Water pressure issue, please help,

[bharrisv65]

Hi everyone! I’m new to MH ownership and the forum so please be gentle! I have a 2015 Forest River 364 TS, the issue I’m having is very little water pressure at the kitchen sink, both hot and cold as well as the main bathroom toilet across from the bunks. I have good hot and cold in the master bath to toilet, sink and shower, as well as good pressure hot and cold in main bath shower and sink. This really has me frazzled as it just doesn’t make sense. I have two hot water heaters and not sure which areas they feed. I also have two water pumps, one which seems to not be working at all. But, I swapped water lines between the two and there was no change. Also same issue hooked to city water or running off just pumps.

Also, when you turn pumps and city water off, the sink flow doesn’t change until gradually, leading me to believe residual pressure is feeding it, not pumps or city water. The main toilet has an extremely slow trickle, it covers the seal after about 30 or so seconds.

Does anyone have a clue what to check or do you know if there’s something I’m missing under it that might cause this? I don’t think it’s anything to do with filters or supply coming in since I have good pressure in the other areas. I’ve also cleaned the faucet filter in the sink, even took the head off the faucet! And if someone knows which hot water tank feeds which facilities, I would appreciate the info. I ASSUME the rear one feeds the master bath and the front one feeds the main bath and kitchen sink. Maybe I’m wrong??

Thanks so much! I have very little hair to begin with and less as this dilemma unfolds!

[JohnD10]

First...

Unscrew that little screen at the end of the faucet to see it it is full of crud...

That is the usual suspect.

You may find the toilet inlet might have the same issue.

You might also check to see if one of the hot water heater bypasses are in the wrong position.

Do you have any leaks anywhere?

[donniedu]

Plugged lines, plugged aerotor screen, outside shower on, or, the most common, the water heater bypass in the wrong position.

[5picker]

I'm not familiar with your unit with two hot water tanks and two pumps and I realize you said you believe one isn't working but common sense says if the system acts the same when on the pump as when connected to city water, it's not the pump(s).

R/V systems are notorious for plugging up the aerators on the faucets and the screen built into the toilet valve with sediment and debris. Since you mentioned all other faucets work correctly, I'd start by cleaning the aerators and pulling the line from the toilet and see if the screen is blocked.

As for the gradual dissipation of water when the pumps and city water is off, I suspect your unit has a pressure tank in the system somewhere that is charged with pressure and it will take a while for the pressure to bleed off when the supply(ies) is turned off.

[bharrisv65]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

First...

Unscrew that little screen at the end of the faucet to see it it is full of crud...

That is the usual suspect.

You may find the toilet inlet might have the same issue.

You might also check to see if one of the hot water heater bypasses are in the wrong position.

Do you have any leaks anywhere?

No leaks. The bypasses, I’ll double check as that seems suspect. All aerators except toilet have been checked, cleaned. I even took the whole faucet head off the kitchen sink and water barely flows out of just the pipe. I didn’t want to do anything to toilet yet until we fix sink and see it the feed problem is the toilet issue since they’re both showing th3 same issue, yet the sink water is coming straight from an unobstructed pipe end. Thanks for everyone’s help and input, hopefully more will chime in with advice as we go through everything mentioned thus far!

[emm-dee]

Do you have the upgraded Dometic porcelain toilet with the water coming out of 14 or 15 small holes near the top of the rim? If so, very slow filling is normal and it doesn’t put a lot of water in the bowl. After using the foot pedal to dump the contents you can press it very lightly to add a few inches of water. The little holes only add about a quarter inch of water after releasing the pedal. It’s a completely different process compared to a house toilet.

[bharrisv65]

Originally Posted by emm-dee

Do you have the upgraded Dometic porcelain toilet with the water coming out of 14 or 15 small holes near the top of the rim? If so, very slow filling is normal and it doesn’t put a lot of water in the bowl. After using the foot pedal to dump the contents you can press it very lightly to add a few inches of water. The little holes only add about a quarter inch of water after releasing the pedal. It’s a completely different process compared to a house toilet.

