# Water Pump Problems



## NAturedog2 (Jan 29, 2007)

my water pump runs for a long period of time after turning the faucet on for only a few seconds. it still seems to be working as I have pressure but don't know if there is a sensor that can be replaced or if the whole pump needs to be replaced and if so what model did people who have changed it used and where did they get it...


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## luverofpeanuts (Mar 9, 2010)

NAturedog2 said:


> my water pump runs for a long period of time after turning the faucet on for only a few seconds. it still seems to be working as I have pressure but don't know if there is a sensor


Yikes... the fact that it turns off seems to be something that would lean me toward your same suspicion, that it's just not calibrated right. Does the water really spurt out when you turn a faucet on...more than is "normal". It doesn't come on from time to time, without something being turned on, does it?

I'm interested to know if there is an adjustment that can be made to the pump as well.


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## CamperAndy (Aug 26, 2004)

There is a discharge pressure switch but with the symptoms I would lean towards some debris in the system. The discharge pressure switch is located on the end of the pump.


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## Dan Borer (Feb 6, 2009)

You may have some air trapped somewhere in the water system. Mine did the same thing and it was caused by a very slight leak at a plug on the side of the water heater that would drip once or twice a day. Over a long storage period the water heater would lose some water and have air trapped in it. I found this out when I heard a sloshing noise from the water heater area. The air would compress and once it built up enough pressure the pump would finally shut off. I finally fixed this by running each hot faucet and waited for the blast of air to come out of it. Once it came out of one, I'd open up the next one and then the next one. It took several times for all of the air to be completely expelled. Think of this as if you had a spongy brake pedal on your car and had to bleed the brake system. Another clue to this being the situation is if your pump does not start up right away when you turn on water somewhere. The compressed air in the system acts like an accumulator and the pressurized lines will force out water for a time until the pressure drops enough to start the pump.


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## luverofpeanuts (Mar 9, 2010)

Dan Borer said:


> . Over a long storage period the water heater would lose some water and have air trapped in it. I found this out when I heard a sloshing noise from the water heater area.


I thought the water heaters generally were designed to have a pocket of air trapped in them. This air pocket is essentially a buffer for water expansion during heating cycles. And in fact, it occasionally had to be 'reset' because over repeated heat cycles, the air pocket could diminish and result in heavy weeping from the water pressure relief valve during heat cycles.

I just finally sold my old camper, and the water pressure relief valve had become defective and would stream water out once the heat cycle started.....so much so, that if I started the water heater... I'd get no water from the hot water taps at all because it would just flow out. Only when completely cold did it not. As it so happens, the husband half of the new owners is a plumber...and seemed not alarmed at all by having to replace that, so we made that part of the deal. ;-)


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## NAturedog2 (Jan 29, 2007)

Dan Borer said:


> You may have some air trapped somewhere in the water system. Mine did the same thing and it was caused by a very slight leak at a plug on the side of the water heater that would drip once or twice a day. Over a long storage period the water heater would lose some water and have air trapped in it. I found this out when I heard a sloshing noise from the water heater area. The air would compress and once it built up enough pressure the pump would finally shut off. I finally fixed this by running each hot faucet and waited for the blast of air to come out of it. Once it came out of one, I'd open up the next one and then the next one. It took several times for all of the air to be completely expelled. Think of this as if you had a spongy brake pedal on your car and had to bleed the brake system. Another clue to this being the situation is if your pump does not start up right away when you turn on water somewhere. The compressed air in the system acts like an accumulator and the pressurized lines will force out water for a time until the pressure drops enough to start the pump.


i will try using the hot water faucets and doing like you said. this could very well be hte problem as I didn't use the hot water at all this trip.. we were camping iin some friends driveway at their lake house and just had water for the bathroom and brushing our teeth at night. could be a lot of air in the hot water side

Russ


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## Howier (Apr 26, 2009)

Vacuum leak before the pump. Sucking air. Gets into the pump and wont shut off. Cant build enough pressure.

Howie


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