Water tank won't pressurize (pump keeps running)

[Mr.Hiesey]

We have a 2010 Hawk, and we cannot get the water tank to pressurize--the pump just keeps running. We have had this problem a few times before over the past few years (first times we fill the tank for the season), but we've found that if we waited and drove the truck around with a full water tank, it would eventually start working again. However, that hasn't worked for us this time.

Unfortunately, winter is coming to upstate New York and we have to get the water cleared out and the antifreeze added. Fortunately, it has been a warm November with few below freezing days. However, on the cold nights we are running the furnace to keep the pump and lines from freezing--and hoping that it will suddenly work again like it has in the past. However, it seems this isn't going to happen, so we need to figure out why it isn't pressurizing. (This problem started before it froze in New York, so I don't think this is due to the pump freezing.)

Does anyone have any ideas of what we can try? We wonder if there could be air trapped in the lines. If so, is there a way to get the system primed? We are definitely not camper or plumbing experts, so even simple suggestions would be appreciated : )

Thanks for any ideas!

Tara

 

[NorCalSteve]

I am not sure if your camper is the same as my November 2011 Hawk, which has a drain control valve for the hot water heater. I have had my pump not turn off a few times. I found that if I opened and then closed the valve (upper left for me since I have two) while the pump was running, the pump primes and starts operating properly. This may be a long shot but figured I would mention it.

If the hot water heater is empty, it takes a while for it to fill.

Steve

 

[NorCalSteve]

While my water tank is filling, I turn on the hot water at the sink and let the Hot water heater fill up. Since it is 6 gallons (about 4 more than I need), it takes a while for all the air to come out.

Just a last minute thought.

Steve

 

[Mr.Hiesey]

I am not sure if your camper is the same as my November 2011 Hawk, which has a drain control valve for the hot water heater. I have had my pump not turn off a few times. I found that if I opened and then closed the valve (upper left for me since I have two) while the pump was running, the pump primes and starts operating properly. This may be a long shot but figured I would mention it.

If the hot water heater is empty, it takes a while for it to fill.

Steve



You know, we have had the same experience in the past--if we open and close the valve leading to the hot water tank the pump starts working. However, that hasn't worked this time. Based on your input, we also let the pump run a bit longer to see if we weren't waiting long enough for the hot water tank to fill. As near as we can tell, water isn't moving to the hot water tank or to the overflow line (or whatever the other valve is called--the one that is next to the hot water line that is open on the end and that we use to finish draining the tank in the winter).

My husband said that every so often he heard a "good thunk"--it sounded like the pump was "trying" to engage and work like it should. However, water did not flow.

We are wondering if crud in the line or pump could cause this problem, and if so, how would we go about finding this. Are there filters on these water systems?

Also, is there anything we should try to tighten? It is possible that air is leaking, but to our eyes everything looks okay, and we aren't sure if there is a spot we should specifically check.

Thanks!

 

[WaltK]

We are wondering if crud in the line or pump could cause this problem, and if so, how would we go about finding this. Are there filters on these water systems?

Also, is there anything we should try to tighten? It is possible that air is leaking, but to our eyes everything looks okay, and we aren't sure if there is a spot we should specifically check.

Thanks!


There should be a in line screen between the tank and the pump. (the pump manufacturer for some brands won't honor the warranty if there is no screen) If that screen is blocked with crud the pump won't prime. Don't know the pattern of the piping in your camper, but I'd expect the screen to be close to the tank on the supply line coming from the bottom of the tank to the pump. The screen, at least if it's like mine, has a cap that unscrews for taking the screen out to clean. If the tank is full, hope there is enough tube to get it higher than the tank level before opening it

I once did see a tank where a piece of plastic film had gotten in the tank. When the pump started the plastic would float over the tank outlet plugging it. No water comes out then.

If the screen is clean and still the pump won't prime it could be a problem in the pump itself. In that case, disconnect the tube somewhere past the pump, but before it goes to anything, aim it in a suitable safe direction and see if it primes and squirts water out of the tube. If it does not, then you have a pump needing a overhaul, or maybe a new pump. They don't last forever, and sitting for long periods dry will use up some life too. Especially running the pump dry for long periods is not good, and that may be what you are doing if the screen is plugged.

