Community Forums

Tpflyer · 05-03-2020, 03:48 PM

Happened to me. I filled the fresh water tank for the first time. Pump was left on and while driving down the road my half bath faucet bounced on. It filled the gray tank and then pumped itself nearly dry before water made it to the front of the coach to our shock.
Pulled over and the basement was soaked. Took about 4 days to dry out.

The lessons learned. Never travel with the pump on and never travel with the fresh water tank full unless you will be boondocking.

Molly21 · 05-03-2020, 03:54 PM

I used to leave the pump on while traveling until on a trip the hand shower head fell out of the holder and as it did it nudged the valve to a low flow in the shower. So, as we were going down the road the pump drained the fresh water tank and filled the gray water tank. Not a big problem but some inconvenience. Now I turn the pump off while traveling.

rarebear.nm · 05-03-2020, 03:58 PM

We turn our water pump off when gone or driving. But, we do have a two gallon pressure tank installed on the cold water system. If it is full when we leave, then that's probably enough water to last all day driving or all night for night time needs. If the pressure tank runs dry, I'll flip on the pump for about 30 seconds and refill it then turn it off again. At worst I can get a two gallon spill.

I like the pressure tank mostly for not hearing the pump run every time you need a little water.

Rocknll · 05-03-2020, 04:15 PM

We had something fall on a sink handle in bath and Turned it on. Almost emptied the fresh water and over flowed grey tank. We turn it off.

Mile Marker 42 · 05-03-2020, 04:20 PM

Those of us that know our coaches inside and out, would know of a leak. For those of you not in that group. Always turnoff switch when not using it.

Billhawk · 05-03-2020, 04:24 PM

I got in the habit of only turning on the pump when needed. It started in 2007 when I was staying in my TT all week at a remote job site. The 1978 TT would not hold the pressure in the system and the pump would run a few seconds every 20 minutes or so. It would wake me all night long. Our new coach (1990 DP) holds pressure but I still leave it off until needed.

BikesAndGuns · 05-03-2020, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arch Hoagland

Pulled into a gas station with a travel trailer years ago and saw water running out of the RV.

Discovered that a bar of soap fell out of the soap tray in the shower and hit the water handle. It ran the tank dry.

To this day we NEVER leave the water pump on when moving.

This is a bit off-topic, but your story reminded me of something that happened to us. We have a second bathroom back in the garage of our toy hauler. I had to put an adjustable child gate up on the edge of the tub because the cats learned they could turn on the water, lol! So, it's not just the soap you have to watch out for.

dreyno16 · 05-03-2020, 04:28 PM

No. But it can’t pump if it’s not on. That’s why a water pump switch in the WC is such a nice feature.

rcnuts · 05-03-2020, 04:34 PM

I dont want to sound disrespectful here but............to me the answer is a no brainer. leave the pump OFF while traveling. As someone else stated on this thread you won't have a problem- unless you do. It makes no sense at all to risk the potential damage if a leak occurs. Water infiltration in a camper can cause a lot of damage VERY quickly. All the years we've been camping we never leave the water pump on while traveling.

SteveW123 · 05-03-2020, 04:52 PM

We always travel with the pump off, just for the reason if a leak does occur we won’t pump water all over. We rarely travel with more than 25 gallons of water on board as well.

cocolaboy · 05-03-2020, 04:53 PM

always turn ice maker off too

slackercrust · 05-03-2020, 05:08 PM

Have truck camper. Holds about 15 gal of water. Always boondocking. Can't afford to lose a drop. Water off unless needed.

NSCRCRZY · 05-03-2020, 05:24 PM

We don't travel with the water pump on. Fridge has an-ice maker which is more of a pain- we never use it. We have a portable ice maker that is pretty compact and makes ice quickly that we use.

d.mark · 05-03-2020, 05:58 PM

Put an RO accumulator bladder inline with the plumbing just after the smaller ShurFlo accumulator. The smaller ShurFlo evens out pulses from the pump, and must be directly on the outlet of the pump. The larger one has a ~3 gallon capacity, so the pump runs a few times a day. You can also turn the pump off, and have a few gallons of pressurized water. A possible downside is, pump off, a leak will leak 2-3 gallons. The upside is it won't continue to leak.

The larger accumulator has exactly the opposite pre-charging instructions as the Shurflo. One wants you to have water in the system, one wants no water. Pay attention. Pre-charging is when you add air with a bicycle tire pump.

The larger accumulator can be installed anywhere along the cold water line, if space is an issue where your pump is.

Lastly, install it with a ball-valve on top. This way if you need to do maintenance, you can turn off the large accumulator, do your maintenance/plumbing, and turn it back on. This conserves water, and you can use the pressure from the accumulator to test your line.