Water Pump Function

amanda_h · 05-18-2007, 10:03 AM

Newbie question again:

Why are there switches to turn on and off the house water pump?

Logically, it seems that the water pump switch should always be left on. Obviously that's not the case.

Should we leave the switch off until we need to use water then turn it back off after we have finished? Why can't it just be left on constantly?

This is when not hooked to city water of course.

Thanks! ...and excuse us for the dumb question.

amanda_h · 05-18-2007, 10:03 AM

Newbie question again:

Why are there switches to turn on and off the house water pump?

Logically, it seems that the water pump switch should always be left on. Obviously that's not the case.

Should we leave the switch off until we need to use water then turn it back off after we have finished? Why can't it just be left on constantly?

This is when not hooked to city water of course.

Thanks! ...and excuse us for the dumb question.

John Mc · 05-18-2007, 11:39 AM

There should be switch in the One Place panel, and probably another one down in the water service compartment.
We leave our pump on all of the time when we are not hooked up to city water. Unless there is a leak, the pump should only run when you open a faucet.

amanda_h · 05-18-2007, 11:47 AM

Thanks, John!

So there's no need to keep turning the switch off after evertime we use the sink or the toilet?

We've been doing that and it kind of seems ridiculous. But we wondered then why there's a switch inside the motorhome in the first place?

So we can also leave the pump on when going down the road too?

Thanks.

~~amanda

Steve&Dora · 05-18-2007, 12:11 PM

Right you don't need to turn it on and off between uses. I don't suggest you leave it on when driving though.

afrank1971 · 05-18-2007, 01:31 PM

We leave the water pump on once we leave home and don't generally turn it back off until we get back from a trip (unless of course you hook into city water at a campground, then turn it off). I believe the point of the switch is one, for storage, just to be sure it doesn't run the battery down or pump water through a leak you didn't know you had, and two, so that you can turn it off when you hook to city water. Have fun!
Alan

amanda_h · 05-18-2007, 01:40 PM

Thanks Steve&Dora. Thanks, Alan.

So there's a difference of opinion to leave it on while driving down the road?

How many of you leave it on while driving?

Thanks!

~~amanda

Pusherman · 05-18-2007, 02:42 PM

Amanda,

My rule is to leave the switch 'on' when you are using the rig (stationary). I turn it 'off' when we travel, and when we are not using the coach (storage).

This way if there was a leak, you would find it quick when you are using the coach, but if you are traveling or in storage, you might not see the leak.

One of the key reasons to shut it off is so you don't burn out your pump if you run out of water. So if you are traveling, and there's a leak you don't see inside, and pump out all your water, you could burn up your pump. Once the pump loses prime it just keeps running.

jimandsue60 · 05-18-2007, 03:01 PM

We leave the pump on for one very important reason. If the pump isn't on then the ice maker doesn't work. If the ice maker doesn't work then we have warm cocktails!

Jim

Pusherman · 05-18-2007, 05:02 PM

Jim,

Good point..........

amanda_h · 05-18-2007, 05:57 PM

Thanks everybody for the responses! Great information.

Don, can we hire you as a personal consultant?

You always give such concise, logical, and well stated explanations! Thanks so much!

Jim, yes! ...heaven forbid, warm cocktails! I never thought about the ice maker. Now it's all coming together. Thanks.

~~amanda

SCVJeff · 05-18-2007, 07:46 PM

I was heading down here to mention the icemaker but I see Jim beat me

On the flip side, the one drawback of these variable speed pumps is that they don't "cycle" on & off so you can hear it. That was always my clue I had a problem. NOW you can leak the entire tank out and never know you did.

Well, it's between that and the icemaker...

Pusherman · 05-19-2007, 03:57 PM

Amanda,

Yes, I am available to be your personal consultant. The fees won't sting too much...............

Carnles · 05-20-2007, 04:10 AM

Amanda--

I have also heard that when using the water pump some people choose to turn it off when they leave the RV for a significant time period (i.e. going on a sight seeing trip). This is to avoid feeding a leak that may occur while you are away. It wouldn't take very long for quite a bit of water to accumulate while you are away and coaches have so many hard-to-reach places that the water damage could be very costly (time and money) to fully repair.

We had a small water leak when we first took our coach home and you would be surprised how extensive the seepage can be.

Might not be a bad idea to turn off the water pump when you leave and turn it back on when you get back from your trip. It won't require any additional air bleed-off or priming and could save your bacon.

THutch · 05-20-2007, 01:40 PM

I believe I read that the icemaker needs 110v to run, so unless you have the generator running or are on shore power, no fresh ice.

We turn ours on while on the road for flushing the toilet. It's one of those mysteries of life that once your on the road, someone has gotta go!

Outbumn · 05-21-2007, 03:49 AM

IS there any problems with having the pump on even when connected to city water? We have found that the pump being on gives us better pressure when connected to city water.

jimandsue60 · 05-21-2007, 10:10 AM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by THutch:
I believe I read that the icemaker needs 110v to run, so unless you have the generator running or are on shore power, no fresh ice.

We turn ours on while on the road for flushing the toilet. It's one of those mysteries of life that once your on the road, someone has gotta go!

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Our ice maker works with the inverter on, I tested this today.

Jim

Gary CA · 05-21-2007, 12:47 PM

Outbumn: Yes, you get better water pressure using both the water pump and city water but you drain the fresh water tank a lot faster. I did that once and shortly was realized after a few long showers that we had city water hook up but no sewer in our row of campsites. I learned....

GG1 · 05-22-2007, 05:22 AM

We use both together frequently but only when showering every few days I top off the water tank. Its a lot easier than doing this instead of adding higher output pumps or removing pressure regulators or adding adjustable regulators. When we finish showering we flip off the switch and thats it your done. Also the hot water adjusts easier this way. According to Winnebago tech assist there is no problem doing this.

Izzyblueye · 05-23-2007, 05:02 AM

Sounds like it is time for you to find another real dealer. If yours is going to give you snake oil answers this soon, you will have lots of problems with him on warranty issues. I have never had slide problems under any kind of temperature changes. We have never had any with wind either and we have driven in some real gails.