Water Pump Failure

[ToyMan]

Groco water pump failed today in Williams Arizona. It will not prime and it is leaking where the pump motor shaft enters the pump.

I have the 24V model of the Groco.

Taking a train ride from here to the Grand Canyon tomorrow then will be leaving Friday morning heading to Las Vegas. I know there is a Camping World in Vegas that should carry Shurflo pumps. That would be a temporary fix until I can get back to Florida where I plan on rebuilding the Groco.

I know the Groco setup has a pressure regulator that starts and stops it. How can my existing wiring and regulator be used to do a temp install of a Shurflo? I have very little room in the pump area so the Groco might have to come out for now.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

TM

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Ron,

Good luck finding a 24V Shurflo. I had to order mine on line. They have built in regulators so when you get one installed to by-pass the Groco you are good to go.

I would suggest during the installation and when the system water pressure is down to zero that you check the pressure in the accumulator tank. Often this is overlooked and causes the pump to short cycle. The reason this is important with the Shurflo is that it will not deliver the flow you now have with the Groco. Therefore with the accumulator tank pressurized to the Shurflo cut-in pressure you will have a good supply of water to flush the toilet. The devil is in the details.

I suspect that water pump can be repaired. Groco has a site on line.

[truk4u]

Toy Man,

Here's what I did to use a Surflo as a temporary pump fix and the hose and fittings were from Home Depot:

6570
Adapts to the 1" hose in and out


I have a new Groco Pump that I didn't use and if you have to get a new one, call me and I'll make you a deal. 770-634-7530

6571

[ToyMan]

Tom,
Is that a 24V pump?
Ron

[ToyMan]

Ordered the Groco repair kit while I was on the road and it was waiting for me when I got home.

The kit is comprised of 2 impellers, 1 large o-ring, 2 small o-rings, 2 seals and an end cap.

Cost was $153 at bargainboat parts.com Other sites have the same kit for over $200 and I think Groco wants close to $300 for it.

I can't believe the cost for such few parts. You would have thought that the 2 bearings would be included.

The 2 small o-rings are not on any diagram I have found of this pump.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

You would think they were airplane parts the way they charge for them.

[truk4u]

Ron,

Glad you were able to do the rebuild, beats the hell out of a 1200.00 pump, but as Jon said, you would think the parts are aircraft TSO'd.

[Richard Barnes]

There is a Camping World about 15 miles from you between - Williams and Flagstaff. Its right on Interstate 40 - Hard to miss.

[ToyMan]

My old Groco pump actually started working after I was hooked up to city water for a while. The problem was it would not prime. I could hold the prime button down and the water filter bowl would not fill beyond half full.

Since I had the kit, I decided to take it apart and do the rebuild. As mentioned earlier, the kit did not contain many parts.

Once taken apart, the pump parts all appeared normal. The shaft is held in place by a 1 inch plastic or nylon bushing on each end. The bearings listed in the diagram attach to a flat slotted area on the shaft. These bearings support the impellers forcing them to move in an elliptical motion thus pumping the water.

The old impellers looked OK but I replaced them anyway. I also replaced the end cap seal.

I moved the shaft around on each side of the pump and they wobbled. Apparently the plastic/nylon bushings were worn out thus causing all the noise from the pump.

I failed to mention that my original failure was caused by running out of water. When out of water, the pump continued to run. I put water in the tank and tried to prime it to no avail. When hooked to city water it eventually primed (not immediately) and filled the water filter bowl. I suspect it had an air pocket in it.

Once primed, it did not leak as it did when it appeared to have an air pocket.

MY THOUGHTS

If it pumps, leave it alone. Even though it may be noisy.
Rebuild kit will not help the noise.
Rebuild kit is overpriced.
If it leaks water, the seal is all you need. Might be able to find one without purchasing the kit.
If it fails to pump, leaks water and excessively noisy, REPLACE the entire pump. The kit will only fix the leaking water.

If yours leaks, I have an extra seal I will send to you.

[Charles Spera]

I could use that seal, please.

[ToyMan]

Charles,
Email your address and I will mail it to you.
Ron

[truk4u]

Ron,

There is a check valve on the outlet side of the pump to prevent city water from backing through the pump and into your fresh water tank. If that check valve is working properly, you shouldn't have any city water filling the water filler bowl.

You may already be aware of the check valve, but just wanted to give you a little FYI that I learned during my recent water heater project.

[Charles Spera]

You have a private mail


Charles,
Email your address and I will mail it to you.
Ron

[ToyMan]

Chuck,
It's in the mail.
Ron

[Charles Spera]

Ron,
Seal received and installed today. No biggie to install. Found the bushings(bearing) seems a little loose. Hope the seal will do the job. Stay tuned for any further developments.
Thanks again for your generousity.
Chuck