I'd think if there was a leak in the line loose enough to tighten you would have noticed water in the camper long before now. I'd start from the tank as above in troubleshooting the system.

 

[Mr.Hiesey]

There should be a in line screen between the tank and the pump. (the pump manufacturer for some brands won't honor the warranty if there is no screen) If that screen is blocked with crud the pump won't prime. Don't know the pattern of the piping in your camper, but I'd expect the screen to be close to the tank on the supply line coming from the bottom of the tank to the pump. The screen, at least if it's like mine, has a cap that unscrews for taking the screen out to clean. If the tank is full, hope there is enough tube to get it higher than the tank level before opening it

I once did see a tank where a piece of plastic film had gotten in the tank. When the pump started the plastic would float over the tank outlet plugging it. No water comes out then.

If the screen is clean and still the pump won't prime it could be a problem in the pump itself. In that case, disconnect the tube somewhere past the pump, but before it goes to anything, aim it in a suitable safe direction and see if it primes and squirts water out of the tube. If it does not, then you have a pump needing a overhaul, or maybe a new pump. They don't last forever, and sitting for long periods dry will use up some life too. Especially running the pump dry for long periods is not good, and that may be what you are doing if the screen is plugged.

I'd think if there was a leak in the line loose enough to tighten you would have noticed water in the camper long before now. I'd start from the tank as above in troubleshooting the system.


A clogged screen sounds like a possibility. Hopefully, we can check that out tomorrow (blasted early darkness makes it hard to work on this). Unfortunately, we do have a full water tank. It was mostly empty, but we thought that might be causing the priming problems--in the past, a full tank has worked better. Thanks for the warning about this. We'll make sure to elevate it. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[WaltK]

A clogged screen sounds like a possibility. Hopefully, we can check that out tomorrow (blasted early darkness makes it hard to work on this). Unfortunately, we do have a full water tank. It was mostly empty, but we thought that might be causing the priming problems--in the past, a full tank has worked better. Thanks for the warning about this. We'll make sure to elevate it. Thanks for the ideas!


If you need to you can always run a tube down the fill into the tank and siphon it out enough to disconnect things.

 

[Argonaut20]

It sounds like you might need to take the pump out and clean it. The pump only pressurizes the system from the pump on, not the tank. There is a check valve in the pump that may not be closing and if it doesn't close, the pump doesn't send water into the lines. So, if there is a filter in the line and it is clean, then is there water to the pump? If there is water to the pump and it still doesn't self prime and start pumping water, then the problem is most likely in the pump. If you can manage to connect a water source to the output side of the pump and see the water coming out of the inlet side, then the check valve is either bad or has dirt clogging it. The pumps are not too expensive, but better to not have to buy something if it can be repaired. I assume there is a drain for your water tank so you can drain the tank to the outside so you don't duplicate storm Sandy inside your camper when you disconnect the pump.

 

[Bdold]

This problem happened to me twice. Both times it was loose connections near the pump. The threaded fittings needed to be re-taped and and tightened down. If there is a leak at all, air is much easier to pull than water and the pump keeps running because there is no pressure to shut off the pump.

 

[Mr.Hiesey]

Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments. My husband finally had a chance to get inside the cabinet and really check out the water system.

- He found the screen the WaltK mentioned, but there was no apparent debris. He cleaned it "just in case" but the pump still didn't work.

- There were no obvious leaks at any connectors, and he didn't think anything was loose. He isn't completely confident that he would have been able to tell if any of the fittings needed to be tightened, so he may have missed something here.

- There was a bit of water inside the pump when he removed it, but he couldn't make any water pump through it. I'm not sure exactly how he tested it, but he was looking at these comments while he worked. Thus, he thinks it is probably the pump that is bad. However, we're not sure it makes sense to install a new pump now, since the pump is the most vulnerable part of the water system in winter. I should also add that he found removing the pump to be an ordeal : ) The space is super crowded, and it was hard to fit his hands or tools in there.

- However, without the pump, we need to find a way to empty the water tank. Today, we're going to try siphoning it. However, we're not sure how well that will work, because there are a lot of twists and turns in the tubing that leads in and out of the tank and we're not sure if we'll be able to get the siphon tube in. My husband has considered drilling a hole into the water tank for access. Is there any reason why that would be a disaster? (We don't really want to do this, but need to get the water out somehow).

