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Many people complain about the noise made by the
water pumps in popup up campers. The noise actually comes
from a combination of factors:
-
Water lines that are not properly secured which
vibrate
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Water pumps which are mounted directly to wood partitions
and vibrate against the wood
-
The design of the water system - the pump
immediately turns on at any request for water
The first two are fairly easy to correct, make sure
the water lines are properly secured and mount the pump using some
cushioning material between it and the mounting surface. As a
twist on this, many pop ups are manufactured with water
lines made of "PEX". PEX is hydronic
tubing manufactured from polyethylene plastic which has, as part of
the manufacturing process, a three dimensional molecular bond created
within the structure of the plastic which dramatically improves a
large number of properties such as heat deformation, abrasion,
chemical and stress crack resistance. Impact and tensile strength are
increased, shrinkage decreased and low temperature properties
improved. OK, I admit it , I stole the definition of PEX form HERE.
These stiff water lines add to the noise as they can tend to slap
around when the pump is running. Make sure all of the lines are
secure and don't move around a lot
Accumulators tanks reduce pump cycling and eliminate
pulsations and water hammer in the pop up water system. It is
basically a pressurized two part tank with a flexible bladder in the
middle. Pressurized air is on one side and the water is on the
other. When you turn on a faucet, the pressurized water form the
tank is used first, then the pump turns on to maintain the pressure in
your water system. The accumulator tank "cushions" the
pulsation of your water pump.
After installing this tank, my pump runs almost silent.
Below is how I did it in my old Santa Fe. I
liked this modification so well it was one of the first things I did
to our 2005 Niagara.
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