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Old 03-14-2017, 07:44 PM   #1
Winnie-Wise
 
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Inconsistent water pump behavior

My water pump is working great for the bathroom sink and shower. By great I mean consistent pressure, sound, etc. When the kitchen sink calls for water, the pump is coming on and off or stuttering. The behavior is the same for hot or cold. I have a '17 Vista 31BE. The pump is in the rear bedroom beside the fresh water tank. The bath is in the middle, and the kitchen is furthest away. The hot water heater is in the kitchen by the sink.

Thoughts?
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Old 03-15-2017, 12:43 AM   #2
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water not flowing properly?

Quote:
Originally Posted by BirchyBoy View Post
My water pump is working great for the bathroom sink and shower. By great I mean consistent pressure, sound, etc. When the kitchen sink calls for water, the pump is coming on and off or stuttering. The behavior is the same for hot or cold. I have a '17 Vista 31BE. The pump is in the rear bedroom beside the fresh water tank. The bath is in the middle, and the kitchen is furthest away. The hot water heater is in the kitchen by the sink.

Thoughts?
How is the water flow in the kitchen? The aeorator could be partially plugged.
Are there any extra filters under the sink? They usually have a shutoff valve, could be partially closed.
Anything that restricts flow will cause the pump to cycle.
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Old 03-15-2017, 10:36 AM   #3
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I'm with DAN L on asking how the water flow compares at the sinks, kitchen and bath. A small water flow can cause the rapid cycling water pump. Try timing the fill of a small cup at each sink. The flow should be similar, if they're not, something is partially plugged somewhere. If it's both faucets, the aerator would be a good suspect.
If the air plenum in the top of the water heater has been absorbed, the air can be re-established by connecting an empty water hose to the coach, then turning on a hot water faucet. That will take all the air from the hose directly to the water heater. This small air plenum helps to reduce the rapid cycling of the pump when you have a small water flow.
I connect my water hose (empty) when I use the pump, to act as an expansion tank in the water system, this really reduces cycling of the pump.
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Old 03-15-2017, 06:37 PM   #4
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Thanks for the tips. I checked both sinks and the flow was identical. On the cold side, a cup took four seconds. The hot side was maybe .5 seconds longer. There are no filters inside the coach. It didn't do it just now; the only difference is I took a shower this morning and then topped off the fresh tank tonight. Perhaps it was something with the air space?
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Old 03-15-2017, 11:14 PM   #5
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Birchyboy,
Perhaps there was air trapped in the water pump itself.
I bleed the air every time I fill the tank by opening the drain valve draining a couple of gallons of water. This works best for me with pressure from water source but works with pump pressure also.
Incidentally,
NEVER CHANGE THE POSITION OF THE SERVICE VALVE with pressure on it.
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Old 03-16-2017, 07:59 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alank View Post
If the air plenum in the top of the water heater has been absorbed, the air can be re-established by connecting an empty water hose to the coach, then turning on a hot water faucet. That will take all the air from the hose directly to the water heater. This small air plenum helps to reduce the rapid cycling of the pump when you have a small water flow.
I connect my water hose (empty) when I use the pump, to act as an expansion tank in the water system, this really reduces cycling of the pump.
Where are you connecting an empty hose to introduce air into the water heater and/or act as an air plenum?
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Old 03-16-2017, 10:47 AM   #7
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If there is no air cushion in the water heater all you have to do to replenish it is to shut off the water supply and drain the coach water pressure. Then open the overflow valve on the water heater. Any water above the outlet will drain out the valve. Once the water has stopped flowing just shut off the valve and turn the water back on.

The typical cushion is the air space between the top of the overflow valve and the top of the tank.

As for air space in the fresh water tank none is necessary. There's a vent on the top of the tank that allows air to enter as water is being drawn out. An easy way to check to see that it's open is to overfill the fresh water tank. If the tank if over filled the water will run out the vent tube.

The bathroom sink in our adventurer acts the same as the kitchen sink in your Vista. In our case it's because of the smaller tubing going to the faucet. All other faucets (including the outdoor shower) in our motorhome are plumbed with 1/2" PEX. For some reason the bathroom sink is necked down to 1/4" PEX. Since it's half the diameter of the other feed tubes there's less volume going to the faucet. Even with the faucet at full volume the pump easily puts out more volume than the faucet. The result is the pump cycles on and off every few seconds.

