Dry camping water pump!

jillmstar

Member
We are dry camping fir the first time and can not get our water to work. The black switch on the testing tank light pump is on. The switch outside is on. 2/3 full water. Checked fuzes.. Opened all valves and nothing happens. Help please!
 

hoefler

Well-known member
Don't know what rig you have, but is there a change over valve from city water to on board water??
 

porthole

Retired
Try the opposite direction for the switch in the docking center. You may think you are turning it on but actually turning it off. That switch is there so you can easily turn off the water pump when you make you city water connection.
 

jillmstar

Member
We Have a cyclone 3950. It has no instuctions on how use your rig when you dry camp. Inside there is a black panel and it checks the tanks, has a test, pump, and heater switch. Then outside there is another water switch, I've tried it a varieties of ways and no water. Yes we checked the fuses,where is the pump located at? Should I have to run my generator to use water? We've tried both and no water. When we are hooked up on city water ,it works great!
 

gpshemi

Well-known member
My Cyclone has a master switch in the docking station as well as one on the control panel inside. Make sure they're both ON.
 

2010augusta

Well-known member
I had one of the 2 power wire come out of the wire nut, at the connection next to the pump. The Pump is behind the wall of the basement near the UDC. you'll have to remove about 6 screws to see what is going on back there.
 

TNT

Active Member
If your pump is running, but no water are you sure your water heater is full? 12 gallons is alot to fill using the pump. It has to completely fill before you get water from a faucet. If we are dry camping we always connect to city water so we know our water heater is full then when we get there we have water right away.
 

beasleyrl

Well-known member
On my Cyclone, the main switch is on the indoor control panel where the test switch is to show water level/battery/gray/black tanks. Mine has 3 switches. 1 red (for the gas hot water heater) and 2 black switches. 1 of the 2 black switches is for the pump and will have a little red light (dot) next to it when the pump is on. There is also a switch on the outside docking station but the 2 switches are for the pump are tied together so either will turn on the water pump. The key is to make sure the red dot (light) is on next to the indoor switch.

When the red light (dot) is on, turn on one of the water faucets and listen for the pump (you may need to turn off your AC and generator to hear it if they are running). If you don't hear anything, you may have an electrical problem. If you hear the pump, it could be filling the hot water tank (if it was empty) as someone else has said. I have also had a problem with something on the pump not being tight. When it was lose, it the pump would run but it would suck air from around the pump and not pull any water out of the tank.
 

ScubaSteve

Full Timer
I thought my water pump was malfunctioning at first too. It was very hard to hear with the A/C running. The pump runs on a 12V system. The switches are set up where both will operate the pump. There is no "on/off" positions if wired properly (you can turn the pump on inside then walk outside and turn it off). It isn't a large pump and takes a long time to build up pressure in the system. Once pressure is up, it will shut off. It will take even longer if the system is empty.

I know they're small pumps and our system is very slow after the built up pressure drops. I think the pumps are about 3gpm, but don't think that's where we're getting from the faucet. Maybe I'm just impatient, I haven't actually measured the flow rate. The flow is significantly slower than city water connection.
 

ScubaSteve

Full Timer
Actually, I just found the pump that is likely used in our system. I should have verified when I fixed the water heater. Flojet makes a demand pump that runs at 1.1 gpm. That sounds about what our flow would be. Maybe I'll upgrade pumps some time in the future. I'd love to hear if anyone has replaced their pumps and what the results were.
 

PUG

Pug
I have an 09 cyclone 3950. There is one switch inside by the test tanks switch that turns on the water pump. On mine is another switch that looks like a household light switch with a red light in it that turns the electric water heater on. Outside below the water heater is another switch that you switch and put a clip key in to turn off and on the water heater electric element so you don't accidently turn the water heater on when the water heater tank is dry. So other words you have two switches that must be turned on to run the water heater. Outside in the utility closet (where you add water for you tank, the little shower, etc. , there is another switch for the water pump that you can control it from outside.

Ok, -presuming you have water in your water tank, when you turn the water pump switches on, you should be able to hear the pump run. It will keep running trying to build pressure if it is not getting water. If it has water and builds pressure, it will shut off when it gets to the pressure settng. When you open a faucet it will reduce pressure and youwill hear the pump kick on and then off when it is up to pressure. The pump sounds like a little growly elf down under the bathroom. \
 
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jillmstar

Member
Thank you thank you thank you for all those who helped. We found the water pump and the fuse was good then we checked the connections and it seemed ok. Nothing worked so my husband the fixer man that he is hit it with a screwdriver and the thing started to work. I then took it off the plywood to investigate further but didn't think it was a good idea to open the pump up. I think it's a lose power cable inside , because when I moved the black cord it starts and stops. So the loud noise I hear is just pipes banging around. Has anyone done any mods to make it quieter? The shaking is loader then our generated. I am thinking about winter hose wraps might do the trick. (kinda like the water noodles everyone uses for head bump protection). Anyways the water is flowing and I can now do dishes ;-).
 

gpshemi

Well-known member
I had one of the 2 power wire come out of the wire nut, at the connection next to the pump. The Pump is behind the wall of the basement near the UDC. you'll have to remove about 6 screws to see what is going on back there.

That's not true on all of them though. My pump is between my two stairs wells and is accessible from inside behind a louvered panel near the floor.

I had my pump replaced under warranty ($279 part btw) for a bad check valve. I read during my research these pumps, while work great, do have some headaches over the older $79 style.
 

porthole

Retired
Flojet makes a demand pump that runs at 1.1 gpm. That sounds about what our flow would be.

That will not be an upgrade. Multiple faucets, users usually require at least a 3-4 gpm pump.


Nothing worked so my husband the fixer man that he is hit it with a screwdriver and the thing started to work.
You beat me to my next suggestion - giving the pump itself a little love tap with something solid.

The variable speed pumps are relatively new (4-5 years) and seem to still have their bugs.

Mine was replaced under warranty a couple months ago. It was never completely shutting off, so it was running at a very low speed until it overheated and the thermal protection cut out.

Been using 12 volt water pumps for well over 25 years, mostly in boats. The only way I found to really quiet it down was to add a 110 AC well pump into the system for when on the power grid. That works really well on our boat where we are almost always on 110 power at the dock or running the genset.

I don't need to add anymore weight to the trailer, so I don't think I'll be doing this upgrade yet :D

On the trailer, both this one and my previous Sunnybrook TT, I wrapped every line I could find with the foam pipe insulation from the hardware store.

Especially look for any areas where the water lines are against a floor, bulkhead etc.

If you understand how the pump works you will realize that there just is no way of quieting it down and still keeping it cost effective.

I should add, as mentioned above - they aren't perfect". I have a spare in my basement that I would take with us on boat trips. Wasn't that big a deal on the boat, because of the 110 back up, but we liked to "dry camp" on the boat too (no genny).
 
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