cliffy38 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 I have a Fiamma Aqua 8 water pump in my motorhome. It appears that I may have not emptied the water from the pump when the frost hit. The pump itself works and when using the motorhome there are no issues. However if I leave the motorhome for a week the as soon as you turn the power on to the motorhome the pump starts for about 30 seconds. I am assuming that this is either filling the hot tank or forcing water to the taps. Once using the motorhome regularly this doesn't happen, so assuming there is a non return valve that could be allowing the water to drain back in to the main tank. Any ideas appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums. As long as your Fiamma pump still functions OK and provides adequate pressure to the taps when your motorhome is being used regularly, even if water in the pump froze during the winter it seems unlikely that the pump was damaged. The Fiamma pump itself should act as a non-return valve (NRV), but there may be another NRV between the pump and fresh-water tank that - as you suspect - could be allowing water to slowly drain back to the main tank. (A supplementary NRV would be more common when a motorhome has an external fresh-water tank rather than an interior one.) A slightly-leaking drain-valve between the pump and heater might be another possibility. It might be helpful if you identified your motorhome (make/model/year) just in case a forum member is familiar with it. It would also be worth you confirming that the behavour you’ve described has just begun to show up (ie. prior to last winter the vehicle could stand indefinitely and the pump would not run for 30 seconds on start-up.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffy38 Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Derek Thanks for the reply the vehicle is a Ci Caioca 10, year 2000. It has an internal water tank and to the best of my knowledge it didn't run for 30 seconds after being left. I am assuming that if there were a leak the pump would start without the taps being turned on. I spoke to a company who supply parts who suggested initially taking the pump apart and cleaning with a tooth brush followed by changing the diaphragm holding kit. part number 01200-02-. water pressure is fine other than this issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffy38 Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Just had one of those eureka moments. Took off both pipes to the pump and blew from the outlet. you can hear air coming from the inlet pipe. the only thing in between is the pressure valve. so now I am thinking that perhaps it is losing a bit of pressure, hence the pump starting after it has been left for a day or so. Not convinced that the pump has a non return valve in it at all. So the question is why would the system lose pressure? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 If it’s normal to be able to blow into an Aqua 8’s outlet and for air to emerge from its inlet (which wouldn’t be so with an equivalent SHURflo pump), then so be it. In such a case I’d expect there to be a separate NRV between the pump and tank. If being able to blow through the pump is not normal, then your being able to do this would isuggest that there’s a problem inside the pump (possibly due to freezing). Me, I’d look for a separate NRV and, if I couldn’t find one, I’d leave things alone. After a week’s lay-off, waiting 30 seconds for the pump to bring the system up to pressure seems tolerable. If the system wasn’t working effectively otherwise, or the problem worsened, I might try cleaning the pump or adding new parts, though with a Year-2000 motorhome I’d more likely opt for a new pump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 cliffy38 - 2015-04-08 12:01 PM I have a Fiamma Aqua 8 water pump in my motorhome. It appears that I may have not emptied the water from the pump when the frost hit. The pump itself works and when using the motorhome there are no issues. However if I leave the motorhome for a week the as soon as you turn the power on to the motorhome the pump starts for about 30 seconds. I am assuming that this is either filling the hot tank or forcing water to the taps. Once using the motorhome regularly this doesn't happen, so assuming there is a non return valve that could be allowing the water to drain back in to the main tank. Any ideas appreciated Every van I've had has done exactly as you describe, there you go, one less thing to worry about. ;-) although I have got a spare pump in the van. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffy38 Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 many thanks for the replies probably just worrying for no reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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