Sink - no water pressure

NSNewbie · 08-03-2017, 08:51 PM

We are getting very airy/ lack of water pressure flow from our kitchen sink. Pump is turning on as it should however when taps are off the pump will cycle. Looking for assistance and can't find any posts. I unscrewed the filter to empty water during winterizing last year and didn't put a filter in this year.
I obviously have air getting in the system? Thoughts on where to check?

AquaMan · 08-03-2017, 08:55 PM

Try hooking up to city water and blowing all the lines clear of air, along with making sure the hot water tank is full. Also, if it's only the kitchen sink that has a lack of pressure, make sure the aeration screen isn't clogged up with gunk.

NSNewbie · 08-03-2017, 08:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AquaMan

Try hooking up to city water and blowing all the lines clear of air, along with making sure the hot water tank is full. Also, if it's only the kitchen sink that has a lack of pressure, make sure the aeration screen isn't clogged up with gunk.

Thank you. That def sounds right. I will try this next weekend when we are hooked up to city. We have to use tank water this weekend.

houstonstroker · 08-03-2017, 08:58 PM

Do you have an outside shower? Thart connection can bounce on.

NSNewbie · 08-03-2017, 09:04 PM

Yes, I have outside shower. What do you mean bounce on? Turn on and take pressure away?

Havasu Bill · 08-04-2017, 12:24 PM

Another thought is to take your aerator off and make sure it doesn't have sediment or calcium build up in it. I have to take mine off and soak them in vinegar periodically. This is probably a good practice anyway just to keep them clean.

extxn · 08-04-2017, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NSNewbie

Yes, I have outside shower. What do you mean bounce on? Turn on and take pressure away?

Make sure your hot & cold faucets for the outside shower are turned off so there is no possibility of air being sucked in at that location.

After hooking up to city water and making sure all air is out of the system, try the on-demand pump again. If it still continues to run with all faucets closed, start checking for a leak someplace. The pump should shut off a few seconds after you turn off a faucet.

Cyclemike · 08-04-2017, 01:34 PM

I had the exact same problem drove me crazy. Check the check valves in the faucet itself. Mine were full of calcium almost blocked pressure completely. Everything else in the trailer works fine.

BobHanke · 08-04-2017, 04:58 PM

If you have the pullout spray head for your faucet, check the connection between the hose and main body of the device. I found some plastic in mine that almost completely blocked the water.

jimmoore13 · 08-04-2017, 05:54 PM

If your pump is sucking air, inspect the pump body. They are notorious for vibrating and they can loosen the screws that hold them together. It takes only a tiny air leak to cause this cavitation and air intrusion. Look next at all connections on the pump's intake side...between the pump and the holding tank. A loose clamp, cracked fitting and so on will cause the same problem.
If you have continuous issues with air spurting out, your pump is sucking air. I'm not 100% sure, but sucking air might also account for mystery pump cycles at night. Air in the lines is compressible, and the pump will try to maintain pressure against the air in the lines--a losing battle (see below).

While it's inevitable that there is air in the lines "downstream" of the pump, that air will quickly work its way out of the lines as you draw water. No need to "purge" with city water or any other extra steps. The pump can handle that easily. But if you want every last drop possible in your holding tank, purge the air with your pump by opening the "farthest faucet" (or several faucets), then top off the tank with the few cups of water you consumed.

If you're starting from empty...no water in the lines, turn on the faucet or shower farthest from the pump and bleed out the air. As you use other faucets, they, too, will sputter a bit before the air is bled from the lines, but far less. But from then on, the lines should be full, and the sputtering should stop. If not, your pump is sucking air.

FYI, after my camper has been idle for a week or two, and after I've drained my holding tank, I notice that when I first turn on the pump, it doesn't want to stop until I pull water through the "farthest" faucet. Why? Because the pump is attempting to build pressure against air--not water. Air compresses easily, whereas water does not. So I turn on the pump and immediately let the water run in the kitchen sink (farthest faucet in my case), and the pump then has water rather than air to work with, and it operates normally. The best practice in this case is to run ALL faucets, showers, and the toilet to bleed the air, then there will be no air to compress anywhere in the system.