It is a porcelain Dometic toilet and it does have 12, not 14 holes at the top of the rim. Thing is, you cannot even see a hint of water coming out of the holes and there doesn’t seem to be any appreciable water pressure when you press the pedal. Thing that confuses me is that the sink in that bath has great hot and cold pressure. I would think the toilet runs on the same cold line coming or going to it as they’re only a foot or so apart. Then I have the issue of both hot and cold having very low pressure at the kitchen sink. I made sure the bypass valves are correctly positioned and took the faucet head completely off the faucet body ensuring there’s no blockage there. I could understand only one line lacking pressure and maybe kinked or something but not both as logically they are separate lines coming from separate sources. It makes me think there could be something happening with the cold inlet to the water heater which may also feed the sink?? Push come to shove, I COULD run new lines to the sink and toilet but before going down that road I’d rather see if we can figure out what’s wrong. Thanks for the reply!

[BobHanke]

Re:Toilet. As others have mentioned, there is a very strong possibility that the screen where the water supply enters the flush mechanism is plugged with debris. It can be very hard to see that if the toilet is against a wall. Turn off city water and water pump, open a faucet to release pressure, place a plastic grocery bag around the connection, detach and blow out with canned air. I got a good load out the first time well colored from antifreeze. Had to repeat several times when water slowed down again.
Re:Sinks. If you have a pull out hose for the faucet head, check any connection along that hose for debris. I found some Teflon tape or plastic packaging material where hose connected to main faucet mechanism.
Debris in aerators is a very common thing. Flushing the hot water heater frequently can help with that.

[DouglasReid]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

First...

Unscrew that little screen at the end of the faucet to see it it is full of crud...

That is the usual suspect.

You may find the toilet inlet might have the same issue.

You might also check to see if one of the hot water heater bypasses are in the wrong position.

Do you have any leaks anywhere?

All of the above, in that order. WELCOME to the forum!

Please report back and tell us what the problem was.

[jhnstphn]

I have a 2017 Georgetown 364 TS and I think my configuration is similar, although I’m not experiencing the problems you’re having. I believe the front hot water tank is just for the kitchen and main bath, and the rear one is for the rear bathroom. There are two pumps, and I think it’s possible to run the entire system on one pump, but if you’re using water in two locations simultaneously, the second pump really is needed. On my unit, I discovered that the pump further to the rear of the vehicle more directly affects the FRONT (kitchen and main bath) for some reason.

There seem to be a lot of bypass valves with these multiple tanks and pumps, and even with them set correctly it takes a while to get air out of the lines when starting up for the first time. But your description is mysterious. Sounds like the rear bath is fine and there’s something going on just in the front. I’ll be curious to know what exactly solves the problem. Good luck!

[Steelhorzz]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

First...

Unscrew that little screen at the end of the faucet to see it it is full of crud...

That is the usual suspect.

You may find the toilet inlet might have the same issue.

You might also check to see if one of the hot water heater bypasses are in the wrong position.

Do you have any leaks anywhere?

2 things I noticed in my RV for the first year regarding water pressure. For some reason the little screen in the toilet inlet plugged up with calcium particles a lot!! After cleaning it out 3 times it doesn't seem a problem anymore.

The faucets seems to have low pressure. I checked the plastic "filters" and though they didn't seem plugged, I went to the "Big Orange Box" to buy a replacement. That's when I found out there were different color filters which related to different flow volumes. I replaced mine with the highest flow available, and my pressure was more than adequate! They use / flow more water, but the pressure is terrific!

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by JohnD10

First...

Unscrew that little screen at the end of the faucet to see it it is full of crud...

That is the usual suspect.

You may find the toilet inlet might have the same issue.

You might also check to see if one of the hot water heater bypasses are in the wrong position.

Do you have any leaks anywhere?

First of all, this is a flow issue, not a pressure issue. Flow is restricted, but if you put a pressure gauge on the tap with no flow, it would show the same pressure as all the other taps.

