New Water pump Taste/Smell

[bmturp]

Has anyone had a problem with a taste or smell from a newly installed water pump?? I have just installed a new Shurflo sensor 5.7 gpm pump in my 5er using all the original hoses and fittings.? I love the way it works and how quiet it is, but from the first drop it made the water taste as if I had run it through a garden hose.? I can run water out of the tank drain on the fresh tank and it is without taste or smell, but through the pump it almost makes you gag.? Will it eventually go away?? Anything I can do to speed it along?? Any suggestions?? As you know, this is not a cheap pump and I wouldn't expect to have these types of problems from a well known product.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Yours is the first report I'v eever heard of that problem. I'm thinking there is something wrong with either the pump or the installation. You didn't use any sealants or such, did you?  If not, I would call Shur-flo and ask for advice. And tell them you want to return the pump if they cannot quickly solve the problem for you.

 

[Ron]

Have never heard of that problem either.  Like Gary suggested contact Shur-flo and see if they have a good solution or get your money back.  Then go buy a Aqua-Jet pump.  Much better pump IMHO.

 

[bmturp]

This was on a 2004 Montana.  I took out a Shurflo 2.8 noisy and the new pump fit right in with the same fittings. The seals were already lubed with something so I added nothing else.  I did not "taste" or smell the new pump prior to putting it in, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary.  We were getting ready for a week long trip to Washington, so I filled up the tank with fresh water from the same blue hoses I have always used, then filled the ice trays when I lit off the refer.  When I opened the refer about 2-3 hours later to make sure it was chilling was when I got the first smell.  At first it was strong enough that you could  smell it when you flushed the toilet.

After some usage, it does seem to have settled down a little, but still noticeable.  I placed a call to Shurflo and they also had never heard of this problem.  The lady said she wanted to talk to some staff about it but their line was busy and she would get right back to me.  That was on Tuesday of last week.

Anyway, I will try them again next week.  This was the first time I have changed one of those and I was just wondering if it was normal for them to have a "break-in" period.

Thanks for the replys

 

[Jim Godward]

I think I would drain the tank, cleanse it with chlorine, flush it and then refill it before I go any further.  I know if I leave my tank for a time, I tend to have odor problems but that is due to filling from a well and no chlorine in it.  I forget to ad some occasionally!  BGl

 

[Alaskansnowbirds]

..... so I filled up the tank with fresh water from the same blue hoses I have always used......

The first thing you need to do is buy yourself a hose approved for use with potable water. Always white in color in my experience.

 

[Karl]

You didn't mention what kind of smell it was. Was it a vinyl type smell, solvent, burnt, bleach? Did you winterize the unit and maybe not get all the antifreeze out of the system? Like Don said, first get a white, food grade hose and use it to completely flush all the lines, drain the hot water heater and the fresh water tank; then start over.

 

[bmturp]

To update on this post, I contacted SHURFLO and they had never had a problem of this nature before.? When I explained what it was doing, they requested I send the unit back to them in Indiana.?

Upon arrival, they also noticed the "garden hose" smell from it, dismantled it and found it had improper diaphragms installed.? Now this is strange because originally they told me this pump does not have an agricultural counterpart so I don't know if the diaphragms are interchangeable with other models or not, but apparently they are.? They installed the correct parts, bench tested it for flow and sat it under a light bulb to heat it and attempt to obtain the smell again, without success.?

I have not installed it as yet but it does pass the external sniff test.? Only time will tell.

The bottom line though is that SHURFLO did listen to the customer's complaint, followed through and found a problem, then corrected it (I hope).? My question now is, how many more pumps are out there with this same problem?