Gyrophoenix
Senior Member
RV LIFE Pro
Reading through the forums, it's interesting to see what annoys some people and not others. One thread that caught my eye was about water pumps. One of the posters was complaining about hearing the pump running, and there ensued a discussion concerning various model pumps. Some ran only at one speed, and cycled on and off when the pressure dropped, and others were variable speed, maintaining a stead pressure. But either way, they all made noise, apparently some louder than others. What surprised me was how many people were annoyed by the sound of the pump running.
Maybe I'm dating myself, but I recall the good old days of connecting to the Internet using a modem plugged into a phone line. That screechy three tone sound, indicating the connection was going through and successful was pure music (especially if your work depended on a successful connection.)
And that's the way I feel about the sound the water pump makes when running. It's a reassuring sound, indicating all is well with the world, and water will be coming out of the taps. I dread the thought of "silence" if the tap is opened, and nothing....
After using the pump for years, the "sound level" of the pump becomes hardwired. (There are two groups of people who learn to listen, recognize and memorize all sounds related to their activity: RV owners and pilots. I'm both. If the sound of the engine suddenly changes or stops while flying, that's a bad thing....)
So it was of interest that last week the sound volume of the pump seemed to be increasing. Not in a huge way, but enough to be noticeable. Even the wife noticed it. And it seemed to be slowly increasing every day. Naturally I was curious, yet I couldn't see or locate anything wrong.
And then it hit me. The black water tank is usually emptied when it's about 2/3 or 3/4 full. I'd been waiting for a day when the temperature was above 32 degrees to do the job. In the mean time, the tank was getting closer to full. Maybe up to 7/8.
The theory was: Liquid is a much better carrier of sound than air. I theorized that the sound of the pump was now being more efficiently carried from the wet bay, and "transmitted" through the black water tank to the rest of the coach. So the pump sounded louder.
Yesterday the tank was dumped, and sure enough the volume of sound when the water pump operates is back to normal. Mystery solved.
So... if any of you experience an increase of sound volume from the water pump, try dumping the tanks, and see if that fixes the issue.
Maybe I'm dating myself, but I recall the good old days of connecting to the Internet using a modem plugged into a phone line. That screechy three tone sound, indicating the connection was going through and successful was pure music (especially if your work depended on a successful connection.)
And that's the way I feel about the sound the water pump makes when running. It's a reassuring sound, indicating all is well with the world, and water will be coming out of the taps. I dread the thought of "silence" if the tap is opened, and nothing....
After using the pump for years, the "sound level" of the pump becomes hardwired. (There are two groups of people who learn to listen, recognize and memorize all sounds related to their activity: RV owners and pilots. I'm both. If the sound of the engine suddenly changes or stops while flying, that's a bad thing....)
So it was of interest that last week the sound volume of the pump seemed to be increasing. Not in a huge way, but enough to be noticeable. Even the wife noticed it. And it seemed to be slowly increasing every day. Naturally I was curious, yet I couldn't see or locate anything wrong.
And then it hit me. The black water tank is usually emptied when it's about 2/3 or 3/4 full. I'd been waiting for a day when the temperature was above 32 degrees to do the job. In the mean time, the tank was getting closer to full. Maybe up to 7/8.
The theory was: Liquid is a much better carrier of sound than air. I theorized that the sound of the pump was now being more efficiently carried from the wet bay, and "transmitted" through the black water tank to the rest of the coach. So the pump sounded louder.
Yesterday the tank was dumped, and sure enough the volume of sound when the water pump operates is back to normal. Mystery solved.
So... if any of you experience an increase of sound volume from the water pump, try dumping the tanks, and see if that fixes the issue.
