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One project this year is to sort out the factory shower. Has never worked well and my kids would enjoy some warm water. Suffering from low flow issues. Problem I am seeing and what's been checked.
Problem:
Looks like there is too much suction needed at the pump to push much water through to the shower head. Cold water in particular seems problematic as I seem to get enough hot water. When I remove the pump intake line and just suck on the hose with my mouth (engine running), I get no water. It's almost like there is a negative pressure.
Here's what's been done so far:
- pump checked. Pumps well and seems to be near the 2.5 GPM capacity.
- pulled the hoses off at the mixing valve, checked for scale and blew out with compressed air
- shower head head cleaned out, seems ok.
Questions:
What is the exact hose flow setup here? It's hard to tell exactly but this is that I think it is. Hot and cold water flow from their sources to the mixing block. The mixing block goes to the pump and the pump feeds the the shower head. Is this accurate?
At my pump, on the intake side, why would I have near zero flow / negative pressure? If I disconnect the intake line at the pump, I get no water with the engine idling. I would expect some amount of water to be flowing to the pump. Instead, even when I suck on the line with my mouth, I get nothing. It's almost like there is a negative pressure and the pump suction needs to overcome this.
My cold water feed appears to be tee-d off the raw water line. Maybe before the stainer or right after, not sure. Regardless, it would seem that this placement would make drawing water difficult as the venturi effect would want to suck water vs push it via the line. Where's the best location for the cold water pickup point?
Are these standard RV type hoses and fittings? In particular, the plastic butterfly fittings at the temp block. Would like to know where I can get parts.
Thanks!
Jeff
Problem:
Looks like there is too much suction needed at the pump to push much water through to the shower head. Cold water in particular seems problematic as I seem to get enough hot water. When I remove the pump intake line and just suck on the hose with my mouth (engine running), I get no water. It's almost like there is a negative pressure.
Here's what's been done so far:
- pump checked. Pumps well and seems to be near the 2.5 GPM capacity.
- pulled the hoses off at the mixing valve, checked for scale and blew out with compressed air
- shower head head cleaned out, seems ok.
Questions:
What is the exact hose flow setup here? It's hard to tell exactly but this is that I think it is. Hot and cold water flow from their sources to the mixing block. The mixing block goes to the pump and the pump feeds the the shower head. Is this accurate?
At my pump, on the intake side, why would I have near zero flow / negative pressure? If I disconnect the intake line at the pump, I get no water with the engine idling. I would expect some amount of water to be flowing to the pump. Instead, even when I suck on the line with my mouth, I get nothing. It's almost like there is a negative pressure and the pump suction needs to overcome this.
My cold water feed appears to be tee-d off the raw water line. Maybe before the stainer or right after, not sure. Regardless, it would seem that this placement would make drawing water difficult as the venturi effect would want to suck water vs push it via the line. Where's the best location for the cold water pickup point?
Are these standard RV type hoses and fittings? In particular, the plastic butterfly fittings at the temp block. Would like to know where I can get parts.
Thanks!
Jeff
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