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Old 08-24-2015, 07:54 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Florida
Posts: 1,241
THOR #1249
Dead fresh water pump

Last trip my fresh water pump failed and we had to use jugs of water to flush with. That is one of the benefits of RV toilets. Since I was the 2nd owner, Arterra Dist. or WFCO would not cover the pump under warranty as stated in their instructions. That is unfortunate as the pump was only used for about 9 months. After going back and forth with Arterra several times, I ordered another pump which should be here in a week or so. In the mean time, with to much curiosity and spare time , I decided to see what failed in the pump. It seems that the brushes have never made proper contact with the commutator as shown in the pic. Only about 1/4 to 1/3 of the brushes were making contact and causing the motor to fail. When it failed I noticed that the motor housing was to hot to handle. The Artis pumps seem to be quite common in RV's and marine use, so hopefully the defective one I had is just a Fri. or Mon. ass'y and not a common QC problem with these pumps.

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Old 10-29-2015, 01:59 AM   #2
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis
State: Michigan
Posts: 29
THOR #2614
Strange, we also experienced a failure with the the water pump, our 24.1 axis had only 6500 miles on it with only limited water pump usage, in that we used city water hookups at parks mostly. I intend to replace this pump but will look for a manufacture with a better reputation having same specs.
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Old 10-29-2015, 12:21 PM   #3
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Florida
Posts: 1,241
THOR #1249
If you are the original owner, you may be able get a replacement pump under warranty, but WFCO has a reputation of not being warranty friendly.
Good luck and post your results.
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Old 11-06-2015, 01:36 AM   #4
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Windsport 27K
State: Kentucky
Posts: 881
THOR #2817
Ours failed when on a trip to the Northeast. I replaced it and when we got home I took the failed pump apart. The micro switch had failed. The RV had less than 10K miles. If I can find a switch it should be good as a spare.
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Old 11-06-2015, 05:06 AM   #5
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Hurricane 27k
State: Arkansas
Posts: 19
THOR #1759
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The photograph of your pump armature is very interesting. Upon study, it appears that you suffered a loose brush and the resulting discoloration is the results. The commutator doesn't look so bad that it cannot be simply repaired. By chucking the armature into a drill press, or lathe, you can clean and polish the commutator using an ink eraser. After polishing the commutator, use a razor knife to assure that the slots between the commutator bars are clear of copper threading that can short one bar to another.
When reassembling the motor, assure that the brush springs tightly push the brushes against the commutator surface. When you first start the motor, there will be some sparking at the tip of the brush which will slowly go away as the brush seats against the commutator.
The typical problem of these cheap motors is loose brushes which do not have enough pressure to properly seat.
Hope that this information is helpful.
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Old 11-06-2015, 02:42 PM   #6
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: Florida
Posts: 1,241
THOR #1249
You are correct. Mostly a brush problem with the springs not having enough strength and also one mount looked to be off center of the radial also. For a little under $60, it was not worth the time and effort for me to attempt a fix. If this one fails, I will go with another brand.

As a side note to the pump failure, there is a bright spot. Installing a new pump provided an opportunity to install some mounting isolation between the pump and the floor and also to install some flex hose connections between the pump and the pex connections. These mods made a lot of difference in the noise and vibration level when the pump was running. I posted some pics in another section here:http://www.thorforums.com/forums/f27...-mod-2255.html
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