Failed Water Pump

[trackerman]

Towards the end of a fabulous 3 weeks visiting Mull/Islay/Arran the water pump failed in our 2004 Autotrail Tracker EKS - the pump motor ran continuously but no water was being pumped.

 

At the time we had assumed that the rough road surfaces on the islands had somehow caused the failure, or perhaps the fact that we had added a new 3M in-line filter in the cold water supply to the kitchen tap prior to the trip.

 

Having arrived home, this morning I investigated to try to find the problem - this is what I have discovered so far:

 

Removing the pump from the van (it was situated on the rear wall under the cooker, so it was a "pig" to remove!) I tried it on an external 12V battery - the motor ran and there was a very weak pressure at the inlet/outlet ports. There was a small amount of white plastic swarf in the filter, but certainly not enough to block the water flow. The filter was cleared of swarf.

 

Dismantling the pump assembly from the motor did not show any obvious problems.

 

Taking out the non-return valve from the inlet pipe I found a significant amount of white plastic swarf in the pipe which was preventing the non-return valve from doing its job. This is probably the reason that we have had always had air in the system every time we have arrived on site! However, again I do not think that the inlet pipe was completely blocked. All of the swarf was removed from the valve, its action checked and found to be OK now, and it was then put back into the inlet pipe.

 

I then remounted the pump back in the van, with the inlet pipe connected, but the outlet pipe left disconnected. Power was switched on, but the same symptoms were present - motor running but no water being pumped. Placing my finger over the outlet port showed that there was a very weak positive pressure. Disconnecting the inlet pipe and placing my finger over the inlet port showed a weak negative pressure - almost certainly not enough to lift water from the freshwater tank under the floor.

 

The pump is a "Posiflo 7" Model 3000-161-2201, manufactured by Leisure Accessories Ltd. of Norwich.

 

Have any of you experienced this problem and can point me in the right direction to its cause?

 

I believe that there are Service Kits available for these pumps so I hope to keep the cost down by not having to purchase a complete new pump.

 

Stuart

[Brod]

I also have a Tracker EKS, the same symptoms as yourself, pump running on. Good fortune, mine still under warrenty. After many checks by the the supplier, the only cure was a replacement pump.