There may be a restriction somewhere in the lines to the kitchen faucet. Your kitchen faucet is the only one in the slide. It's possible the tubes are getting kinked or pinched when the slide moves. Another possibility is you have smaller feed tubes to the kitchen faucet than those in the bathroom.

There's a cutout in the floor of the kitchen cabinet in our Adventurer to access the plumbing and electrical connections that go to the island. If yours has the same feature I would remove the panel and inspect the water lines for kinks or poor routing where they may get pinched when the slide moves.
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Old 03-17-2017, 03:05 PM   #8
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by 4x4VAN
Where are you connecting an empty hose to introduce air into the water heater and/or act as an air plenum?

I connect to the city water connection.

To replenish the air in the water heater, attach an empty hose to the city supply and the coach city water connection, turn "on" the city water. Then when you open any hot faucet, the water and air in the hose will travel to the water heater. The air will collect in the top of the tank down to the water line that takes hot water out of the tank. Any excess air will exit out that same water line and will come spitting out the faucet you have open. If no air comes out the faucet, do the procedure a second time. The water heater tank may hold more air than the hose will hold so repeat procedures at be necessary. I try to remember to do this every time I hook up to city water so the water heater tank automatically replenished each time I hook up. I have an outside shower next to my city water hookup so I use that hot water faucet to evacuate excess air. The DW doesn't like it when air spits out the kitchen sink.

As for using the hose as an expansion tank, empty the hose, cap the end, hook the hose up to the city water connection. One important point, the coach has a backflow valve at the city water connection. I use a screen washer, like is used on a clothes washing machine, inserted backwards to hold the backflow valve open. Then when the pump runs, it builds up pressure against the air in the 50' hose and it functions as a small expansion tank.
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Old 03-17-2017, 07:08 PM   #9
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Well, it's acting up again. I drove 4 hours, set up and turned the pump on. On/off/on/off and stuttering. I turned the pump off, relieved the pressure and opened the relief valve. Almost nothing came out, which means the air space is ok, right?

No change BTW.

For fun, I turned the water heater winterization valve. The pump didn't like that at all.
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Old 03-18-2017, 06:26 AM   #10
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Consider replacing your original pump with a bypass pump like the Sureflo 4008. Bypass pumps provide more consistent pressure by preventing on/off cycling of the pump when demand is low. Instead, when any demand is sensed, the pump runs continuously and the bypass diverts excess flow. It's an easy and inexpensive job and you'll be much happier with your water system.
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Old 03-18-2017, 04:54 PM   #11
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Consider replacing your original pump with a bypass pump like the Sureflo 4008. Bypass pumps provide more consistent pressure by preventing on/off cycling of the pump when demand is low. Instead, when any demand is sensed, the pump runs continuously and the bypass diverts excess flow. It's an easy and inexpensive job and you'll be much happier with your water system.
Maybe I'll do that once the problem, has been fixed under warranty. I don't want to do that and have them say I caused thenissue.
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Old 03-18-2017, 08:06 PM   #12
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You should have a by-pass pump on the coach, Mine didn't originally work properly because the pumping pressure wasn't high enough to push past the by-pass. There are two small allen set screws on the bottom of the pump, one to adjust the pumping pressure, the other to adjust the by-pass pressure. My pump was pumping about 45lbs. but the pumps rating is 55lbs., once the pressure was increased it worked much better.

If that's your case you may try adjusting, or request a warranty replacement.
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Old 03-18-2017, 08:57 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alank View Post
You should have a by-pass pump on the coach, Mine didn't originally work properly because the pumping pressure wasn't high enough to push past the by-pass. There are two small allen set screws on the bottom of the pump, one to adjust the pumping pressure, the other to adjust the by-pass pressure. My pump was pumping about 45lbs. but the pumps rating is 55lbs., once the pressure was increased it worked much better.

If that's your case you may try adjusting, or request a warranty replacement.
Thanks!
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