water pump running constantly

DGibson · 10-27-2018, 06:36 PM

Hey all, I am in the process of winterizing this 305 ML6, and after adding 6 gallons of antifreeze and a little water, I checked the tank level and had about 1/3 of a tankful then turned on the pump. The pump ran and never pressurized. I went out to look for leaks, finding none, I did check the outside shower and found it dripping a little. Valves off, and it still drips. I get it to slow down the drip when I use the pushbutton on the handle, but still the pump never shuts off. Any thoughts on replacing the shower unit outside? Could that be failing? And also, where likely could I find a problem? Water Heater is bypassed.

pgandw · 10-29-2018, 01:14 PM

If valves are off, and the shower head leaks, then the valves are leaking. Valves may or may not be easily repairable, depending on manufacturer, parts availability, and design. The outside shower on my A-frame looks very much like a valve set for a bathroom vanity, so I assume that at worst I replace it with a like unit from HD/Lowe's. RV plumbing fixtures are seldom anything RV-specific; the RV builders like to use low-end household fittings and fixtures.

Until you fix known leaks, you won't be able to resolve the pump issue. This includes air (vacuum) leaks between the tank and the pump.

Fred W
2019 Flagstaff T21TBHW A-frame
2008 Hyundai Entourage minivan
camping Colorado and adjacent states one weekend at a time

DGibson · 10-29-2018, 01:20 PM

I would suspect my valves are bad. I only turned them on once to verify they actually worked. How sad is THAT? So, instead of fighting with the dealer and the warranty issues, I'll get a set from Amazon and replace them myself. I didn't see any leaks under the camper, so I'm thinking that the valves just gave up . They feel kinda crappy too. Sloppy and not at all like they are trying to turn off.

cavie · 10-29-2018, 01:20 PM

Don't use the FW tank to winterize. Just use the pump with the winterizing kit. You can completely winterize with two gals of antifreeze. Do a search. No more cleaning out the FW tank and sanitizing it.

MillMitch · 10-29-2018, 01:27 PM

Installing a winterization kit is on my spring to-do list; but I still plan to sanitize my FW tank every spring. I'm pretty conservative, so maybe it's overkill; but it makes me feel better.

Scrapper · 10-29-2018, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cavie

Don't use the FW tank to winterize. Just use the pump with the winterizing kit. You can completely winterize with two gals of antifreeze. Do a search. No more cleaning out the FW tank and sanitizing it.

X2
You may need 10 gallons or more to winterize through the FW tank. You probably had at least that much water in the tank so the AF is diluted. It's not a good way to winterize. I doubt your pump even pushed AF through the lines. Then it takes a lot of water and time to get the AF out of the FW tank.

DGibson · 10-29-2018, 01:47 PM

Yeah, Ihad a dumb attack dumping all that antifreeze in the FWtank. But like Mitch says, it will be sanitized next year anyway. I ordered a kit to do the pump thing. I did see a line that appears to run to the FW tank beside the one that runs from the outside fill. Alas, it is not the one to use with a gallon jug for plumbing prep. I'll get this kit installed and try again. This Arctic wolf is not very friendly to service. Not like my previous units.

DGibson · 10-29-2018, 01:51 PM

It likely will. You are right. The meter showed a third of a tank. I was sad to see the outside shower leaking. I will address that soon. Looks like I pull out the box, replace the valve assembly and stuff it back in. With any luck at all. I don't mind working on stuff but this one seems to have a few extra issues. So much for being RV of the year. Sheesh.

DGibson · 10-29-2018, 01:54 PM

I did have a lot of froth when I turned on the faucets, but the outside shower appears to prohibit full pressure buildup. Worked a few months ago on a small vacation break. But we know the gremlins will arrive
without any warning........

5picker · 10-29-2018, 02:08 PM

You simply may still not have enough in the fresh tank for the pump to work correctly regardless of the outside shower issue.

But as mentioned... don't add more.

Even though you plan to sanitize in the spring, getting all the antifreeze out is going to be a chore. Many (not all) R/Vs don't have a drain on the very bottom of the fresh tank. It is typically mounted on the side of the tank near the bottom and that allows several gallons (often as much as 10 or more) to stay in the tank. You are going to have to do MANY repeated fill and drains to rid the tank of antifreeze.

EDIT:
As a side note to the outside shower... if I let the hose on my outside shower hang down towards the ground, it drips too.
It is simply the residual liquid in the hose and head, siphoning out once the valves/faucet are closed. I just mention this as maybe you don't have a shower issue at all.

