FoxyRani Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 I have just serviced my new motorhome a year after purchase. I have not used it much. I took it for habitat servicing and they identified a crack in the water pump and the need a for a new leisure battery. When not in use I always turn off the leisure battery and when in use I set the solar panel to provide energy to it. I am surprised that the pump had a crack in it and the leisure battery needs replacement. The service centre mentioned this being covered by warranty. Being a first time motorhome owner, is this something that is not unusual? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 A crack in the water pump sounds like it could be frost damage ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtravel Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 And batteries suffer from self-discharge. On average 3/5% per month. I too have the battery switch but once every two months at the most I charge them for 48 hours. Both, motor and leisure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotjimland Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Did you drain down the water system before winter ? Waterpump crack caused by freezing ..taps and pipes can also be affected if not fully drained down. Read manual on how to do this.. there should be a drain point for the hot and cold system.. taps should be left open and blown down to remove any water.. When a lead acid battery is sat idle for weeks or months on end it will self discharge and eventually fail.. To prevent this in future, when not in use, put the battery on charge at least once fortnight .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 I agree with previous posts re the water pump, almost certainly frost damage. And I have found that just draining the pipework is insufficient to prevent a pump cracking as the chamber of the pump still contains water! After losing a pump to frost damage on a drained system I now drain the system then disconnect the outlet pipe from the pump and run the pump for 2 or 3 seconds to blow any remaining water out. And with your battery failure, are you sure your solar panel still charges the battery with the battery turned off? Check by measuring the battery voltage with a multimeter. PS Is this on your 2021 AT V-Line? (It helps to know). Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 After drawing down the MH all taps open, pump run empty for a couple of mins I turn the heating on, which warms the boiler and take it for a run. several islands on route to thoughtfully empty everything. taps left open over winter and MH taken for regular runs, when it’s dry to clean the break disks and top up all the batteries. only recently I have used a charger of the pulse type to give the batteries a good charge. with this method I’ve not had a problem 🤞🏻it stays that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 FoxyRani's motorhome will be an Auto-Trail V-Line 680S referred to as "...registered in 2021 as new..." in this May 2022 forum thread https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/53812-rear-tail-light-driver-side-changng/#comment-689692 The terms and conditions of the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Auto-Trail warranties can be downloaded from here https://www.auto-trail.co.uk/warranty-terms-and-conditions On-line comments indicate that Auto-Trail will almost certainly have fitted a SHURflo water-pump to their V-Line models and the plastic 'head' of these pumps is definitely vulnerable to frost-damage, particularly if the pump's mounting orientation makes 100% drainage difficult. The Auto-Trail warranty excludes "Damage resulting from freezing, fire, over-heating or accidents (whether caused by you or other persons)." but a crack in a SHURflo pump's 'head' could occur from a manufacturing defect and, in any case, I doubt that an under-warranty claim for a replacement pump would be argued over. The need to replace a motorhome's leisure-battery after two years would be unusual, but - as has been touched on above - if the battery is allowed to completely discharge, the result may be permanent damage or a radically shortened lifespan. If there were to be warranty-related quibbling, it's more likely this would be about replacing the leisure-battery than replacing the water-pump. (If the centre that did the habitation servicing is authorised to carry out Auto-Trail under-warranty work and is happy that the water-pump and battery issues are eligible for replacement under warranty, it would be wise for FoxyRani to NOT mention to the centre the possibility that frost might have caused the pump to crack, nor that the original leisure-battery might have failed as a result of it not being adequately charged.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 My motorhome dealer replace about 150 pumps per year. for various reasons Same for batteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 And do not forget that the pump could have a two wire pressure contact at the water taps. And what are function have these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtravel Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 3 minutes ago, Hans said: And do not forget that the pump could have a two wire pressure contact at the water taps. And what are function have these. Switches on taps are usually for summersible pumps, not for pressure ones (Shurflos and the like). Those have their own pressure switch builted in. As far as I know tap switches just just close contact givein 12V power to the pump, ngthing to do with pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 As I said here https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/topic/56777-waterpump/#comment-701188 although unusual, a leisure vehicle's water system may include a pressure-sensitive water pump (eg. a SHURflo Trail King) that is (indirectly) triggered by microswitches on the water taps. This 2013 MotorHomeFun forum thread mentions that type of system being present on a 2004 Hobby 750 motorhome https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/shurflo-water-pump.69720/ My own 2005-built Hobby T-600FC had the same arrangement, though the wiring in the photo (below) showing the 2004 Hobby 750's pump is far more untidy than my motorhome's. I'm not aware if any motorhome manufacturer (other than Hobby) has chosen this design of water system. It is apparent from Auto-Trail's motorhome handbooks that the water system they use does not have a pressure-sensitive water pump controlled by tap microswitches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted January 17, 2023 Share Posted January 17, 2023 Hobby were still fitting the hybrid microswitch/pressure switch arrangement in 2010, Derek. I liked much of my Hobby, but it had a number of irritating little "quirks". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.