- As we've been working on this issue, we've given a lot of thought to the water system in the camper. On the whole, we find the system to be a pain and we don't use it much. We hate the taste of the camper's water so carry jugs for drinking and cooking. We like having a sink with a drain, but don't really need the faucet--we tend to heat the water on the stove rather than using the hot water heater and can easily rinse from a jug. . Thus, we are considering not replacing the pump, removing the water tank and using that space for storage. Are we crazy? I'm actually going to start a new thread on water tank removal.

Thanks for all the assistance!

 

[leadsled9]

I have a 2010 Hawk also....and there is a simple drain valve located next to the door of the camper. Simply open the valve to drain the tank.

I find my water tank indispensable....and my trip would be ruined if I didn't have access to it....so I carry a spare pump at all times.

If you find the tank isn't needed....then by all means remove it and use that area for storage. I couldn't imagine using my camper without the water tank.

I rinsed mine several times before the first use and the water tastes fine. I found out that the lousy taste in the water had to do with how the water was added and not the tank itself. If the water is filled with a standard garden hose then you will have that awful rubbery taste in your water.

What I did to get around that was to purchase a "food grade" white water hose from Camping World....and only use it for filling my tank. I use the collapsable hose that rolls up and flatens out on a spool....takes up very little space and is 50 feet long. It's a bit of a pain to always have to uncouple the garden hose and hook up the white hose but the water tastes great as a result.

YMMV.

 

[Mr.Hiesey]

I have a 2010 Hawk also....and there is a simple drain valve located next to the door of the camper. Simply open the valve to drain the tank.

Thank you so much for reminding us about this drain valve! We'd used this valve a few years ago, but since our tank was mostly empty when we did, not much water came out so we completely forgot about it. We just went outside and turned it--and our tank is draining. Hurray! We had already concluded that siphoning wasn't going to work (it wasn't possible to get the siphon tube into the tank without damaging something) and were making plans to drill a small hole tomorrow.


I find my water tank indispensable....and my trip would be ruined if I didn't have access to it....so I carry a spare pump at all times.

Have you actually had to replace the pump in your Hawk? If so, did you attach it back to the board, and then to the camper wall (as it was originally installed)? My husband found it was super firmly attached, which made it hard to remove and the fact that it was screwed into the camper wall made him afraid of potential long term-damage if it were removed and replaced often.

If you find the tank isn't needed....then by all means remove it and use that area for storage. I couldn't imagine using my camper without the water tank.


I rinsed mine several times before the first use and the water tastes fine. I found out that the lousy taste in the water had to do with how the water was added and not the tank itself. If the water is filled with a standard garden hose then you will have that awful rubbery taste in your water. I use the collapsable one that rolls up and flatens out on a spool....takes up very little space and is 50 feet long.

What I did to get around that was to purchase a "food grade" white water hose from Camping World....and only use it for filling my tank. It's a bit of a pain to always have to uncouple the garden hose and hook up the white hose but the water tastes so much better as a result.

We do have a white, RV hose that we use, and sometimes we also use a water filter. However, the water still has a strong plastic taste. Do you need to winterize your tanks? I suspect the taste is made worse by the antifreeze that we need to add in the winter. Even after lots of rinsing, there is still some remnants left behind.

We're still debating whether to keep the tank in the camper. For now, we're just thinking about the process or removing it and how we'd function without it. Of course, if we do remove it, we'll save any parts so that we can reinstall it if necessary.

Once again, thanks for reminding us of that valve! We really didn't want to drill into our tank, but we really need that water out before real winter sets in.

Tara

YMMV.

 

[leadsled9]

I haven't had to replace my pump yet....but my trips are usually long ones....4 to 6 weeks at a time. If the pump went bad on a trip....it might be a hassle....but at least I have a back up pump to install.

Perhaps the taste is coming from the anti-freeze. I live in a warmer climate and have no need to "winterize" my camper....so that might be the difference.

Good luck with what ever you decide to do.

 

[Bdold]

I had no water leaks in my line. The air was drawn through the void, much easier than the water. Water it much more difficult to draw than air. I used pipe tape and re-connected both threaded joints.

This happened to me twice.


I got this advice from someone else on this board. I can'r remember what I titled that thread.

Bryan