Water Pump Surge

[salem]

We just spent five nights in a partial hook-up park. We used our own shower a few times instead of the public showers. Everything worked fine till the last night. When the shower was running the water pump sounded as though it was surging. I thought perhaps the tank was getting low, so I filled the tank but the problem persisted. Now, the bathroom sink faucet runs just fine as does the kitchen sick faucet. Normally, when using the pump there is just a steady purr. With the shower it goes louder, then softer. Water pressure seems to stay the same. Trailer is a Starwood 5th wheel, by McKenzie. Where should I start looking for the problem? Thanks.

[profdant139]

For whatever it is worth, we found the Oxygenics too heavy for our flimsy little shower in the trailer -- so instead we installed it in our stick house master bathroom and it is really great.

[dougrainer]

The problem was simple. You went around the problem, which is OK. 99% of the time when a water pump surges or pulsates, the WATER SAVERS in the faucet necks cause a restriction that interrupts the psi flow of the water pump. You remove the neck screw on screen and pop out the plastic water restrictors. On a Shower head(the cheaper ones) you may not have this option and either replace the shower head or drill out the small hole in the neck to allow more water flow. Always open 2 or more faucets when this happens to determine if you have a water pump problem. Usually just opening both hot and cold on one faucet will stop the pulsating and that narrows it down to the restriction. Doug

PS, it would be rare for any air in the system to cause water pump pulsating/cycling. Doug

[salem]

Not going back to the original. Oxygenics is fantastic.:) Thanks everyone.

[2112]

Lynnmor wrote:
Since the OP had a problem with the pump doing quick on-off cycling, all he needed to do was re-establish the air pocket in the water heater. The shower head wasn't faulty, it just flowed the right amount of water to cause the cycling and a different head flowed a different amount. Adding an accumulator would improve things even more.

I was thinking the same but, the Oxygenics shower head is a great improvement compared to the OEM POS. If he wants to go back to his original shower head, adding an accumulator would correct the pulsing.

[Lynnmor]

Since the OP had a problem with the pump doing quick on-off cycling, all he needed to do was re-establish the air pocket in the water heater. The shower head wasn't faulty, it just flowed the right amount of water to cause the cycling and a different head flowed a different amount. Adding an accumulator would improve things even more.

[SoundGuy]

Dusty R wrote:
Years ago I installed an Oxygenics shower head. My wife and I didn't care for it. Took it off and put it back in it's box. It is around somewhere.

Same here, except I sold mine to someone else who also thought they wanted one. :W

[Dave_H_M]

The Wizard beat me to it. I got the same problem with my kitchen sink faucet. new faucet and have not got that one figured out yet. :h

[Dusty_R]

Years ago I installed an Oxygenics shower head. My wife and I didn't care for it. Took it off and put it back in it's box. It is around somewhere.

Dusty

[salem]

Wow! Two thumbs up to the new Oxygenics shower head. Hard to believe what a difference. Best $39.00 we've spent in a long time.

[salem]

Oh, forgot to mention, pump runs steady with new shower head. No more surging.

[salem]

Installed the new Oxygenics shower head this evening. Very simple to install. First impression is that we are going to like it very much. Puts out a good, powerful stream of water. Much more so than the old one. We have a trip scheduled in a couple of weeks so we'll give it a good workout. If you're curious, we got the #24682 brushed aluminum, $39.00 on Amazon.

[salem]

Mr. Wizard: I removed the OEM (2005) shower nozzle and low and behold it purred like a new born kitten. Put the nozzle back on and the surging sound started up again. I've been putting off ordering a new Oxygenics shower head but I guess it's finally time.:) Thanks for your help.

[salem]

I'll try both of those suggestions. Thanks, guys.

[zigzagrv]

If, perchance, you did run the pump when the tank was low, you may have gotten air in the lines someplace. If all faucets/shower are getting a good flow of water but the pump still gets loud, open/close the low point drains to get the air out of the system.