Water pump

[kevm99]

Hi all

 

Signed up to the forum in the hope to save a few pennies by tapping into a wealth of expertise.

 

I inherited my parents camper van this year after my Dad passed away earlier this year. He had just bought a Autoroller 200 and its virtually brand new. My Dad took care of all the technical stuff and my Mum, god bless her hasn't got a clue about any of it. It has a instruction manual in there but it not very detailed.

 

The problem I have is that when you turn on the water pump, the pump keeps on going and the water seems to be coming out of an overflow underneath the van.

 

Any ideas?

 

All helo massively appreciated.

 

Cheers

 

[manxli]

Hi

 

Just a thought. Check that the water tank dump valve is not open. This is normally used to let out stale water before refreshing or to empty the tank in the winter.

 

Did the van have water in the tanks over winter? Maybe there is damage caused by freezing somewhere?

 

 

Alan

[Derek Uzzell]

Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Kevin.

 

If the water only begins to run out beneath the vehicle when the water-pump is turned on it’s likely that the motorhome’s safety/drain valve is open. This valve is used to drain the fresh-water system ‘downstream’ of the water-pump and to protect the heater from frost damage during cold weather conditions.

 

Locate the water-pump and then follow the water-hose leading from the pump’s outlet. Hopefully (!) somewhere near the pump you’ll find a Truma “Frostcontrol” valve similar to the one in the photo I have attached.

 

Instructions relating to this valve are here

 

http://www.truma.com/downloadcenter/frostcontrol_installation_instruction_de_gb_fr_it_nl_dk_es.pdf

 

and how to close it is described on Page 11.

 

Basically, you turn the blue ‘switch’ on the top of the valve until it is in the crossways position and then push in a blue button on the valve’s end. (The valve should then look as shown in the attached photo.) If the valve is not fully closed, as soon as the water-pump begins to operate water will be forced through the valve’s drain-tube (you mention that the water is coming out through an ‘overflow’) that leads through the floor of the motorhome.

 

(If – as is often the case with motorhomes – the Autoroller handbook is short on information, you can often find more detailed operating instructions for a motorhome’s major appliances (fridge, heater, electrical control-panel, water-pump, etc.) from the websites of the manufacturers that make those products.)

[ramble]

I had the same problem a couple of month ago, turn out it was the valve after weeks of frustration.

[kevm99]

Thanks folks

 

It was exactly as described, found the frost control valve and switched it over. I even managed to fire up the water heater and tune in the telly.

 

Thanks very much for the help.

 

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Not directly relevant to the original inquiry, but for anyone interested in what’s inside a Truma FrostControl drain-valve, its interior is shown here

 

http://tinyurl.com/ppz42nw

 

Evidently (unlike the earlier electrically-operated Truma safety/drain valve) it’s practicable to disassemble the FrostControl valve. The advice on the (GOOGLE-translated) Adria blog is that it’s also possible to adjust the valve’s internal seal to address leakage and that this adjustment can be performed using a small flat-bladed screwdriver and without opening up the valve.

 

I assume that there’s a small hole in the side of the valve’s casing through which the screwdriver is inserted and (looking at the photo on the blog) I suspect the hole will be beneath the label on the valve’s side (see attached picture).

 

Anyway, if you have a leaking FrostControl valve, it would be worth trying to adjust the seal first before considering forking out the considerable cost of a replacement.