why is my water pump running continuously?

[Wittenham]

the history is:

- replaced the leaking water pump with a different model, it is now a Shurflo Aqua King II [12v model...].  I cannot recall what the other one was.

- there has been a bit of work to the inside plumbing, but not rearranging much, no new runs or anything:  a new bath, a reconditioned Paloma.

- the battery is fully charged

- the water, hot and cold, comes out fine when the taps are turned on

- there is not a leak or an open tap [at least not an obvious one....]

 

But the pump continues to run when the taps are off.  Any ideas on what to look at next?

 

thanks

[OldGoat]

20 minutes ago, Wittenham said:

the history is:

- replaced the leaking water pump with a different model, it is now a Shurflo Aqua King II [12v model...].  I cannot recall what the other one was.

- there has been a bit of work to the inside plumbing, but not rearranging much, no new runs or anything:  a new bath, a reconditioned Paloma.

- the battery is fully charged

- the water, hot and cold, comes out fine when the taps are turned on

- there is not a leak or an open tap [at least not an obvious one....]

 

But the pump continues to run when the taps are off.  Any ideas on what to look at next?

 

thanks

Have a look in the bilge and see wheter it's filling up with water??

Does the (undefined pump) have a pressure switch,

if so is it set to run continuously

if not then you need a perssure switch.

[Alan de Enfield]

If it running continuously then it is pumping water to somewhere.

 

You have a leak / split pipe / blown joint somewhere in the system.

[WotEver]

14 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

You have a leak / split pipe / blown joint somewhere in the system.

Or a faulty/non-existent pressure switch. 

[Nightwatch]

Your water tank may be empty. 

[Wittenham]

2 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:

Your water tank may be empty. 

you know, that just crossed my mind this very minute.... i listened to the pump and thought it sounded like it was an air/water mix, although the tap output seemed fine.  To answer the other points, there is no water in the bilge where water usually sits [although given the recent work on it, the boat may now be balanced differently]. 

 

Pardon my ignorance.... is a pressure switch a separate piece of kit or would it be built into a pump?  

 

I will check the water level tonight.

[Onewheeler]

Your pump has a built in pressure switch which should cut out at about 2 bar. If there's water in the tank and it's not pouring out somewhere, it could be that the NRV in the pump isn't seating and any pressure is seeping back to the water tank. Or the pump is otherwise  defective and it's never getting up to pressure.

Edited April 12, 2019 by Onewheeler

[ronnietucker]

Dunno if this is any help, but: I have a sink tap with a switch inside it for telling the pump to switch on when the tap is on. If I don't fully FULLY turn that tap off then the pump still whirrs. Maybe your tap (if it has a switch in it) isn't 100% off?

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, ronnietucker said:

Dunno if this is any help, but: I have a sink tap with a switch inside it for telling the pump to switch on when the tap is on. If I don't fully FULLY turn that tap off then the pump still whirrs. Maybe your tap (if it has a switch in it) isn't 100% off?

I'm fairly sure the sureflow switch works off pressure drop.

Many caravan switches (and yours by the sound of it) have electrical on-off switches incorporated into the tap (our horse box had one)

[Onewheeler]

If you have a pressure gauge attached to the PRV on your calorifier, check what it's reading. If you don't have one, they're cheap and worth installing to help with problems like this. If you don't have a PRV, stand well back!

[Arthur Marshall]

Low battery power can make it run - I presume because the pressure sensor needs a bit of oomph.

[Tony Brooks]

Pumps come in a variety of different flow rates and pressure settings. If the new pump has a higher or very close pressure setting to the calorifier PRV the PRV is likely to open and vent water through its outlet. The pump can then not build up enough pressure to operate its switch. Answer adjust the switch or fit an external one.

[Wittenham]

To update/close this one... after some of the suggestions above,  I RTFM.  There was mention of a pressure switch that needed to be set lower than some other pressure.  After finding a couple of allan screws, i backed one out and, presto, the pump stopped running after the tap was turned off.

 

Thanks all for the help.

 

 

[blackrose]

Sorry to ask the obvious but I assume you have switched the pump off while you're trying to figure this out and not just letting the pump run and burn itself out?

[bizzard]

AquaKing pumps have a flush fitting streamlined pressure awitch, unlike most which have the swich 'box shaped switch' hanging on the back. The Auakings adjustment screw should be the centre Philips screw of the other four which secure the flush switch in place.