How to access fresh water lines

[Shane_Elkridge]

Hello Heartland Community, glad to be here and thanks in advance for the help troubleshooting.

Quick intro - my family of 6 decided to full-time because southern CA isn't cheap and we need a little adventure in our lives. The backstory is we bought our first 24 ft Travel Trailer about a year ago and loved the experience in it. The closeness, the memories, etc. When we decided to full-time about 2 months ago, we wanted to get something the four kids would be comfy in so we purchased a 2017 Elkridge 39MBHS Fifth Wheel. It has been in our driveway for a couple of weeks now and I'm finally getting around to dewinterizing it. I'm still very new to how things function on a rig this big and I'm trying to get a handle on it before we embark on our adventure in 30 days.

Here's the sequence of how my problem started as I tried to clear the lines of antifreeze:

1. I filled the Fresh Water Tank.
2. I installed the anode rod to the Water Heater.
3. I checked the bypass lines behind the Water Heater and all three were set to "OFF."
4. I turn on the Water Pump. It works. It runs so much quieter than the one we had in our travel trailer.
*Problem occurs*
5. Water pump doesn't pressurize, it keeps running. I use the kitchen sink, no water. No water to any faucet.
6. I check the outlet on the Water Pump, and nothing is coming out. I conclude the problem must be on the inlet side (is this okay to assume?).
7. I check the inlet side... dry lines. No water coming up. I'm not sure how it's supposed to feel, but I want to note that the Water Pump didn't have strong suction. Again, not sure how it's supposed to feel.

*Dilemma*
The bottom of our rig is completely covered. I can't follow the Fresh Water Lines to see what's going on without cutting into the stuff that's covering the entire underbelly. I don't have an Anderson Valve to my knowledge, could I have missed a bypass valve somewhere?

Thanks again for the help!

 

[cookie]

Hello Shane_Elkridge and welcome to this great forum.
Question is how did you determine that the water tank was full? Are you sure it's full?
If you want to use the water heater you must have one valve (center) off and two open. In bypass mode one (center) valve is open and two are closed.
If your pump is not pressurizing you need to check for a loose fitting that will be allowing air to be drawn into the pump.
Check the water line fittings as well as the sediment/filter bowl on the pump.

Peace
Dave

 

[Shane_Elkridge]

Hi Dave, thanks for chiming in. To your questions:

Question is how did you determine that the water tank was full? Are you sure it's full?

​

Positive. I watched it fill.

If you want to use the water heater you must have one valve (center) off and two open. In bypass mode one (center) valve is open and two are closed.

​

Correct. I'm in bypass mode with the center valve open and two closed to the water heater tank.

If your pump is not pressurizing you need to check for a loose fitting that will be allowing air to be drawn into the pump.
​

This is most certainly the problem. Is there an easy way to find the loose fitting?

Check the water line fittings as well as the sediment/filter bowl on the pump.

​

Checked and cleaned.

Should I syphon the water from the inlet near the pump to see if there is a leak somewhere?

 

[JWalker]

Your trailer is two years newer than ours, but I think we have the same set up with our water system as you do.

Something to check:
We have 2 shut off valves on the inlet side of the water pump.
1 valve is for a hose that siphons antifreeze into the water pump to winterize the system. It should be about 3 foot long. You need to make sure that one is closed. Or it will just be pulling in air.
The second valve is for the freshwater tank. You need to make sure that one is open.

 

[Shane_Elkridge]

Your trailer is two years newer than ours, but I think we have the same set up with our water system as you do.

Something to check:
We have 2 shut off valves on the inlet side of the water pump.
1 valve is for a hose that siphons antifreeze into the water pump to winterize the system. It should be about 3 foot long. You need to make sure that one is closed. Or it will just be pulling in air.
The second valve is for the freshwater tank. You need to make sure that one is open.

Yes I have these in the correct position.

Speaking of those two shut off valves... last night I closed the one to the fresh water tank and opened the one to siphon antifreeze. The hose would not siphon the bottle of water I was using. Not nearly enough suction power. Zero water is making it to the outlet. No pressure in the system at all.

 

[danemayer]

Yes I have these in the correct position.

Speaking of those two shut off valves... last night I closed the one to the fresh water tank and opened the one to siphon antifreeze. The hose would not siphon the bottle of water I was using. Not nearly enough suction power. Zero water is making it to the outlet. No pressure in the system at all.

Although you said you checked the filter bowl and connections to the pump, I'd suggest checking again. Remove the clear filter bowl and carefully check for cracks. If any water was left in the bowl over the winter, it may have cracked.

If there are no air leaks, and you have no suction, it may turn out to be a pump failure.

 

[jbeletti]

In addition to checking the filter bowl on the inlet side of the pump, then remove the fitting on the inlet side of the pump, turn it on and put your finger over the inlet hole to see if there’s any suction at all.

If not, perhaps the pump is defective.


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[Shane_Elkridge]

Problem solved!

When I got no suction from the antifreeze/winterize hose, I stopped looking further down the line.

I removed the the filter bowl and connected straight to the antifreeze hose. Still no suction which ruled out the filter bowl. Continuing my test, I pulled the water pump completely out of the RV. I got some alligator clips and hooked it up to a spare battery. What happened next I couldn’t believe.

So I have the pump out with nothing connected to it, no filter bowl, no pex lines on the inlet or outlet. I decide to “jump start” my supposedly self-priming water pump (Shurflo 4008) by connecting a garden hose to the inlet and FORCING water through it while it was on and running. Well, it worked. Something inside the water pump shifted (I heard a sound) and now it functions 100%. It’s back in the system and has been working perfectly all day.

 

[JohnDar]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatal

 

[danemayer]

Problem solved!

When I got no suction from the antifreeze/winterize hose, I stopped looking further down the line.

I removed the the filter bowl and connected straight to the antifreeze hose. Still no suction which ruled out the filter bowl. Continuing my test, I pulled the water pump completely out of the RV. I got some alligator clips and hooked it up to a spare battery. What happened next I couldn’t believe.

So I have the pump out with nothing connected to it, no filter bowl, no pex lines on the inlet or outlet. I decide to “jump start” my supposedly self-priming water pump (Shurflo 4008) by connecting a garden hose to the inlet and FORCING water through it while it was on and running. Well, it worked. Something inside the water pump shifted (I heard a sound) and now it functions 100%. It’s back in the system and has been working perfectly all day.

Sounds like maybe some crud got stuck in the pump innards. It's a good idea to have at least a sediment filter on the water going into the water system, including into the fresh tank.

 

[JWalker]

Problem solved!

When I got no suction from the antifreeze/winterize hose, I stopped looking further down the line.

I removed the the filter bowl and connected straight to the antifreeze hose. Still no suction which ruled out the filter bowl. Continuing my test, I pulled the water pump completely out of the RV. I got some alligator clips and hooked it up to a spare battery. What happened next I couldn’t believe.

So I have the pump out with nothing connected to it, no filter bowl, no pex lines on the inlet or outlet. I decide to “jump start” my supposedly self-priming water pump (Shurflo 4008) by connecting a garden hose to the inlet and FORCING water through it while it was on and running. Well, it worked. Something inside the water pump shifted (I heard a sound) and now it functions 100%. It’s back in the system and has been working perfectly all day.

Great news. Glad things seem to be working.

Enjoy and safe travels!