1991 Excella 34ft - Service manual

[jokila]

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of this? Airstream does not have this available.

I am particularly looking for the water distribution diagram as the PO disconnected the water pump when he hooked up permanently to city water. Some parts are missing or broken so I cannot tell where things go.

[HowieE]

I have one but it is 2 1/2 in thick.
I will look at the plumbing diagram and if it shows any useful info, which I doubt it will, I will send you a copy.

No luck. There are diagrams for sewer and gas routing but nothing for water.

All you need to do is have a line from the freshwater tank, I assume that should still be there, mount the pump and tee in the output of the pump to the any cold water line. Most likely you will find a capped off pipe under the closet floor where the pump was originally.

The pump originally was controlled by 2 switches wired in the common 2 switch configuration. One in the bath room and one on the control panel. Again you should be able to find a single wire under the closet floor that feed the pump. I doubt he bothered to remove the suction line for the tank or the wiring, other than to cap them off.

[jokila]

Thank you for looking.

Part of the problem for me is I am new to the Airstream so I haven't got a total understanding where all the tubing goes.

The attached pics shows the inlet and outlet sides of the water pump. I think on one side there is a strainer inline so I am guessing that is the inlet?

The third pic shows something i found nearby. It shows a sensor of some type that is seems to need to be attached to the water line. It's capped off on one side and has a broken elbow on the other. I am pretty sure it wasn't capped off before the PO was involved.

[HowieE]

It looks like the pump is connected on the input side and the out put side. The red wires on the pump are the limit switch. If power is connected to the wire that does not go into the motor the pump will work.

The tubing and switch on the wheel well is the Auto Fill system. If that get reconnected to the cold water line after the pump it is used to fill the fresh water tank while attached to city water.

[jokila]

The water pump is powered and works from the pump switch on the stove fan. How does the autofill work? I assume the water flow to the tank goes through the switch where it currently is capped?

Is there no check valve on the tubing to keep the city water pressure from damaging the pump?

[HowieE]

There is a switch on the stove hood marked Auto Fill and a light to show when it is on. If turned on while using city water it will open a solenoid, the one you see in the piping that is note connected in your pictures, and add water to the tank. You have to watch this as there is no automatic turn off and you can over fill the tank and water will come out of the fill port on the side of the trailer. Auto fill will not work while the pump is in the run position. Just a safety feature. I generally set my I Phone timer for 10 minutes and that will add just over a 1/4 tank.

The pump is not effected by city water pressure because it is a multi diaphragm system and acts as it's own check valve.

[Chaplain Kent]

HoweI gave you the exact directions for installing a new pump, you have the correct location in the photo. I would suggest that before you install take advantage of that open area and remove the carpet. This old stuff gets wet and never dries, starts to smell and mold. You will not be able to get to all of it since it is also under the cabinets but you can get a good deal of it up.

[Tampatomgirl]

Mine developed a leak & destroyed the subfloor. I'm in the process of replacing the floor. No small feat. I wouldn't wish this on anyone! Once I've completed the job & prior to installing the new pump, i plan to line the entire closet floor with pond liner. If it ever leaks again, it won't destroy the subfloor. Just a word of caution for ya. It's a disaster ��

[HowieE]

One should get in the habit of using the pump regularly when finished camping. Turn the pump on till it reaches pressure then turn it off. Leave it overnight in the charged condition. In the morning turn the pump on again. If it runs for more than a second or 2 you have a leak. A very short run may just be temperature changes but a longer one indicate a leak.

My daughter never used her fresh water tank, her husbands choice, and we never discovered that there was a leak from the factory and the front of the trailer had rotted away.

[jokila]

Thanks for all the replies. I was able to reconnect the plumbing correctly. Unfortunately, I have a leak in the tank so I will now have to deal with that.

As for the autofill connection, the pipe thread size is 1/8 not 1/4 on the switch. I was able to find a fitting 1/8 male pipe to 3/8 barb connector. This seems the max size hose you can run.

I do have a question about what the unconnected part of the tank goes to. Refer to the pic. It's the grey hose barb connection. What does this connection go to?

Another thing that might be related to this part is if I look down below this area to the left I see tubes going through a rubber grommet to outside of the trailer. One of them is completely missing and a hole the size of a half dollar is exposing the ground below. I stuffed steel wool to plug it up for now as I see lots of evidence of mouse infestation in this area.

[HowieE]

It is hard to tell much from the pictures. One would need to see sequential pictures to follow where each line goes.

There should be a line coming from th tank to the pump. I have to assume that is there or you would not have water supplied by the pump. that. The auto fill piping will have one end tapped into that line before the filter. The other end, the supply side will tap into the output side of the pump. This is the pressurized side of the system and will see city pressure when you are connected to city water. That is all there is to auto fill.

As for the piping that goes down through the floor and outside there should be 2 drain lines with 1/4 turn valve in them to drain the system. Don't worry about them if you blow the system down when winterizing. They are a pain in the butt to get to and the risk of breaking them exceeds their usefulness.

The green and white plastic tubing is from the fill port on the side of the trailer to the fresh water tank. There should be a small tube from the tank to the fill connection on the side of the trailer as an air vent. That may have been the barbed fitting you see just under the floor. Chech to see if it comes off the top of the tank and you should see a small hole in the upper right corner of the fill port where the air vents while you are fill the water tank

[jokila]

-The pipe to the immediate left of the green/white tube is the input to the water pump.
-The bigger pipe below the green/white tube goes to the right off picture is the output from the water pump.
-The tube below that is the incoming water from the autofill valve (capped at the moment).
-I believe the tube that goes up off picture is the cold water because the hot water is the white tube as they both go to the kitchn.

So what i want to know is what is that other non connected tube below the autofill tube. I think you are correct it is an air vent because it seems to be attached to the top of the tank as best I can tell.

I see the two drain valves. The Excella manual states there are three valves in that area.

[jokila]

Here is a pic with the items labelled.
1) Purple - what is this?
2) Red - input to water pump
3) Yellow - Output from water pump
4) Green - Autofill to solenoid
5) Teal - water lines to kitchen. white pipe is hot water.