Shurflo faucet troubleshooting

[danielheff]

No matter which faucet you test, I'd still recommend using a relay to do the switching of the electrical load. Relays can handle millions of cycles, and if one does fail (I bought very cheap ones) a new one takes seconds to plug in.
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'70 Squareback 1835cc
'85 Vanagon GL Camper, EJ22, Peloquin Diff, Burley rear disc brakes, SC big front brakes, Espar D2L, 250ah Lifepo4
'85.5 944 NA

[MsTaboo]

How about this one from Reimo? Anyone tried yet?
https://vanagonwestfaliaparts.com/collections/reimo/products/electric-auto-faucet
My Shurflo has been working fine for the last ten years but always nice to know about other options.
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Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
When you stir up shit you're bound to get some on yourself.
Resist Kleptocratic Oligarchy (and Idiocracy)!

[kourt]

[SCM]

[Timwhy]

[crazyvwvanman]

I first replaced a stock Westy faucet with this same model Shurflo over 25 years ago and it still works.
I did it specifically because it let us adjust the water volume down to the least amount needed for a given job.
We often camped for a week or two at a time with no potable water source nearby so conserving it was essential.

Since then I've put them into many of my family's Vanagons and a bunch of my own as well as friend's vans.
Never had any switch problems that I know of, running the pumps straight from the faucet switch.
If they are now weaker I would just add a relay to keep the benefits of the overall design.

How I always do it is better than the standard way.
For the oversize "washer" I drill the faucet hole offset to put the faucet as close as possible to the Wesyt sink bowl.
This allows the faucet to tip down all the way into the bowl and makes room for our compact tea kettle or other such item to live there while the kitchen lid is stowed.
It is a small thing but a useful improvement over centering the faucet.

Mark

[harvgwen]

I’m very sure that SCM is right about that. I only ever crank the faucet wide open so as not to overload the pump with excess back pressure. Contrary to GoWesty’s claim, I think it’s a poor design to allow the valve to restrict the flow of water from the pump.
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1986 Westfalia Vanagon, 2.2 Subaru
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

[Bill D]

Hmmm... maybe that's right... the water flow controlled by a water valved inside the faucet... makes more sense... but if so, restricting flow makes the pump work harder and may make it burn out sooner...
Will check this out...
Maybe I was mistaking the different sound of the pump working harder against the restricted valve for it slowing down due to less current...

[SCM]

[dabaron]

[Bill D]

From the GoWesty web page for the Shurflo kit:
"Adds flow regulation! You can control the flow volume, which is way better than the original design's "on/off" options."

Mine had flow regulation before it stopped working, but not now that it's wired to the regulator. Not a big deal. In fact, when it had the flow regulation I was concerned about feeding the pump lower amps than it was designed for. I seem to recall reading somewhere that motors don't like to be under powered and can be harmful to them (like brown-outs for fridge and furnace motors)... but maybe that's for bigger motors than these small pumps?

[harvgwen]

Bill, I believe the Shur Flo switch is just on/off, not variable, so the relay makes no difference that way.
And I’ve had the same experience with GoWesty reviews. They make and sell a lot of great products but some of their products are not very good.
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1986 Westfalia Vanagon, 2.2 Subaru
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

[Bill D]

"I installed a new Shurflo in 2011; still running fine to this day... without a relay (*knock on wood*)."

When I pulled mine apart the contacts looked much thinner and less substantial that a previous Samba post photo from several years ago of one torn apart....
Maybe the make the contacts less able to handle the pump amps over the past several years...

[kamzcab86]

[Bill D]

I think this relay fix, in addition to routing the higher amps thru the relay, also seems to eliminate the variable pump speed/water flow of the original set up? It seems the relay switching is on/off; not variable...
Initial results seem to show that on mine... anyone else?

[Bill D]

"In my opinion, the sellers of these faucets should indicate this."

Ha... GoWesty NEVER allows bad reviews to show up on their web site... all the Shurflo reviews are blue sky and perfect happiness...

Geez !!!

[harvgwen]

I had a similar experience with mine. It’s just not made to handle the current that the pump needs. In my opinion, the sellers of these faucets should indicate this.
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1986 Westfalia Vanagon, 2.2 Subaru
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

[Bill D]

Thanks HarvGwen and all for the info.... very helpful !!! And much appreciated...
An interesting note... I forced open the Shurflo switch and could see the contacts, but saw nothing obvious as to why it was not working... no corrosion, not blackened surfaces, all seemed good... Put it back together and it still did not work, hooked it to the relay per instructions here and all of a sudden it works.... strange, but good.

[harvgwen]

Bill, the reason for the high current draw through 30 to 87 is because it powers the pump. Whatever current the pump draws flows through the relay from 30 to 87. The high current no longer runs through your Shur Flo switch. The low current draw in the 85 to 86 part of the relay is the small amount of current needed to pull the relay switch to the closed position. That small current is what now flows through your Shur Flo switch. The Shur Flo switch isn’t robust enough for the high current that the pump needs. The relay now becomes the switch for the pump. The relay is made to take the higher current.
The wiring diagram provided above is very similar to what I suggested, except that I had the Shur Flo switch on the positive side of the relay. The diagram has it on the negative side. It will work the same.
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1986 Westfalia Vanagon, 2.2 Subaru
Okanagan Valley, British Columbia

[MsTaboo]