once. He figured out he was getting full pay for just driving all over town and updating the record sheet with no other accountability. After he retired I had volunteers who liked that “windshield time” . I had to spread it around and call it “cross training”. We did have a few fires over the years both accidental and vandalism. Our fire investigator with the city caught two guys who burned down a nice zoo building. One fellow had in the meantime joined the marines. They garnished a good portion of his pay and sent us a check each month. I think about $6,000 in all.
Iowa Dave