MR.M · 10-29-2018, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGibson

I did have a lot of froth when I turned on the faucets, but the outside shower appears to prohibit full pressure buildup. Worked a few months ago on a small vacation break. But we know the gremlins will arrive
without any warning........

sounds like your not priming run the kitchen faucet cold side until pump pressurize,s . Then run through all faucets hot and cold

Scrapper · 10-30-2018, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGibson

I did have a lot of froth when I turned on the faucets, but the outside shower appears to prohibit full pressure buildup. Worked a few months ago on a small vacation break. But we know the gremlins will arrive
without any warning........

There could be a piece of manufacturing trash in one of the valves keeping it from completely closing. You might be able to flush it out by opening the valve under pressure. If it got embedded in the seat washer then it may never come out.

I had this happen on my s&b outdoor frost-proof faucet, the only remedy was to take the stem out and replace the seat washer. The shower faucets are made the same way (the one on the left in the attached photo).

https://www.hometips.com/how-it-work...cartridge.html

Bnrc73 · 10-30-2018, 05:36 PM

Not an expert on Leaks but winterizing through the fresh water tank seems like a waste of antifreeze. As for the pump, after filling the fw tank you need to set your valve back to city water or your pump won't shut off. Jm2©

dryflycaster · 10-30-2018, 06:12 PM

We had a similar thing happen on a camping tripp this past summer. First thing I did was check all of the valves inside the camper , all were shut and none were leaking. Next it was outside to check all the drain valves and the shower, all were shut and none were leaking. So it was thinking time. Then it hit me we vae a outside refrig, stove and sink in the right rear corner. During travel we store a few thing in the compartment and one of them had shifted and hit the cold water valve handle, opening it just a enough to have the pump run constantly. I shut the valve and the pump stopped right away. So our fresh water tank was a little lower and the grey water tank was a little more filled up. I didn't think of that sink initially because we seldom use it for any thing except filling the dogs outside water bowl and had not used it to this point.

DGibson · 10-30-2018, 07:45 PM

Thanks to all of you folks for the great advice. I will try everything and I appreciate your input. The fresh water tank thing is bothering me now that I've dumped a lot of antifreeze in it. I think I'll drain it into a big jug and save it to reuse. I think I can test it for freeze protection. I'll get to the bottom of this problem.

Skip12 · 10-30-2018, 08:18 PM

I was thinking what 5Picker said. I'm not convinced you have a shower issue unless you're absolutely sure water / antifreeze is getting pumped out.

The winterization kit is a quick upgrade if you can get to an RV store or amazon. You can build one yourself if you can only get to a hardware store. The process will be a whole lot easier with it in place and then you can see what is happening on the input side of the pump.

I'd try to avoid rescuing the antifreeze if you can afford 2 or 3 more gallons of it. As mentioned above, what you have in the fw tank is diluted by any water remaining in that tank and it's near impossible to measure how much h2o was in there before you started. I'd hate to have a leak in the spring due to diluted antifreeze...but we all have our own risk / reward tolerance.

Good luck!

jd50i · 10-31-2018, 05:21 AM

Problem I ran into on my first winterization, I didn't bypass the hot water tank and it was full of air, the pump kept running as it slowly pressurized the empty hot water tank.

DGibson · 10-31-2018, 05:02 PM

I saw water leaking out of the shower head and evidence on the ground is what made me think the valves might have failed. Also, They don't feel good at all. I just picked up 6 more gallons and I am ordering that kit from amazon. We are pretty remote here and no rv help for miles. I may just trash that old stuff like you recommend, I'll just catch it and take it in for disposal. I won't chance breaking a 50k camper for 30.00 worth of antifreeze..

DGibson · 10-31-2018, 05:05 PM

Yeah, That is a problem I had thought of too, I only can isolate the hot and cold so I have no center valve ( mixer perhaps, or isolater valve). got that all done when I noticed the mud outside below the outside shower door.

Scrapper · 11-10-2018, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DGibson

I saw water leaking out of the shower head and evidence on the ground is what made me think the valves might have failed. Also, They don't feel good at all. I just picked up 6 more gallons and I am ordering that kit from amazon. We are pretty remote here and no rv help for miles. I may just trash that old stuff like you recommend, I'll just catch it and take it in for disposal. I won't chance breaking a 50k camper for 30.00 worth of antifreeze..

I may be late with this reply but you don't need to take the RV antifreeze anywhere to be recycled. It's perfectly safe to dump it on the ground and flush it with water. The ingredients are either ethanol alcohol otherwise known as grain alcohol ( think whiskey) or propylene glycol which is used in food, medicine, candy, makeup and other substances people consume and use everyday.

If you take it somewhere that recycles household chemicals and paint they will just dump it on the ground or in the municipal sewers.

The antifreeze that must be recycled is ethylene glycol and is used for your car, truck, etc. It is extremely poisonous to all animal life. As a car shredder operator, by federal and state law, we had to drain and recycle automotive antifreeze (ethylene glycol).

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