Second, you've now cleaned the aerator, and maybe even the hose, if it's a pullout hose. But you have said nothing about the faucet itself. If it's a cartridge type (they all are these days) and not the old-fashioned faucet washer on seat, you may have a clog right at the cartridge. Look up how to disassemble the brand you have, then turn off the water and disassemble the faucet. Put a towel over the faucet and hold it while you have someone else turn on the water. Let it flow a bit, then turn off the water and reassemble.

With the toilet you may be able to remove the valve and flush externally.

Larry

[BruceFR3]

The screens in the faucet outlet were clogged. That fixed the problem!
Thanks

[bharrisv65]

Originally Posted by jhnstphn

I have a 2017 Georgetown 364 TS and I think my configuration is similar, although I’m not experiencing the problems you’re having. I believe the front hot water tank is just for the kitchen and main bath, and the rear one is for the rear bathroom. There are two pumps, and I think it’s possible to run the entire system on one pump, but if you’re using water in two locations simultaneously, the second pump really is needed. On my unit, I discovered that the pump further to the rear of the vehicle more directly affects the FRONT (kitchen and main bath) for some reason.

There seem to be a lot of bypass valves with these multiple tanks and pumps, and even with them set correctly it takes a while to get air out of the lines when starting up for the first time. But your description is mysterious. Sounds like the rear bath is fine and there’s something going on just in the front. I’ll be curious to know what exactly solves the problem. Good luck!

Ok, I can pretty much say both tanks feed all the hot water. I thought they’d be separate too but I shut off the supply to and from each heater individually and still had hot water at all faucets. That helped a LOT figuring that out. While we were messing with things yesterday, the master toilet stopped working now! So, that told me it HAS to be crud in the lines. I took supply loose at main toilet, good flow from hose. Took hose going to top of toilet off flush valve, no flow. I don’t see any screens or filters so the flush valve is prob stopped up and we’re going to replace both anyway. I blew air through kitchen faucet, now have good water flow there! It stopped up master sink, we took aerator filter out and was full of crud just from blowing air through, we had that faucet open to bleed the air/water. Soooo, long story short, it has to be a crud problem in the lines which was hard to diagnose since we took the screens out of the kitchen faucet and still didn’t have good pressure. I think that flex line was clogged up itself. Thanks for all the help and I’ll follow up once we have the flush valves replaced. I think that’s going to fix the remaining issue in this ordeal!

[bharrisv65]

Originally Posted by jhnstphn

I have a 2017 Georgetown 364 TS and I think my configuration is similar, although I’m not experiencing the problems you’re having. I believe the front hot water tank is just for the kitchen and main bath, and the rear one is for the rear bathroom. There are two pumps, and I think it’s possible to run the entire system on one pump, but if you’re using water in two locations simultaneously, the second pump really is needed. On my unit, I discovered that the pump further to the rear of the vehicle more directly affects the FRONT (kitchen and main bath) for some reason.

There seem to be a lot of bypass valves with these multiple tanks and pumps, and even with them set correctly it takes a while to get air out of the lines when starting up for the first time. But your description is mysterious. Sounds like the rear bath is fine and there’s something going on just in the front. I’ll be curious to know what exactly solves the problem. Good luck!

Well the long journey is over and finally figured out this whole issue. Seems the MH had sat so long and been thru many areas with high mineral content water that the whole water system had deposits all thru it. After using some vinegar solution, a LOT of flushing, we have the system ALL working fine now. What finally steered us in the right direction was, on a hunch, I got an air tank and blew out the kitchen faucet lines, opened the rear bath cold to bleed off the air. Kitchen faucet flowed great but bath sink cold clogged. Removed aerator, it was clogged with crud. Soooo, that’s what this whole ordeal was about. Sorry we took so long overlooking the obvious but because the kitchen sink threw us off was the reason. Remember, we removed the whole faucet head so we thought that eliminated the crud issue. Ended up those small water lines were plugged.

On this unit, both water heaters feed the whole system. I verified this by cutting each heater completely off individually and still had hot water at each location. Weird, I thought one would feed each bath but guess not.

Thanks to all who chimed in to help!!