Headhunter Pump Replacement

[mikedee]

I have been concerned that my water pump was going to fail for the last couple years. I a conversation with Headhunter they told me the pump I had in my Royale was way past its normal life and expect trouble. It started dripping from the front seal and it was time to switch.

I was told that the MACH 5 pump was a dead replacement, its not. The inlet is 90 degree from the old model and the discharge is higher.

After getting a new one on Ebay for less than half, I did the job. Love the new pump, more pressure and super quiet. If you own a Royale maybe my installation will give you some idea's. need to paint the PVC and its good to go.

[Gary & Peggy Stevens]

Hey Mike, if I were you I would paint the pvc a COPPER Color. Will fool eveybody into thinking you have a Liberty, but maybe that is not a GOOD thing ? :D

Gary S.

[garyde]

Hi Mike. How old was your original water pump and is this one a larger pump or just an improved updated pump. Was there any concern about pump water pressure on your plumbing and fittings.

[merle&louise]

Mike,

I'm sure that Jon would be willing to share the paint number that Liberty uses when they paint their pipes! Is that Imron?:eek:

[mikedee]

I was going to paint the PVC White, but not now. Stainless paint looks great on PVC if you clean it up with Scotch Brite before painting.

Gary,
The new pump is an updated model, better flow same cutoff pressure. It should be fine. Old unit was a 2000 model, original and had good pressure and flow, but not like this MACH 5 unit.

Video of outside faucet with sound, taken with iphone,
http://public.me.com/mjclarklmc

[sawdust_128]

Make no mistake about it. I don't care what you paint those pipes with. You are still not going to get an Official Liberty Driver's and Plumbing Bay Tour Guide Hat. :D

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Eat your hearts out. Nice to see all you envious guys wanting to try to keep up with us Liberty owners.

I was surprised to read that the Headhunter pump has such a short lifespan. That is inexcusable. They cost more than my copper plumbing yet they need to be replaced in less than 10 years? It's not like these pumps get excessive use.

On my old Liberty (the one with the shiny copper pipes) I have a DC motor driven pump. On our coaches any time we have a single component in a critical system we face the risk of a failure really screwing up our day. All of us that have a single pump are in that position. To allow me to not have to worry about what I was going to do if the pump failed I added a small Shurflo pump into the system as backup, only used when the main pump fails. I test it periodically to make sure it is OK.

If I had a Headhunter I would consider a backup pump manditory based on Mike's comments.

[mikedee]

The Royale has a nice Shurflo pump as a backup, no need to retro top of the line coach's.

I don't think all Headhunter pumps are known for failure, just the year and model I had. 10 years is not bad for a pump that never failed just started a drip or two per hour. I diapered the pump and put a pan under the unit for a month until I could do the repair.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

My first Liberty had the same single pump and it was 17 years old when we sold the coach. Never quit running and never dripped.

But listening to the coach owners talking about their Headhunter failures got me worried so I added the back up pump. I see Royale already knew they had installed a pump prone to failure and added the back up, not as an option, but as a necessity. They should have included the drip pan and towels to wipe up the water also.