aljen Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Hi Thanks to all for their help with my last problem with the fresh water tank, found what the problem was, drain plug was out :$ . Now can anyone tell me if i need to bleed the water system through. I filled the tank and managed to get cold water through to the sink, washbasin and shower, but not so good with the hot water. i can get the shower and washbasin to run freely but not the sink. will having tried the pump when there was no water in the system have any knockon effect to the pump. Its a submersible pump from Reich, tandem model? Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philman Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 When you turn on the hot taps the pump should run and fill the hot water tank, then water should start coming out of the taps, it will spurt a bit until all the air is out of the system, then it should be ok. Phil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 When you have filled the water tank. 1. Run water through the HOT TAPS ONLY until smooth water flows. 2. Run water through the COLD TAPS until smooth Likely you did it in reverse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 If it doesn't run, assuming that it is not frozen, then I put my hand tightly over the outlet for a few seconds (on and off) until it flows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Alan: This is air-bleeding technique I've always used with my two motorhomes equipped with Truma C-Series heaters. I start by putting the shower-head in a small bucket. Then I open the shower's HOT tap, thus causing the water pump to commence running. This will cause the heater's water-boiler to begin to fill (exhausting the air within it through the shower-head) and I keep the pump running (it will need to run for several minutes) until water flows smoothly from the shower-head. I then do the same with the shower's cold tap, which takes much less time as there's only a small amount of air in the cold-water pipework leading to the shower-tap. I then repeat the process (again using the bucket) for the wash-basin and kitchen-sink taps. When this exercise has been completed the water-boiler and all the fresh-water pipework will be free of air and should remain so until the system is next drained down. (I begin with the shower and use a bucket simply because plenty of air and water will inevitably be spat out from the water-pipework during the initial bleeding stage. Normally the bucket prevents any splashing: if it doesn't, then I'd rather the water splashed into the shower-tray than all over the floor.) As has already been advised, you need to start bleeding via the hot-water outlets. (Truma's Operating Instructions includes a useful section on filling the water-heater.) Submersible pumps don't appreciate being run dry and, if you've done this a lot, your pump may have been damaged. However, if you are currently able to get a strong flow of water from the cold taps, then the pump is probably OK. Suggest you repeat the bleeding process (no need to drain anything first), beginning with the hot-water outlets this time, and see how you get on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 11, 2009 Share Posted January 11, 2009 Then, after you've done all that, turn the gas on and run the water heater at max temp. After the water heater stat has switched the heater off, run the hot water through all hot taps/shower head. You'll probably get a bit more spitting, after which it should be totally air free! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aljen Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 Hi Brian i have bled the water through and can get the shower and wash hand basin to run ok, the kitchen tap is very slow running on hot, plenty pressure on cold. i have tried putting my hand over the faucet but this doesnt seem to make any difference, any ideas? could it be some debris has got into the pipe? How do you take the tap apart if required? alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 AlanIt could be debris, but my money would be on a kinked hot water pipe, or possibly an ice plug. All taps, shower, etc have two feed pipes, so plentiful cold water at the kitchen sink indicates the kitchen tap is OK. Plentiful supplies elsewhere tends to point to an obstruction of the hot supply to the sink. Plentiful supplies elsewhere also points to a healthy pump.Generally, there is only one pipe out of the fresh water tank. The submersible pump drives it all from within the tank. That pipe divides downstream, with cold feed branches to all cold taps, and one cold feed into the bottom of the Truma heater. One hot water pipe emerges from the top of the Truma, and then divides to feed all the hot taps. When you open a tap one of two things happens. Either you directly operate a microswitch in the tap that runs the pump (most common), or there is a pressure reservoir between the pump and the first divide in the cold feed and, when you open a tap, the stored pressure initially drives the supply, but in doing so loses pressure, which activates the pump via a pressure switch. What this means is that all feeds are supplied at the same initial pressure so, logically - pipes etc all being of the same diameter - all taps should deliver at the same flow rate. That just the kitchen hot supply is poor, indicates obstruction of just that supply. The tap connections will keep you amused for hours, and are probably just on "Jubilee" clips. Treat with care, because most of the taps, and the connectors, are plastic. Loosening the hot pipe at the sink may be worthwhile, but check if your system has a pressure reservoir before you do, as if there is you'll get a fountain as soon as its freed. Also make sure the pump is "off"! If you can trace the other end of the hot feed to the sink tap, loosen that and see what is there.However, since all the components were new on first assembly (unless there is a bit of moulding "flash" somewhere), I'd still be more inclined to suspect someone has bent the hot pipe too sharply somewhere, and it has flattened. You may be able to improve on that if you get the water hot, and then run some off into the kitchen sink. Wait until it comes through hot, and then slowly turn the tap off and leave for a while. The water will heat, and slightly soften, the pipe and it may un-kink itself under the slight residual pressure left in the pipe. Try repeating this a few times to see if the supply improves and, if it does, turn the water heater off and leave everything to cool down, so that the pipe "sets" in its new shape, before you open the tap again. However, don't forget to drain everything off at the end, to ensure you don't get a freeze up! Failing that, I think it's trace the hot pipe time, or else back to the dealer to let them do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonybvi Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Alan If the water is OK from some of the taps then the pump is fine. My money is on there being an airlock in the pipework to the tap, especially as the system originally drained down with the taps shut. Try the following: Switch the pump off at the 12v eControl box (or simply turn the 12v off!) Open all taps in the central position (ie mix of hot and cold position) Take the drain plug out of the fresh water tank Open the Truma dump valve - This should completely drain down the water system. Put plug back in fresh water tank Close Truma dump valve (you may need to turn heating on to get valve to stay closed if it is cold) Close taps Fill with fresh water Turn on 12v at eControl (or turn pump on) Open kitchen tap in fully hot position and wait for water to flow through (I find this takes quite a while on my 681 - 3 to 4 minutes) When water flows through this tap OK then close it and do the same for the bath and shower taps in hot position. Repeat the process for all taps in fully cold position. Hopefully this will clear any airlocks and solve your problem. Good luck, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Going back to one of the earlier suggestions that it might be ice it really surprises me how long it can take to melt. Two examples I have experienced: 1. We arrived at the French house in June one year and we always turn the heating on to "air" the place out. This time the water would not circulate despite the outside temperature being in the low 40s. After some days of trying all sorts of ways my husband undid the pipe to one of the radiators and eventually managed to get the ice to flow out - this despite the high temperature and anti-freeze in the system. Obviously the antifreeze was renewed after this. 2. Last night I took a bag of ice out of the freezer and threw it in the sink to melt away . This morning there was still half a bag despite this being a centrally heated house. So there may still be a posibility that it is ice - depends where you live I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 IT has been said already but do start from the highest water exit the shower !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 As all the water outlets - hot and cold - apparently now produce a strong flow, except for the kitchen hot tap, there's a reasonable chance that it's the tap itself that's at fault. Water-hose kinking used to be a major problem, but the reinforced type now employed should be much more resistant to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonybvi Posted January 18, 2009 Share Posted January 18, 2009 Libby may well be right that you should start at the highest point of exit (ie the shower). However I always drain my complete water system after every trip and refill before the next trip to avoid any potential freezing problems (I live in NE Scotland!) and to ensure that my water is always fresh and untainted. I have the same van as Alan and I must have drained and refilled over 100 times using the kitchen tap as the starting point and I have never had problems with airlocks (having said which I'll probably get an airlock nexct time round!) - maybe this is just luck but it seems to work for me. Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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