Plumbing To Reduce Water Pump Noise
After reading information from the SHURflo website and from the Trailer Life Open Roads Forum, I decided to see if I could get my system quieter. I first removed the pump, and re-installed it 90 degrees to its original position. I determined that I could work on the pump, plumping, and such better in this position. I installed 16-18" X 1/2" ID braided flexible vinyl tubing on the inlet and the outlet of the pump. This prevent some of the vibration from being transmitted into the more rigid Qest/Pex tubing. This was adapted to the Qest/Pex tubing of the plumbing system. Pipe insulation was installed to keep tubing from thumbing on other objects, i.e. the trailer framing. I tried this for a camping trip. It did help a lot, but I want to see if I could do better. I installed an accumulator manufactured by SHURflo. It is a small compact unit. Some people have installed two gallon accumulator purchased from local home centers. I did not want to give up that much space or have to winterize the extra volume. I install the SHURflo accumulator between the flexible tubing on the pump outlet and the Qest/Pex tubing of the plumbing system. I installed it up to the right of the pump, in the same compartment. It can be installed anywhere on the plumbing system down stream of the pump, the outlet side. Use only plastic fittings on the accumulator plastic housing. This combination has reduced the pumping noise greatly. I intend to go back and replace the screw clamps with the pinch clamps for more uniform clamping and looks better.