Shore water not entering the trailer.

[Flying Dutchman]

It is amazing how things can fail. We have been on this camp site for 4 days without any water issues, yet suddenly this morning when DW was trying to take a shower, there was no hot or cold water. I checked the outside water and it does flow through the water line. Leaving shore water disconnected I turned on the water pump to use water in the fresh water tank, and thankfully that worked as advertised. I later with shore water disconnected pressed the inlet backstop valve. I received an eyeful of water, so thinking I had freed a stuck valve, I re-attached the shore water but the results in the trailer was the same. No water pressure from shore water, but all works OK if I use the on-board water pump with water from fresh water tank.
Anybody with similar experience, or any suggestions? HELP!!

 

[branson4020]

When using the on-board pump, disconnected from shore water, can you depress the check valve in the city water inlet and get water to continuously pump out the opening?

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Sorry about late reply, campground is having wi-fi issues. The answer to your question Bob is yes, water will continuously spray out with the on board pump.
I have just spoken with the campground owner to address the poor wi-fi, when he offhandedly commented that the campground was having issues with water pressure as well. HELLO!!!! I'm about ready to tear apart my basement to troubleshoot MY water problem, when I learn there is probably not enough campground water pressure to get by my check valve. I will wait for the campground issues to be fixed before I proceed any further. A plumber is supposedly enroute to address the campground water issue. I will post more later.

 

[boatto5er]

So Eric, I take it when you disconnect the hose from the city water inlet, the flow of water out of the hose is minimal? If it's running "normally", then the problem could still be your check valve. Just a thought to double check.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Well, the campground water problem is supposedly fixed. I reconnected shore water, and voila ... water flowing in the hot and cold lines again. Well ,,, maybe. Water flow 20 minutes later greatly reduced, so I am thinking the campground problem still exists. You may also be right Gus that my check valve may still be an issue, but since we leave this campground in the morning I will wait to see what results I have when I connect to the next campground shore water in Tampa. For right now I am just glad that I didn't tear into the basement area to troubleshoot this issue. We'll see what happens tomorrow, right now my onboard fresh water system works fine if we need it.

 

[TedS]

With pressure that low you should be able to stop flow by putting your thumb over the end of the hose connected to shore water.
I would react the same way when there is a trailer problem, it's me, not them. Sometimes it is them.

 

[jnbhobe]

Thats why I travel with a full tank of water, I'm good for 4 or 5 days without a refill. And now the new rigs only have a pressure tank fill no more gravity fill.

 

[Netem]

You can also have a water pressure regulator go bad.I had this happen once, changed reg. and water back on.

 

[larryanddonnakeever]

The week after Christmas in Leander Texas after hooking every thing up I had no water pressure.
. Like you I tried the pump, had good water pressure. Disconnected water from shore line docking station no pressure. Always have extra pressure regulator, changed it and had good water presssure.. I too was ready to go in to start trouble shooting... This is just like electrical problems start at the source and go forward... shortens trouble shooting time.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Just a short update. We are now at Lazy Days Campground in Tampa, have been for the past 5 days but without benefit of a working wi-fi. Anyway there is NO issue with our Big Country as far as water pressure from shore water, it works just fine. The issue was with the campground's lack of water pressure, which I have now learned to check by the old "press the thumb" on the hose opening method. That would have saved me a lot of grief upfront, it would also have been nice for the campground owner to fess up and inform all of his guests of the issue. Lesson learned! Don't automatically assume that you "own" the problem.

 

[PeternLiane]

I just learned about the thumb test too. Glad that your water is flowing well now. Happy travels!!!

 

[lthrnk]

Glad to hear the problem was theirs, and not yours. After they work on those systems there is the possibility that a great deal of sediment gets into the system. You might want to check any screen washers on your inlet hose. Just sayin.

 

[recumbent615]

I have an adjustable pressure regulator that also has a gauge that tells me what my down stream pressure is - this would have diagnosed your issue right up front. I also carry a simple screw on pressure gauge to check the pressure at each camp ground before I hook up. that way I can determine if I need to install two regulators to protect my hoses - one at the source to drop it to around 75-80 psi and the other on the rig side of my filters to drop it to 50 psi. My first regulator is an adjustable one that I set and forget - it get's used when needed - the second one is adjustable and has a gauge on it so I can adjust pressure on the fly if needed. One other item I am looking to get is a flow meter but I have not found one yet that will provide me with the GPM and at a low cost. so for now I do the math - fill a 5gal bucket and time how long it takes to fill it. it works but is not something that I do every time I hook up.

Kevin