Water flow from holding tank appears to come and go

[ricatic]

Well...after 5 years and hundreds of nights spent in our 3055RL, my first real issue. I am working in Iowa and staying in a RV Park(loose definition at best) behind the Casino. No city water hookup but I run 200 feet of hose to a fresh water fill hydrant. I have been here for three months. The last two times my tank has ran dry while using the shower, I have refilled the fresh water tank and then experienced difficulties drawing water from the tank. I have bypassed the winterizing valve(whole other story that ends in "dumb owner mistake) so I can easily separate the suctuion line from the pump to the tank in an area where I can either put pressure into the tank or siphon water up to the pump.

Now, the first time this happened, I hooked up the city water hose to a Rube Goldberg connection that allowed me to back flush the line into the tank. Even after this attempt, flow only increased a small amount but was enought o operate the system at full water pump pressure...all was well... this time, using compressed air, I pressurized the suction line until it began bubbling out the air vent. Success I think..wrong again...I still can not siphon any real quantity of water to the pump...

So...I fill my 5 gallon water jug, run the suction line into the container, turn on the pump and voila...normal water volume and pressure at all faucets...

So...how is the suction line plumbed into the fresh water tank? Is there a weight or check valve at the end that might be mostly plugged? Should I be able siphon water up to the pump easily? Any suggestions on how to fix this before my head collapses from trying to siphon water up from the tank...

Regards

Rick

 

[danemayer]

Rick,

The antifreeze suction hose should tee into the fresh tank line near the input side of the pump. Are you sure the antifreeze line isn't open when you think it's closed? Maybe try plugging the end of the antifreeze hose.

There's a diagram on page 6 of the Water Systems Guide. It's not an exact layout, but will give you the idea of how all the water lines fit together.

 

[ricatic]

he anti freeze line is out of the circuit right now...Last fall after returning from my Baltimore job, when I winterized, I forgot to winterize the water pump side. The winterizing valve was damaged and the pump could not pull water from the tank. I fixed that problem by eliminating for noe the winterizing valve. It was working perfectly until the tank was inadvertently ran dry. I will look at the diagram...Thanks

 

[ricatic]

How is the suction line terminated in the bottom of the fresh water tank? Bottom weighted water hose with no check valve? How big a deal is it to drop the tank and replumb the system?

Regards

 

[TedS]

Pump suction hose is connected to a hose barb on the tank. Maybe the line is pinched for some reason.

 

[TedS]

Make a long hose. Connect to the winterizing valve intake. Shove the other end down the tank gravity fill hose and into the tank.

 

[ricatic]

Well...the prob lem is at least diagnosed...but the fix will be a bit harder than I hoped for...I noticed the underbelly coreplast was sagging a bit right under the grey water tank... I used a bottle jack and some plywood to raise the sag back up to near level...went inside and turned on kitchen faucet...normal pressure and volume...now to the fix...

The tanks get pumped every Tuesday morning so I will wait until tomorrow. I guess we will drop the coreplast and see what broke...if there was a good time for this to happen, this is the week...setting steel on the job so plenty of material and certified welders to put it back to better than new...

Thanks to all who contributed...

Regards