no water delivery from pump system... bighorn 3055RL

about 3months ago, we purchased this 2011 bighorn 3055RL,, and according to the seller they had it winterized by the dealership, and so due to the cold temps this winter, I havent had a chance to check out the water systems until now

we are hoping to use it in a couple weeks, so im in the process of familiarizing myself with how the valves in the UDC work and trying to flush the antifreeze from the system and sanitize/disinfect the fresh water system with a little bit of chlorine.... and im having issues.

this is the first RV I have owned with a UDC and winterizing valves, so I fully understand the concept, but Im not really understanding how it all works together well enough to know the best way to troubleshoot it... I dont know if something is faulty, or if Im doing something wrong.

when the system was winterized, it appears they drained the water heater and left the plug/anode out of it... i reinstalled it and then filled the fresh water tank, and turned the bypass and winterize valves to "normal"....

then I switched the pump on for the first time, and this is when the problems with the water delivery from the pump showed itself.

while trying to figure it out, I then connected the water to the city water inlet... and this allowed me to fill the water heater and flush all the faucets of antifreeze.... everything seems to work ok on the city water, but lower pressure than I would expect, as there isnt enough pressure to push water out the shower head in a spray so that a shower could be taken, but ALL the faucets work.

when I turn the pump on, I was getting a lot of air out the faucets as it slobbered a little bit of water also, which after checking, I found it was sucking air IN the antifreeze injection line in the UDC... so I capped the line so it cant suck air, and I also capped the city water inlet just so I could eliminate that as a possible air or water leak.....

now when I turn on the water pump, it charges and shuts off, BUT there is no water out the faucets. neither does the pump run when the faucet is opened.... so somewhere we have a charged line, but NOT to the delivery lines.

as I try to follow the "Water Systems Guide" manual found in the HUG section under the "TOOLS" tab, im beginning to suspect the winterizing valves may be plumbed wrong, faulty or marked incorrectly, as it shouldnt suck air in to the antifreeze injection line when its in the NORMAL position, because that port of the valve should be closed off..... I THINK!!!

the water systems guide is helpful in showing how the lines run from component to component, but it shows nothing about how the winterizing valves are supposed to be plumbed... there are instruction on which way to turn them for the function wanted, but nothing on how to troubleshoot them if they seem to be incorrect.

all the connections behind the UDC are pex clamped, so I think its unlikely a previous owner has re-plumbed it for some reason, but im not ruling it out....
can anyone shed some light on my problem here?.... thanks

EDIT... I disconnected the FW tank line from the winterizing valve and I have water freely running from it... and even though when the winterizing valve is in winterize mode, the pump will put air into the system lines, but when its put in normal mode, it wont pass water to the lines, but the pump has a head of pressure built up between the valve and the pump outlet AT the pump outlet when I loosened the thumb nut .... I can only assume its a faulty valve, OR a clogged line somewhere after the pump and before the first "T", which goes to the outside shower, where there is no water either...

Lou,

You do have some odd symptoms.

The output of the water pump is teed into the main water feed, near the city water inlet. As you have no flow from the pump, but also have poor water flow to the faucets and shower when on city water, I'd guess you have a partial or complete blockage after the pump is teed into the main line.

As a first step, you might try removing filter screens and flow reducers from a faucet to see if there's crud blocking the outputs. The bathroom sink is probably a good place to try.

If that doesn't help, a next step would be to test the pump. Put the Antifreeze valve into the Winterize position and put the antifreeze intake tube into a 5 gallon bucket of water to see if the pump works in that mode. If it does work, note that the gravity fill for the fresh tank can be difficult on a 2011 BH. You might think the tank is full but it might actually not have much water in it. Or if the tank is damaged, the water may have leaked out.

If you're sure you have water in the fresh tank, but nothing comes out of the pump from either that or the bucket experiment, disconnect the output line from the pump and see if the pump works independently of the water lines on the output side. That should let you know if the pump is the problem. Before replacing the pump, check the input side for possible obstructions between strainer bowl and pump intake.

You may still have a separate problem as evidenced by the poor flow on city water.

Dan, thanks for the reply......

not sure if you noticed but I made an edit to my post, explaining what I found after going back out to the trailer.... the problem has not been resolved yet, but i think im getting closer.

the vanity sink has the best flow, but the kitchen sink and shower are terrible, so there may be a secondary problem in the system as well...

I will check the strainer on the kitchen spout to see if it has debris in it.

I have a screen filter before the pump, but none from the city water supply, but I will be adding one so that any water coming into the trailer lines is filtered.

this trailer had a RO system and triple filters, but they were only on the drinking water outlet, which I have removed as we always drink bottled water and its one less system to maintain... a friend of our has a RO system in their house and it is a PITA to maintain, but its a necessity to create usable water from his well....

I will be back to it tomorrow and see if I can find the root of the problem, but I did order a new aquajet pump, as this little 2.5 gallon shurflo is barely adequate for a good shower... we take military showers, but when it comes to rinse off, I like good water pressure.

I had a 3055 as my first trailer and it too had a weird water pump issue. You said you "capped" the water pump winterizing hose. There is a shut off valve on this hose and there may be a shut off valve to the water line to the fresh water tank from the pump ( can't remember for sure on this one but check). Here is the weird issue. If the water pump lost prime "sometimes", it would not prime itself. ( for example low water in the tank) I found that pressure would buildup just after the pump. With the pump running, I would have to loosen the fitting just after the pump to let out pressure. It took just a few seconds and then I would retighten the fitting after water would start flowing.

Gary521 said:

I had a 3055 as my first trailer and it too had a weird water pump issue. You said you "capped" the water pump winterizing hose. There is a shut off valve on this hose and there may be a shut off valve to the water line to the fresh water tank from the pump ( can't remember for sure on this one but check). Here is the weird issue. If the water pump lost prime "sometimes", it would not prime itself. ( for example low water in the tank) I found that pressure would buildup just after the pump. With the pump running, I would have to loosen the fitting just after the pump to let out pressure. It took just a few seconds and then I would retighten the fitting after water would start flowing.

Click to expand...

this is very similar to what I experienced....

the winterizing hose should be able to be shut off by the valve that is installed to either suck antifreeze for winterizing, or suck water for use from the FW tank, so i think the valve is faulty.... but as its capped now, I can work around it until i get around to replacing it or disassembling it to see if it can be repaired..

as for the pressure being trapped at the pump outlet, its a bit strange that the outdoor shower is plumbed into the pump discharge line about 24 inches from the pump, and even with the outdoor shower valves open, it wouldnt purge itself, but held the pressure locked at the pump outlet....

I think there was blockage somewhere in the fist 24 inches of the pump pressure line, as after i removed the pump, I tried (with my mouth) to blow into the waterline to the faucets, but couldnt get air to pass... so i used 80psi of compressed air, which did the trick... but the outdoor shower mixing valve is now chattering and squeeling bad when air passes thru it.... possibly whatever was blocking the line is now lodged in the mixing valve.... i will know more after installing the new pump which should be here thur or fri....