Pipe fittings

[Tracker]

Have I missed it - or do you know for absolute sure that the pump is working?

 

When switched on at the panel it should click away merrily as it tries to draw water up from the tank.

 

If it is silent when live and with taps open then there is your problem, but I too am wary of coincidence!

 

First thing to check is that there is 12 v at the wires leading into the pump body and if not all is not lost as it may only be stuck , especially if has been run dry for any length of time?

 

Sometimes if you are very lucky a sharp tap or two with something heavyish like a screwdriver handle could be enough to set it going again? Failing that dismantling and reassembly is fiddly and time consuming but not difficult and a lot less expensive than a new pump if you can diy.

[Derek Uzzell]

Tracker - 2012-11-08 10:10 PM

 

Have I missed it - or do you know for absolute sure that the pump is working?...

 

Earlier in the thread nuevoboy (3 November 2012 7:30 PM) says "....and the pump is operating slowly & quietly but will not refill (pressurise) the system..."

 

There's advice here that includes very basic water-system schematics:

 

http://www.practicalmotorhome.com/advice/troubleshoot-your-water-system

 

I believe nuevoboy owns a 2005 Auto-Sleepers Nuevo and I visualise the vehicle's fresh-water system as follows:

 

1. External water tank.

 

2. Water-supply hose from fresh-water tank entering motorhome's interior through floor and connecting to a Truma non-return valve (NRV).

 

3. NRV connecting to Truma drain-valve (connection shown in nuevoboy's photo).

 

4. Truma drain-valve connecting (via right-angled push-fittings shown in nuevoboy's photo) to blue fresh-water hose that leads to a pressure-sensitive water-pump (possibly - based on the comments on the following link - a SHURflo pump) http://www.autosleeper-ownersforum.com/t2122-shurflo-fresh-water-pump

 

5. Hose from water-pump leads to a 'Y' (or 'T') connector that directs one hose towards the cold-water outlets and another hose to the water-boiler and thence to the hot-water outlets.

 

Resolving this problem would benefit from a methodical approach.

 

1. Completely fill the fresh-water tank.

 

2. It should be evident (from the noise) whether or not the water-pump will run.

 

3. If the pump won't run, then it's the pump that's the problem.

 

4. Assuming that the pump runs, disconnect (or loosen) the hose-connection on the pump's OUTPUT side.

 

5. Turn on the water-pump.

 

6. If no pressurised water comes through, then either there's a serious fault with the pump or there's a blockage 'upstream' of the pump (NRV stuck, blockage in hose between water tank and NRV, blockage in drain-valve, blockage in pipework between drain-valve and water pump, clogged water-pump filter).

 

7. If a mixture of air and water comes continuously from the pump's outlet, then there's an air-leak somewhere 'upstream' of the pump (eg. a cracked water-pump filter).

 

8. if pressurised water (with no air in it) soon comes from the pump's outlet, then the system SHOULD now fill OK.

 

(In principle, an NRV should not be needed with a diaphragm-type water-pump, as such pumps have a considerable 'water lifting' self-priming capability. I can understand why A-S might have chosen to fit an NRV, but I do wonder whether the NRV might reduce a diaphragm-pump's self-priming ability. Both of my motorhomes have had SHURflo pumps with no NRVs and I've never had the slightest difficulty refilling their drained-down water systems. OK, neither vehicle had an external fresh-water tank, but there seem to be regular on-line complaints about difficulties refilling the water systems of motorhomes with internal freash-water tanks that, in my view, are often due to using a less-than-optimum refilling procedure than there actually being something wrong.)

[Losos]

Wooie - 2012-10-31 10:39 In my opinion if the manufacturers took a little more time and effort then silly littlethings like this and the likes of screws, catches etc. etc. not connecting or evenmissing would not happen. Awaiting all incoming FLAK !!Regards.Graham.

 

No FLAK from me Graham, I couldn't agree with you more, and the worst offenders are the small van converters (Like Wyvern Leisure and Van Bitz) who just haven't got a clue. I've had to practically rebuild my van since letting these two firms work on it.

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Having thought a bit more about my last posting, I realise that my 'vision' of nuevoboy's motorhome's water system must be flawed. This is because, if the drain-valve were between the water tank and a diaphragm-type water pump (eg. a SHURflo pump), the system would not drain. Either there's another drain-valve 'downstream' of the water-pump (ie. between the pump's outlet and the taps and water-boiler), or there's a different type of water pump, or there's something I'm missing.

[dougal]

Studying the pictures, I agree that it is probably the alignment that is the problem. Many fittings are assembled with a lack of care. My SHURflo pump has been a problem and I found that the oscillating diaphram was so hard that I am suprised it operated at all. The new one is very flexible. A discounted new pump was cheaper than just the replacement pump body!XXX??? (lol)

[crinklystarfish]

Weepy joint upstream of WP stripped and refitted - possibilty that some foreign body that caused the weep (cracked bit of plastic from one of the fittings etc) now in WP.

Personally, I'd rip all that plumbing out and start again. JG fittings, adapters and semi-rigid pipe are cheap (all available from CAK + others) and being push-fit it's a doddle to work with. I'd probably junk the NRV altogether. There should really also be collet covers over the fittings to stop accidental de-coupling.

I used fully flexible drinking quality hose on mine for a short run either side of the WP before converting to semi-rigid to stop the WP putting vibrational pressure on the joints, and to minimise noise transfer.

Plumbing like that in the photo is one of the indicators people should look for when considering purchase.

Rip it out and do it properly. It's a couple of hours work. It would have been nice if they could have been bothered to do it right the first place.

[Derek Uzzell]

John Guest-type (JG) fittings should tolerate a fair amount of 'cock-eyedness' without leaking, as much as anything because people generally won't be too fussy about perfect alignment and the fittings need to allow for that.

 

Nuevoboy's motorhome JG fittings have been leak-free (presumably) since the motorhome was built in 2005, which suggests that the leak originally mentioned was due to an age-related fault, the obvious suspect being a failure of the JG fitting's internal O-ring. On-line comments suggest that JG O-rings can 'fret' due to vibration (say when the JG fitting is connected directly to a water pump), but an O-ring beginning to leak after 7 years ain't bad going.

[crinklystarfish]

I guess it just shows how reliable push-fit is, even when it's just chucked in by a muppet who pretty clearly couldn't care less.

[nuevoboy]

Well, I'm sure by now you're all dying to know the cause of the problem of the system not re-pressurising.

 

The 'van went in for its habitation service and I mentioned the problem.

 

On collection (and fully expecting a large bill for a new pump and the fitting of)....

I was informed that when I'd reset the drain valve lever, I'd moved it a few degrees beyond

horizontal and that this was in effect the same as having the drain valve open.

 

They simply flipped it up into the horzontal position and the pump happily primed

and pressurised the whole system.

 

Oh dear,

 

:$ :$ :$ :$ :$ :$ :$ :$ :$ :$

 

Mind you, my refiitng of the pushfit connectors has seemingly corrected the original weep

and there were no more "tears" during my recent 3 day sojourn.

 

Again, many, many thanks for all your offerings and suggestions.

 

[crinklystarfish]

It was big of you to 'cough' it. Glad it's sorted.