stardreamer Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Can anyone advise please? After winter shut down we filled motorhome up with water ready for our fist trip of the year. Everything was working fine, bathroom tap, toilet flush and water heater. However the kitchen mixer tap kept spluttering out water and when turned to the left decided to stop working altogether and now no water coming through at all. Any ideas please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 The 'Basics' : is the Pump working ? is there enough water in the tank ? you said 'Turned to the left' does that mean 'Hot' water ? Is it an Ebespacher heater (mines an Autocruise so mine has one). ? Have you allowed enough time for the 'Air locks' to bleed out of the system ( took over 5 minutes with mine). ? Possibles : Pump fuse, (but you said the bathroom tap worked). catastrophic leak from hot water system (hope not !!) an Air lock in the H/water system or a Valve closed. (yes there are valves, nr the Calorfier). Very much doubt it's a fault with the Whale Tap.unless it has split, then you will have a leak. do you still get cold water from the other taps ? let us know. Ray pps Just remembered something i did last year, I tried to fill up the tank with the tank drain tap still open, I didn't notice, until 10 mins later the tank and the tank gauge was still registering empty !! the drain tap was right over a drain !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stardreamer Posted April 22, 2012 Author Share Posted April 22, 2012 Hi Ray Thanks for replying. Everything is working as it should be. Pump is working fine and hot and cold water coming through nicely from bathroom tap, toilet flush and carver heating working ok. No leaks detected and we have checked the fuses and all seem to be ok. Its just the kitchen mixer tap that has no water coming through at all. When we initially turned the system on, water was coming through all the taps, sparodically, until all the air locks were cleared. However the kitchen tap continued to spit water out and didn't seem to want to clear. Thats when we tried turning the mixer to the right (still spitting water) and then to the left when it failed to produce water altogether and, no matter which position we put the mixer handle in after that, no water appeared. On the whale tap instruction sheet it mentions a micro switch but we cannot locate that and not sure what to do with it if we did find it. Do you think it could be that? Is it possible that a valve in the tap itself has failed and is preventing water coming through? Not sure how taps work so please don't laugh if this is a silly idea. By the way, hubby did exactly that same thing as you and tried to fill water tank with drain tap still open! :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterjl Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Hi two suggestied diagnosis: 1) if pump works when the bathroom tap is on, and you get both hot and cold water, then pump is ok - so check if pump is working when you turn on kitchen tap - if no pump sound you have an electric problem. 2) if you can hear the pump running when you turn on kitchen tap and no water you have some sort of blockage (possibly an airlock) or leak (ie water is leaking out before it gets to the tap). once you have diagnosed problem look for more help on the forum - thats what i would do. Good luck Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 peterjl - 2012-04-22 2:53 PM Hi two suggestied diagnosis: 1) if pump works when the bathroom tap is on, and you get both hot and cold water, then pump is ok - so check if pump is working when you turn on kitchen tap - if no pump sound you have an electric problem. 2) if you can hear the pump running when you turn on kitchen tap and no water you have some sort of blockage (possibly an airlock) or leak (ie water is leaking out before it gets to the tap). once you have diagnosed problem look for more help on the forum - thats what i would do. Good luck Peter stardreamer A follow-up to Peter's Suggestion 2... Reading your previous postings reveals that your motorhome is fitted with a Whale submersible water-pump. Such pumps are almost always operated by micro-switches incorporated in the water outlets (eg. as part of your kitchen tap) and their presence can be detected by looking at the base of the tap (ie. the part of the tap that protrudes below the kitchen worktop) where thin electrical cables will be seen. It is possible (I guess) that the kitchen tap's micro-switch mechanism has failed, but the fact that water initially came through the tap suggests not. If you can hear the water-pump begin to run when you turn on the kitchen tap (in either direction), then the tap's micro-switches must be functional. That you are taking your motorhome out of hibernation, that the kitchen tap is a mixer type and that water failed to stop spitting when the other outlets had begun to flow smoothly all suggest that the tap may be internally damaged. Mixer taps are particularly vulnerable to frost damage and it is vital when overwintering a motorhome to ensure that the tap's mixing-lever is in the fully-open position and CENTRALISED. Failure to centralise the lever may prevent water within either the hot or cold side of the tap from fully draining away and, if that happens and the water freezes, the 'guts' of the tap may be distorted or broken. I assume your tap is the single-lever variety as shown here http://www.caravan-components.co.uk/epages/BT2955.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT2955/Products/TF34 but I don't know how repairable they are if something inside gets broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 If you have an airlock in your system, try turning on your kitchen tap, bathroom sink tap and then the shower (all at once) and see if that clears it. We also have a problem with our kitchen tap micro switch; the tap movement keeps breaking the cable, might be worth checking that too. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crinklystarfish Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Turn bathroom tap on so pump is activated.Leave bathroom tap on.Turn kitchen tap on.If water eventually flows from kitchen tap = kitchen tap microswitch (or electrical connection) problem.If no water eventually flows from kitchen tap = physical obstuction / damage to tap. Microswitches can usually be accessed by carefully prying off the (usually) blue/red screw cover cap off the top of the tap, undoing the screw, lifting off the handle and unscrewing a cowl. This can sometimes be done OK with the tap in-situ. Electrical fault not involving microswitch will usually be down to trapped / broken / corroded wires or connections - trace wires back from underneath tap. Physical damage / obstruction can sometimes be fixed by stripping the tap and identifying the problem, but that will mean removal - usually from underneath. Most come apart quite easily and usually have a replaceable cartridge in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stardreamer Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 Hi all A big thank you to everybody for your help and suggestions. We have eventually found the fault! Loose lime scale had blocked the filter at the end of the tap!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayjsj Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Wow ! thank goodness for that, I was running out of ideas, and didn't realise you had microswitch operated taps. Is your van a 'Stardream' by Autocruise ? I thought they all had 'pressurised' water systems ? We all live and learn, Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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