Water problem

greenliner · 12-14-2014, 07:27 PM

Today I found a problem on our 21FBS. I thought the water pump had given up, but on further investigation, it seems that water cannot get to the fresh water tank - it pushes back, and is even coming back out of the breather pipe. This all suggests a blocked or twisted pipe - but when and how

. I've just soaked the ground under the trailer, so can't go under today, but just wondering if anyone else has experienced this, and can save me a bit of time in the troubleshooting areas, am heading to San Diego at the end of the week, and will only have about 1hr of light each evening after work to work on it.
I would appreciate any help I can get.

Jerry01 · 12-14-2014, 07:40 PM

We had an issue with our last trailer. The flexible tubing going down to the freshwater tank cracked. hopefully that is your problem as well. Simple fix. Jerry.

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rracer5 · 12-14-2014, 07:45 PM

You don't mention if you've had the TT since new and this is a new problem or you got it used and this is the first time you're trying the water pump.

The fill tube and vent tube should not be connected to each other. The only way I know water would come out of both is if the tank were already full. Then it WOULD back out of the fill tube and come out the vent.

greenliner · 12-14-2014, 07:54 PM

TT is new to us in2011, this has only just happened. Agree circa suggest tank full, but gaugeshows empty, and pump runs empty ???

**Flybob** · 12-14-2014, 08:08 PM

Check to see if there is a winterizing valve installed. It would be close to the intake side of the water pump. If you have one, the valve could be in the winterizing mode so cut off from the water tank. In order to have water come out of the vent hose, you have to be getting water into the tank. They are not connected except via the tank.

rracer5 · 12-14-2014, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flybob

Check to see if there is a winterizing valve installed. It would be close to the intake side of the water pump. If you have one, the valve could be in the winterizing mode so cut off from the water tank. In order to have water come out of the vent hose, you have to be getting water into the tank. They are not connected except via the tank.

X2 Sometimes the pump needs to be primed (usually not though). But, if the winterizing valve for the suction tube for the antifreeze bottle is open, the pump will not suck from the tank.

greenliner · 12-15-2014, 11:44 PM

There should be no problem with winterizing valve - we're in Southern AZ, and the valve hasn't been touched since the dealer 4 yrs ago. Went under this afternoon after work, but can't make head or tail of it. The gauge shows empty for the fresh water. Will keep trying that's all. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Big Rig · 12-16-2014, 04:06 AM

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**KyDan** · 12-16-2014, 09:26 AM

Suggest a visual inspection of the fresh tank to see if it's full or MT.
Tank indicators are notoriously unreliable.

rracer5 · 12-16-2014, 10:46 AM

Can you hear the pump run?

Had the same problem on my previous TT one spring. Couldn't get water pump to pick up any water from the tank after de-winterizing and sanitizing the tank (I was going to use the fresh water from the now sanitized tank to flush the lines).

So, off to the campground I went anyway (since they have city water), hooked up my hose and forgot about it (pump problem). Low and behold, 2 days later, the parks pump house went down. So, I turned on the pump to try and diagnose and it immediately started working (built up pressure and stopped).

The only thing I can figure is, when I connected the city water and pressurized the system, that must have "re-centered" the check valve in the pump.

So, if you haven't already, try hooking up your hose to a city supply first, run some water through the faucets, disconnect the hose and see if the pump works.

**Flybob** · 12-16-2014, 11:58 AM

If you want to know if the fresh water tank is full, open the FW drain valve and see how much comes out,

donanddona · 12-16-2014, 01:04 PM

My FW fill connection and vent are located close together. Although seperate (the vent is a smaller area to the side of the fill area with a tiny screen in it). Sometimes during a fill of the FW tank (depending on the water pressure) I would have a problem. Water comming out both the vent and the fill. My cousin told me to make a filling rig (trickle effect) and keep it in a ziplock bag. It has a shut off valve in it that I partially closed and removed the lever after a proper flow (and it works great). Yea, it takes a couple of minutes longer to fill. Now when water starts to "Leak" out of the fill connection it doesn't come out the vent nor does it gush out the fill.

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