As for an occasional (RARE) pump sputter during the night, and assuming your pump is not sucking air, a "mystery" pump run for a second or two is not that unusual. Mine does this occasionally.

If you draw water very slowly from a faucet, you'll notice that you can actually draw some water without the pump running. That's built up pressure. After the faucet trickles for a couple seconds, the pump will cycle on then off then on again to support the trickle. The pump should only run continuously when you're drawing a significant amount of water.

Depending on where in that pressurizing cycle you are when you close the faucet and go to bed, the pump might be right on the verge of running. The slightest pressure drop, say from a tiny, undetectable leak in the flush valve on your toilet, will trigger the pump to run for a couple of seconds. No big deal.

This only matters if you can actually detect the faucet, shower or toilet dripping a bit--or worse, there's a plumbing leak somewhere. Once you ensure the pump is not sucking air, if the pump cycles mysteriously on a regular basis, look for a leak in the plumbing or bad faucet valve.

**Flybob** · 08-04-2017, 06:01 PM

Check the antifreeze intake valve on the pump intake side to insure it is completely closed ( set to in use direction). If you winterized yourself and did not run antifreeze in through the pump, but just blew out the lines, you could have had the water in the pump freeze and crack the housing.

Tom48 · 08-05-2017, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flybob

Check the antifreeze intake valve on the pump intake side to insure it is completely closed ( set to in use direction). If you winterized yourself and did not run antifreeze in through the pump, but just blew out the lines, you could have had the water in the pump freeze and crack the housing.

And after determining there are no leaks, air in lines or open spots sucking air, and the pump cycles at night you must have another problem. The obvious for me and twice reoccurring before I put a filter screen on the intake side of our pump,,, consider that there might be a grain of sand in the pump breaking the back flow seal that normally holds the pressure that shuts the pump off.

DouglasReid · 08-05-2017, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NSNewbie

We are getting very airy/ lack of water pressure flow from our kitchen sink. Pump is turning on as it should however when taps are off the pump will cycle. Looking for assistance and can't find any posts. I unscrewed the filter to empty water during winterizing last year and didn't put a filter in this year.
I obviously have air getting in the system? Thoughts on where to check?

Had a similar problem.............go back and tighten the filter bowl on the pump. Mine was sucking air there and pump would not shut off. Tightened it, problem solved.

CapitolPCO · 08-07-2017, 10:58 PM

I agree with Check your kitchen faucet

NSNewbie · 08-12-2017, 11:03 AM

We now have a ton of pressure!! Hooked to city and that wasn't the problem. Took the faucet apart and that darn little aerator and screen was clogged. We left it off and we almost have too much pressure!! Lol. Crazy what that little piece can do. Thank you all for the feedback.

Havasu Bill · 08-13-2017, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NSNewbie

We now have a ton of pressure!! Hooked to city and that wasn't the problem. Took the faucet apart and that darn little aerator and screen was clogged. We left it off and we almost have too much pressure!! Lol. Crazy what that little piece can do. Thank you all for the feedback.

It's the first place I look if I have irregular flow. I also pull them off in the house and clean the sediment out. It doesn't take much sediment to reduce the flow.
Glad it worked for you!

**Flybob** · 08-13-2017, 09:37 PM

If you open the low point drains without draining the WH, it will allow the WH to drain through the cold water line taking with it some of the crud in the bottom of the water heater. Sometimes the crud is not completely flushed out of the lines and when the water is used next trip, that crud is sent back through the lines to a faucet where it can clog the screen in the faucet. This can also happen to the toilet valve and is more difficult to remove.

Havasu Bill · 08-14-2017, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flybob

If you open the low point drains without draining the WH, it will allow the WH to drain through the cold water line taking with it some of the crud in the bottom of the water heater. Sometimes the crud is not completely flushed out of the lines and when the water is used next trip, that crud is sent back through the lines to a faucet where it can clog the screen in the faucet. This can also happen to the toilet valve and is more difficult to remove.

Thanks! Good thought.

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