# Water System



## bluedvl11 (Mar 18, 2010)

Hi all,

This is my first post and I want to say thanks in advance because this seems like a really helpful community from what I have seen on the forum so far. I bought my brothers 05 Outback 26RS for a steal in November and lived in it for a month on our hunting property down in GA. Now I'm dewinterized and ready to take it out on my first solo voyage. My question has to do with the water system. First I found out that when I turned my pump on water cam out of the city inlet, which I quickly found on this forum to be a check valve problem. Thing is when I opened it up there was no check valve, then I noticed the valve laying next to the pump on the floor, but no spring? I called my bro and he said he had never been in there or made any changes, could this had happened at the dealership or do you think my brother did some drunk modding or something? Either way I had it plugged from the outside and everything worked fine, so is it really worth it to get a new check valve or is just leaving it plugged OK? I will be using the fresh water tank most of the time anyway. Next question is why do I have to turn my pump on to get the low point drains to pump out water? This doesn't make much sense to me, but then again, this is my first camper. Just trying to make sense of things.

Also I found that my water heater didnt work on electric, so I checked under the cover on the inside of the camper and was surprised to see all the wires to the relay melted together and burnt up, one of the wire nuts even exploded in half and had burn marks on it. I talked to a nice man at Atwood and he put a new relay in the mail free of charge, but I'm worried to why this happened at all? Any clue, should I just monitor it after installing the new one and hope I dont burn my new Outback to the ground?

Thanks for any input!


----------



## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

I have broken a few check valves when winterizing and not thinking to turn the pump off befor i open the valve to let antifreeze into the city water connection. But why yours would be on the floor sounds wierd to me. It would have to be physically removed. But in any event I would replace it, as they do not cost that much and are not hard to put in. As for the water heater, I am not an electrical expert but it may be a faulty heating element. But that would be just a guess. As far as the low point drain, you shouldn't have to use the pump to get water out. If you drain the water lines before winterizing through the faucet then very little water comes out anyway.


----------



## BritsOnTour (Sep 15, 2006)

Water heater may have been left on with no water in the tank...just an idea. Have you take the element out to see what state that is in??


----------



## Nathan (Jan 2, 2007)

Make sure you have a faucet open when you open your low point drains. You have to allow air to get into the system somehow.

As for the check valve, there's not reason you have to replace it, but it migh tbe convienent. I'll avoid getting into a family dispute and say don't worry why the check valve was removed.


----------



## bluedvl11 (Mar 18, 2010)

Thanks guys. It makes since you have to have a faucet open for the low point to drain, I wasn't doing that!

I think I'll just stick with the plug on the city inlet for now.

I havent pulled out the element, where is it located?


----------



## battalionchief3 (Jun 27, 2006)

The element is located at the bottom of the tank. They are usually not in a good spot to be removed depending on your model. It looks like a large nut with a couple of wires coming out of it. Now you can take an ohm meter and test the 2 contacts for resistance. If their is resistance it should be good if it reads open then it is burned up. I would test it with an ohm meter first before trying to get that thing out. Good luck and keep us posted.


----------



## BritsOnTour (Sep 15, 2006)

Yep the ohms test will let you know if it still good. I did replace mind, had to move the gas assembly a little to get to it. Mine was behind a plastic cover on the bottom of the tank and was removed using a standard electric element wrench that I got from Home Depot for I think $6. Was also able to use a standard short element from Home Depot as the replacement as well I think that was about $8 instead of the $27 from the RV store!!! Just check the length and wattage. The scary thing was how much crap was at the bottom of the tank which I think is the reason ours burnt out. I know take out the drain plug on a monthly basis ( we are living full time in the trailer right now! ) to flush out all the build up.....
Hope this helps...
Dave


----------



## bluedvl11 (Mar 18, 2010)

Thanks again, I'll test the element next week after I get back from my trip this weekend, since I dont have the new relay yet anyway.

On another note I tried opening up faucets to drain from the low point and still nothing....I have to use the water pump to get it to drain. Anyone have any idea why this is?


----------

