A few Q's about the Water Pump

TheBrucEh

Member
Hi all, I'm a n00b at this RV living but me and my family of 6 have been dumped into the deep end of it as we are living full time in our Road Warrior 415 near Calgary, Alberta Canada. To top of the fun, my oldest son and I both have Asperger's Syndrome. Its truly an adventure.

Winter Living is a challenge for RV Pro's let alone newbies like me. Trailer is skirted with straw bales with insulation sealing off the gaps and I had a thermostatically controlled space heater (on a base) under the trailer. Still. we've already had the water line freeze up twice because the space heater has turned itself off; I'm guessing due to overheating. Last night I put 3 - 500w Halogen lamps under the trailer and this seems to have worked as I am able to get some water flowing, but the pressure is really low and the Water pump seems to be having issues purging the air from the lines.

I'm wondering if its sucking air from somewhere or if maybe the problem is the tank and lines just aren't fully thawed. Any advice in this area is greatly appreciated.

As for general questions:

  1. There seems to be some kind of valve or maybe a sight gauge or something on the Inlet of the pump. It has a clear removable "cap" on it which is why I am thinking its a sight gauge to let a person see if water is flowing. Can anyone tell me what this is and what's its for?
  2. How much suction should I expect from the pump? I disconnected the lines and I could feel suction on the inlet, but it wasn't very strong, less than a vacuum with 3/4 of the hose blocked.
  3. When trying to purge the air from the lines, should I open all the taps at once, or purge them one at a time.

As a bonus question unrelated to the Water pump, there is a Switch with a red light in it on the wall below my control panel that I have no clue what it does. I have no idea if I need to leave it one or off or when it should be on.

Any advice is appreciated.

Bruce
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi TheBrucEh,

Welcome to the Heartland Owners Forum. There's lots of useful information here along with a great bunch of friendly and helpful people.

On the suction/input side of the water pump there's usually a clear plastic bowl with some screening. I believe it acts as a strainer in case you get crud in your fresh tank.

I've never tried evaluating the suction of the pump by feel - maybe someone else can help there.

To purge air, open each tap/faucet individually.

The wall-type illuminated switch is probably for tank heaters. But it's possible it could also be for the electric side of the water heater operation.

If your fresh tank drain has frozen, the ice from the water above the outside valve can wick up into the tee and block or partially block flow of water from the fresh tank to the pump. But I would expect your heat under the coach to thaw it pretty quickly.

If you have a 4-way Anderson Valve in the Universal Docking Center (UDC), a blocked line can also prevent you from filling the fresh tank. And if you aren't heating the UDC, you could have a freeze in the Anderson Valve keeping you from filling the fresh tank. These possibilities raise the question of whether you actually have water in the fresh tank. If not, that might explain the problem with the pump.

Take a look at our owner-written Water Systems Winter Usage Guide in this folder for more information about keeping the water running in cold weather.
 

TheBrucEh

Member
On the suction/input side of the water pump there's usually a clear plastic bowl with some screening. I believe it acts as a strainer in case you get crud in your fresh tank.

That's what it appears to be to me too. Do you know if it matters if the clear cap is on the top or bottom? When I tighten it onto the pump the cap ends up facing the side or bottom, tightening it further would probably risk damage.

The wall-type illuminated switch is probably for tank heaters. But it's possible it could also be for the electric side of the water heater operation.

Does anyone know for sure? I have a switch in the control panel for the Yeti pack and there is also a switch for the Electric Water Heater. I'm confused why either would need this other switch located in a seemingly random place. If it is for my tank heaters I really need to know as that would help avoid freeze ups. If its for the Electric water heater, do I need it on if I'm using the Propane Heater?

If your fresh tank drain has frozen, the ice from the water above the outside valve can wick up into the tee and block or partially block flow of water from the fresh tank to the pump. But I would expect your heat under the coach to thaw it pretty quickly.

I have pulled the pump out (to make it easier to work on) and I am able to get water flowing through it when the outlet is not hooked up to the trailer, so neither the tank nor the water line from tank to pump are frozen. While I had the pump out, my Asperger's kicked in and I couldn't help myself from dismantling the pump to see what its insides look like. On the plus side, I can confirm it had no blockages, but thats about all I achieved by taking it apart.

If you have a 4-way Anderson Valve in the Universal Docking Center (UDC), a blocked line can also prevent you from filling the fresh tank. And if you aren't heating the UDC, you could have a freeze in the Anderson Valve keeping you from filling the fresh tank. These possibilities raise the question of whether you actually have water in the fresh tank. If not, that might explain the problem with the pump.

The UDC is being heated. I have a small space heater in the cubby that heats the UDC and blows into the basement where the water pump and water lines are. I might swap the heater out for a heat lamp. The space heater is probably overkill and has the risk of shutting off if it over heats. The tank is full. I filled it up and the next day is when everything froze up.

I'm wondering if I just need to let the pump run for as long as it needs to purge the air from the lines and get the pressure back into it. I let it run for about 20 minutes earlier today and it never stopped spurting, which is why I'm wondering if its sucking air from somewhere.

Thanks for responding. I think I'll need to rely on this forum a bit more. I'm afraid I may have been suffering Dunning-Kruger Syndrome when it came to my RV knowledge.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
That's what it appears to be to me too. Do you know if it matters if the clear cap is on the top or bottom? When I tighten it onto the pump the cap ends up facing the side or bottom, tightening it further would probably risk damage.
My bowls have always been on the bottom.


Does anyone know for sure? I have a switch in the control panel for the Yeti pack and there is also a switch for the Electric Water Heater. I'm confused why either would need this other switch located in a seemingly random place. If it is for my tank heaters I really need to know as that would help avoid freeze ups. If its for the Electric water heater, do I need it on if I'm using the Propane Heater?
The switched marked "Yeti" is probably just the 12V DC switch for the heat tape on the water line from the fresh tank. Since you have another switch for the Electric Water Heater operation, I'm pretty sure this one is for the tank heaters.

I have pulled the pump out (to make it easier to work on) and I am able to get water flowing through it when the outlet is not hooked up to the trailer, so neither the tank nor the water line from tank to pump are frozen.
...
I'm wondering if I just need to let the pump run for as long as it needs to purge the air from the lines and get the pressure back into it. I let it run for about 20 minutes earlier today and it never stopped spurting, which is why I'm wondering if its sucking air from somewhere.

I doubt that's going to fix it. If the pump were sucking air on the input side, it would still be sucking air when you tried it with the output disconnected. It sounds more like you have a problem in the rest of the trailer. The output tees into the same cold water line that handles incoming city water. Are you able to test the plumbing with city water to make sure there are no obstructions?

Also, just a random thought. If your water heater was empty, it probably holds 10 or 12 gallons and can take a while to fill when you start the pump.
 
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