did i fry my pump?
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Topic: did i fry my pump?
Posted By: Shoes
Subject: did i fry my pump?
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2021 at 10:50pm
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as i was dewinterizing my 2016 rpod 180 for the first time today, i followed instructions from print and youtube. when it came time to drain the bleach water out of my tank, i opened the kitchen faucets and the fresh water tank drain. nothing came out so i read again and it said to run my pump. this i did for about 5 minutes. the water was coming out as it should. then the noise of the pump changed and got very quiet, the light on the panel dimmed, but water continued to flow out of the drain for another 5 minutes. i turned the pump off, refilled the tank and when i turned on the kitchen faucets to run the clean water through the system, the pump has that same quiet pathetic sound and the light on the panel is a dull glow. some water comes out through the faucets, but not much. i dont think i sucked it dry cause there was always water running out though the tank drain????
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Replies:
Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 4:27am
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Quite sure your pump is ok, they are produced to be able to pump 'dry' although that is not the intention of the pump. Most likely culprit is the screen at the faucet is plugged with crud that could have come from the HW anode rod as it breaks down over time due to various water conditions over time or some debris that was in the FW tank that finally got sucked up into the system as the pump was running.
Unscrew the cap at the end of your faucet and clean the screen. You should be good to go. If that doesn't take care of the problem there is also a plastic bowl with a screen on the water pump. Unscrew that as well (counter-clockwise) and flush the screen.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 5:21am
+1 to Jato's recommendations. Also be sure your battery is charged, the pump operates on 12V so if you discharge the battery running the pump it could behave as you are describing.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: john in idaho
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 7:32am
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When you take the anode out of the HW tank, you will be amazed at the crud that comes out with it. It is ok for it to look rather ratty with pieces missing. When the wire starts to show a lot it is time to replace it. My water source is well water and we have a lot of Calcium in the ground water. You will need a 1/1/8" socket.
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 9:18am
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in the dewinterizing procedure the only thing i couldnt do was remove the plug with the anode in it. i have the proper tools, but it was on too tight so i will leave it for a professional to break...
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 9:24am
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im super glad to hear that i couldnt fry the pump by running it dry... things like no power or a clogged sink faucet would of just been too easy. but as i thought about it, i have a theory.... i think i have about 1/3 of my tank below the pump intake. im not sure the layout and if it is physically possible, but thats what the symptoms indicate. when i was draining the tank, at about 1/3 is when the pump sound changed. and when i refilled the tank, i only filled it about 1/3 and the pump is functioning properly. so as soon as it warms up a bit ill try putting more water in. if this is the case, i need to remedy it cause i dont want to pull my trailer with the weight of unusable water...
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 11:16am
I would check the screen first, only takes a minute to unscrew and check. Although it is possible, but not too likely, you may have the pickup hose in the FW tank that has pulled out a bit or was incorrectly installed in the first place. A bit more involved but not impossible to pick up some slack and insert more of the hose so that it will draw all the water out of the FW tank.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 11:20am
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[QUOTE=Shoes]in the dewinterizing procedure the only thing i couldn't do was remove the plug with the anode in it. i have the proper tools, but it was on too tight so i will leave it for a professional to break...
Get a can of PB blaster or any other kind of penetrant, soak the exposed threads and let it sit for a day. Shouldn't be a problem to remove the anode with your 1 1/16" socket with 6" extension on a 1/2" drive ratchet.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 3:39pm
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Screen was real clean. It pumped like a champ once I put more water in it...no more sucking air or ugly sounding pp. So.... when I get somewhere suitable, I'll try readjusting the intake hose. Any more info appreciated
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 3:40pm
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Will try this too, when I get to a good location. Thanks for the tip
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Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2021 at 6:42pm
How did you determined that you had 1/3 of a tank of fresh water in the tank (when the pump started misbehaving)? Did you go out and visually check the tank (you can see the water level in the tank because the tank is an opaque plastic) or did you read what the gauges indicate? If you read the fresh water level from the gauge then that is the problem. None of the gauges are accurate, fresh water, black water, or gray water level indicators. The drain line from the fresh water tank should be on the bottom front of the tank thus allowing 98% of the water in the tank to go to the water pump. After reviewing your stated symptoms I feel that there just wasn't water in the tank. Don't rely on the gauges. Hope this helps.
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Jay
179/2019
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2021 at 10:08pm
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Wow Jay. That changes things. I'm used to Black water being inaccurate since things cause the guage to stick in the wrong place. But why would fresh water be wrong?
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2021 at 10:16pm
How I determined that there was 1/3 of a tank left when the pump started misbehaving is that water continued to come out of the drain for quite a while. Also the guage read1/3
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2021 at 10:18pm
Originally posted by Shoes
Wow Jay. That changes things. I'm used to Black water being inaccurate since things cause the gauge to stick in the wrong place. But why would fresh water be wrong? |
Mineral build-up? Trailer not level? On our 179, I notice it starting to pull air when it gets down to 1/3. Part of the problem is also in the electrode placement. The tank is not that deep, so the electrodes are placed relatively close together.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...
http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
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Posted By: offgrid
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 3:56am
Just run the pump till it begins to suck air Turn it off. Then look at the fresh water tank where the hose suction line is attached. Ignore the little lights.
