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1985 Bounder · 07-20-2014, 02:51 PM

I just got home from my first trip out and was glad all things went reasonably well. We made a list of things we needed to make the next trip better and also now know those things we don't need. The water heater gave me problems but after getting home I have rectified the problem. I do have an issue now that I can not solve. I had an issue when I first got the RV getting the water pump working. After some help on here I got it all bled out and it worked just fine. Anytime I turned the pump on I had water and the pump would only run when a faucet was opened. While camping this past week we used the city water hookup. There were no valves to turn we just hooked up and had water on demand. Now that it's back home I turn on the water pump and it runs but will not prime up. I went through all the steps I went through before but still no water. Anyone have any ideas?

kustom · 07-20-2014, 02:58 PM

your city water bypasses your water tank . so you might not have any water
in your tank

1985 Bounder · 07-20-2014, 03:31 PM

Filled it up when I got home.

dvmweb · 07-20-2014, 04:47 PM

Think basic and, like an algorythm. Make sure you don't have an air leak that breaks prime before the pump. This happened to me once. And, of course is there water in the tank? Could happen! Is the water inlet much below the pump? If so, do you have flow out of the tank outlet? Or, can you tell if the pump is pulling? Maybe disconnect the pump intake and add a hose to put in a bucket of water. Even take the pump out and bench test it. If the pump is okay then you could have a clogged outlet hose or bad valve after the pump.

Good luck!

2013 FleetWood Expedition 38B

**CLIFFTALL** · 07-20-2014, 04:53 PM

You said there were no valves to turn. On my Bounder there was a city water valve to turn when I hooked up to city water. If I didn't return the valve to tank when I was done , the pump would run as yours does and not pump any water.

Timay · 07-20-2014, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clifftall

You said there were no valves to turn. On my Bounder there was a city water valve to turn when I hooked up to city water. If I didn't return the valve to tank when I was done , the pump would run as yours does and not pump any water.

Me too...

Gordon Dewald · 07-20-2014, 04:58 PM

Did you open a tap with the pump running? If there is air by the pump it cannot pick up water if there is pressure in the line to the taps.

I had a similar issue and found that with the pump running I opened a tap. Air/water would spurt out and all of a sudden the pump would pick up the water from the tank and viola!

1985 Bounder · 07-20-2014, 07:32 PM

I disconnected the inlet of the pump and hooked a clear hose up to it and into a bucket. The pump would not draw water up out of the bucket. I force fed some water into the pump until it began to suck the water threw. I put the hose in the bucket and went inside an was getting water out the faucets, all were wide open. I ran the whole 5 gallons threw and then turned off the pump. It would hold the water in the line when it was turned off telling me that there was no air leaks in the pump portion. I re-attached the inlet line and turned the pump on and waited. No water. In the tank cabinet I went to check on all the tubing. I found the outlet fitting loose so I tightened it up and re-attached the hard pipe tubing. On went the pump and I waited. No water. I thought maybe I dried it out so I undid the inlet and had to force feed the pump to begin suction then ran another 5 gallons through. Re-attached the hard piping and turn on the pump and wait. No water. I then took the vent hose loose and blew air into the tank to force feed the pump. It finally primed and seems to work fine. I am going to let it sit overnight and see how it is in the morning. If it works I will assume, a dangerous word, that the pump is weak and will not pull enough vacuum to pull the water up from the tank. A new pump or a good rebuild should solve that issue. I did find some issues but am still confused. In the pump compartment there are three valves. An "A" valve, a "B" valve and a valve for the water heater bypass for winterization. The "B" valve has a note on the wall that it is to be closed when on city water except to fill the fresh water tank. The "A" valve would shutoff water from the pump to the cabin. Should I close that valve when on city water? I'm not sure how the city water is piped into the system. All I do is hook the hose up and turn on the water and it's on city water. Unhook the hose and no water. I don't do anything in the city water/electric compartment when hooking up. No switches or levers. What lets the water into the system and keeps the water from running out when not hooked up? Is there some sort of one way valve?