why would someone cut the power wire to the water pump?

jfp2673 · 02-12-2018, 11:35 PM

Hello All
I am picking up a 2014 georgetown 351ds friday that was traded in on a new purchase. While looking over the motorhome today I noticed the previous owner cut the power wire the the water pump. I showed my sales person and he said they will fix it, but what could the previous owner be attempting to hide when trading the motorhome in? Water leak somewhere? Not sure what else he could have been trying to hide by cutting the power to the water pump.

HangDiver · 02-12-2018, 11:53 PM

Thats pretty strange. Could have pulled the fuse. At least now you're alert for everything water related and/or possible leaks.

And welcome to the forum...

kenandterry · 02-13-2018, 09:41 AM

Maybe the water pump switch failed/doesn’t work.

See if the pump, light, and switch all work as designed.

There is usually an inline fuse very close to the pump motor itself. Check that too.

SeaDog · 02-13-2018, 10:04 AM

Welcome to the forum its a great place to get your questions answered. there may have been a switch/pressure sensor failure and the pump was running continuously to they cut the wire so stop it.

5picker · 02-13-2018, 10:11 AM

As mentioned, any number of reasons.
Another could have been they never used the water pump and had added something else (customer installed) to that circuit which they removed when trading in.

DSurette · 02-13-2018, 01:33 PM

I'm thinking that there may have been a slow leak and he didn't like having the pump cycle every so often. But whatever the reason, I would think that turning it off at the switch would have been easier.

AquaMan · 02-13-2018, 01:54 PM

Or, they had a high volume pump installed and switched it back out when trading in, and just didn't hook it back up.

kenandterry · 02-13-2018, 02:17 PM

We can speculate what previous owners do to their rig all day long.

I’ve made more mods to my rig than I can list.....hopefully none of them would have the next owner scratching their heads, but they all seem OEM to me now.

Just reconnect the water pump wiring, and see if it works, like it should....lights and all. If there is a leak, it will continue to run if it can’t pressurize the system and the OP would know there’s a leak.

Cover Dog · 02-13-2018, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfp2673

Hello All
I am picking up a 2014 georgetown 351ds friday that was traded in on a new purchase. While looking over the motorhome today I noticed the previous owner cut the power wire the the water pump. I showed my sales person and he said they will fix it, but what could the previous owner be attempting to hide when trading the motorhome in? Water leak somewhere? Not sure what else he could have been trying to hide by cutting the power to the water pump.

Sounds like it never got a PDI.

SeaDog · 02-13-2018, 04:12 PM

I forgot to mention when the dealer fixes it and tells you what the reason was let the forum know I would be interested.

mnoland30 · 02-15-2018, 04:00 AM

We got some sand in our pump on the houseboat, and the pump ran continuously. That might make a person want to cut the wire.

I once borrowed a car from a friend, and had to cut the horn wire, because I couldn't figure out how to turn off the alarm.

pmsherman · 02-16-2018, 03:25 PM

Water pumps have a known problem where the backflow valve inside the pump doesn't completely seal which causes the pump to cycle. Cutting the power line to the pump will fix this.

A more likely cause is the prior owner deciding to never use the fresh water tank. If you don't use it, there's no need for a water pump and cutting the power line to the pump will absolutely prevent using it. I've even read posts about owners who refuse to use the toilet because "an unused black tank increases the resale value."

I intend to cut the power line to my water pump and install a switch in the compartment to control the pump. This will be used when I perform my personalized winterization procedure.

Phil

5picker · 02-16-2018, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmsherman

Water pumps have a known problem where the backflow valve inside the pump doesn't completely seal which causes the pump to cycle. Cutting the power line to the pump will fix this.

A more likely cause is the prior owner deciding to never use the fresh water tank. If you don't use it, there's no need for a water pump and cutting the power line to the pump will absolutely prevent using it. I've even read posts about owners who refuse to use the toilet because "an unused black tank increases the resale value."

I intend to cut the power line to my water pump and install a switch in the compartment to control the pump. This will be used when I perform my personalized winterization procedure.

Phil

What unit do you own that doesn't already have a switch to turn the on-board pump on/off? Maybe I've read this incorrectly?

5picker · 02-16-2018, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmsherman

Water pumps have a known problem where the backflow valve inside the pump doesn't completely seal which causes the pump to cycle. Cutting the power line to the pump will fix this.

A more likely cause is the prior owner deciding to never use the fresh water tank. If you don't use it, there's no need for a water pump and cutting the power line to the pump will absolutely prevent using it. I've even read posts about owners who refuse to use the toilet because "an unused black tank increases the resale value."

I intend to cut the power line to my water pump and install a switch in the compartment to control the pump. This will be used when I perform my personalized winterization procedure.

Phil

Interesting.
I have never heard this before.
Any knowledge how this "fixes it?"

HangDiver · 02-16-2018, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmsherman

Water pumps have a known problem where the backflow valve inside the pump doesn't completely seal which causes the pump to cycle. Cutting the power line to the pump will fix this.

A more likely cause is the prior owner deciding to never use the fresh water tank. If you don't use it, there's no need for a water pump and cutting the power line to the pump will absolutely prevent using it. I've even read posts about owners who refuse to use the toilet because "an unused black tank increases the resale value."

I intend to cut the power line to my water pump and install a switch in the compartment to control the pump. This will be used when I perform my personalized winterization procedure.

Phil

Again, why not just turn off the water pump at the factory installed switch? Or pull the fuse if you're afraid of the switch? What am I missing?

jfp2673 · 02-17-2018, 01:15 AM

I picked up my motorhome today and asked my salesperson what they found when investigating the cut wire to the water pump. The water pump was unable to build enough pressure to shut off so they installed a new water pump for me. I am happy they didn't find any water leaks and everything works great. Thanks to everyone for their input.

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