Is the pump suction line at the water line? If so you have identified the problem, which is that your lights don't give you a proper indication, at least not with the trailer in it's current position. The solution is to continue to ignore the lights and just eyeball the tank level in future.
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1994 Chinook Concourse
1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft
2015 Rpod 179 - sold
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 5:49am
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+1 to offgrid. For the first 9 years of owning our 177 the only idiot light I could depend on was the FW tank level, the gray and black water indicators were funky after the first year. However, into our 10th year of ownership I ran out of water yet the gauge showed 1/3 full. Proceeded to open the FW tank drain to see how much water was actually in the tank - none came out - yet the gauge showed 1/3 full. So in our cause StephenH assessment of mineral build up may have been a factor - our 177 has only ever had well water in the tank and has only been hooked up to the other water supply line once to see if it functioned properly, which it did.
So, in your case, open the FW tank drain and leave off until all water is out. You will note a gallon or so that is still inside since the drain is not at the bottom of the tank. By either parking on a side of a hill or jacking up the non drain side you can evacuate all the water out. Then check to idiot light to see if it indeed reads "E", that will let you know if it is trustworthy or not.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 8:10am
Also, when the trailer is level, look through the tank at the water line and see where it is in relationship to the supply line and to the gauge electrodes. I have not bothered to do that. I just know from experience that the gauges are not reliable. If you want something more reliable, you would need to go with something like the https://www.garnetinstruments.com/rv-shop/products/ - SeeLeveL by Garnet . It uses external sensors and reads through the tank wall so the sensors do not get fouled.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...
http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 12:35pm
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So my pump is not clear or opaque it is black. Therefore I can't tell where anything is inside of it. How could I tell if the pump suction line is where it's supposed to be? Telling how much water I have by looking at the tank isn't going to work for me. Other options?
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 12:39pm
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When I open the fresh water tank drain no water came out even though I had filled it all the way. So I turn the pump on and water came out of the tank drain until it read a third. At that point the pump sounded bad but water kept coming out so I kept running it. I think the pump was out of the water and it was draining naturally at that point although why it didn't drain naturally in the beginning is beyond me
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 12:41pm
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And yes when the water stopped running out of the tank drain the tank lights read E
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Posted By: JR
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 12:53pm
Can you locate all 3 of the holding tanks on your trailer? There should be 2 black tanks, one being the black water tank which has a large drain line which should be a 3" line with a knife valve at the edge of the trailer and the other black tank should be the gray water tank with a 1.5" knife valve at the edge of the trailer / drain line. The last tank under the trailer should be opaque and have a 3/4" drain plug on the bottom of the tank with a 1/2" hose connected to the front of the tank and this tank would be the fresh water tank. The fresh water pump is mostly black but the impeller should be located in a clear plastic housing where the fresh water will be pumped through. Hope this helps clear some things up for you.
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Jay
179/2019
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Posted By: Tars Tarkas
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 12:56pm
Originally posted by Shoes
So my pump is not clear or opaque it is black. Therefore I can't tell where anything is inside of it. How could I tell if the pump suction line is where it's supposed to be? Telling how much water I have by looking at the tank isn't going to work for me. Other options? |
Looking a the pump isn't going to help and if you are looking at the fresh water tank and you think it's black, I think there's a very good chance you're looking at the wrong tank.
TT
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2010 176
FJ Cruiser
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Posted By: StephenH
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 2:17pm
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+1 The fresh water tank is going to be translucent white in color. Black is the color of the waste and grey water tanks. As to why it might not be draining, there might have been the rubber washer from the cap stuck in there. It could also be that there was a partial vacuum in th etank. Opening a sink valve usually will break that vacuum and allow water to flow.
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StephenH
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,...
http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7712 - ouR escaPOD mods
Former RPod 179
Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS
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Posted By: jato
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 4:02pm
+2 Also if the drain plug was removed and nothing came out and you still see a fair amount of water in the tank that would indicate something blocking the drain line. Simply take a regular screwdriver and insert it up the 1/2" drain pipe opening to remove/dislodge whatever is blocking it.
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God's pod
'11 model 177
'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
Jim and Diane by beautiful Torch Lake
"...and you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free."
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 5:25pm
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Yes 3 tanks. Two of them are part of the waste disposal system-gray and black.in the front of the 2016 180 is the fresh or potable water. Painted black
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Posted By: Shoes
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2021 at 5:30pm
The original posting should have said my tank is black, not my pump black.
My next solution to the dilemma will be to try to measure how much water it takes to bring my tank to full. Might be difficult since I am depending on purchasing water and I don't know if they have a meter or want to wait for me to measure....
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