What a bad day!

beckybillrae · 08-17-2005, 04:36 PM

I just bought a 1976 Excella & began puttering in in this week. First, the water pump keeps blowing the fuse. Any suggestions? Second, I drilled a hole into the fresh water tank. Can it be plugged? And lastly, I got my finger stuck in a hole that I drilled while trying to find the small screw hole in the water tank!

If anyone has answers for me, it would be great.

**Janet** · 08-17-2005, 04:47 PM

Welcome to the forums... and the sometimes weird world of vintage trailer ownership.

Can't help you with the waterpump issue...
Use the search tool and search for water tank crack - you'll find a number of threads on the subject of repair.
About the finger problem - don't stick your fingers in dark holes - ever!

Anyone else have ideas about the pump?

overlander63 · 08-17-2005, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckybillrae

I just bought a 1976 Excella & began puttering in in this week. First, the water pump keeps blowing the fuse. Any suggestions? Second, I drilled a hole into the fresh water tank. Can it be plugged? And lastly, I got my finger stuck in a hole that I drilled while trying to find the small screw hole in the water tank!

If anyone has answers for me, it would be great.

Welcome to the forums!
First, is your finger still stuck, or did you get it out?
Second, about the water pump, does the pump run and then blow the fuse, or doe sit make a funny noise, and blow the fuse, or does it do nothing, and the fuse blows?
As far as the hole in the fresh water tank, there are two threads I am aware of that deal with leaking fresh water tanks, and how best to patch them.

overlander63 · 08-17-2005, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janet

Anyone else have ideas about the pump?

It sounds like the water pump has siezed, and the fuse is blowing from the overload of the stuck electric motor on the pump.

bobechs · 08-17-2005, 04:59 PM

As long as your finger is stuck in the hole, you won't need to plug it.

Blowing fuses: try running a jumper wire with an inline fuse to the pump. If the fuse still blows, the problem is in the pump, if not it's in the wiring thereto.

SafeHarbor · 08-17-2005, 05:04 PM

Hi, Becky,

Welcome to the forums! There are several 70's Excella owners here, and you'll find a WEALTH of information about just about anything having to do with Airstreams.

About the water pump, is it the original belt-drive model, or has it been replaced with a newer one without a belt? Have you tried turning the pump by hand to see if it's partly clogged up? Does it blow the fuse as soon as you hit the switch or after you've run it a while?

About the water tank, were you drilling downward, sideways, or up?

87MH · 08-17-2005, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckybillrae

I just bought a 1976 Excella & began puttering in in this week. ...If anyone has answers for me, it would be great.

Welcome to the Forum!

A couple of the requirements of ownership for a new old RV - especially during the "search and discovery" period - is a good sense of humor and copious quanties of cold adult beverages.

Stay cool, take your time, and tackle repairs in small steps -

It'll all come together in the end.

beckybillrae · 08-17-2005, 05:18 PM

The pump runs for a few minutes (and actually pumps water) before blowing the fuse attached directly to the pump. The air conditioner also blew a fuse, but it was the breaker in my house. I would think if the amount of power was the problem, the same thing would happen with the water pump.

As far as my finger....It's out. My husband had to drill holes around it & break apart the plywood. It's still a bit swollen, but quite useable!

beckybillrae · 08-17-2005, 05:20 PM

Oh, sorry I forgot to mention that the pump is the belt driven kind. I had a sur-flow in my old trailer, so I'm really not familiar with these. Heck, I can't even find the valve to drain the fresh water tank without the pump!
Becky

SafeHarbor · 08-17-2005, 05:29 PM

Hi, Becky,

You might just need to bleed the air out of the system. Does anyone know if a cavitated pump would blow a fuse? (I'd think not.) How about if the pressure switch was faulty and never turned off the pump?

Lamar

SafeHarbor · 08-17-2005, 05:42 PM

Hi, Becky,

My '79 user's guide says to use a 6 1/2 SLO-BLO fuse. I checked, and that's what I have in mine. Is your's the same?

Curiously, the previous page says that the water pump can draw up to 9.9 amps.

Lamar

desi arnaz · 08-17-2005, 10:32 PM

i can 1 up you...........i drilled through a 120 volt line last night,blew every fuse in the house.

Safari Tim · 08-18-2005, 01:28 AM

I used a pick in the garden to remove a bush, unknowingly, busting up the underground sprinkler system at the same time.

Then proceeded to flood the flower bed when I was checking my drip system I added to ONLY water the flowers

TomW · 08-18-2005, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beckybillrae

The pump runs for a few minutes (and actually pumps water) before blowing the fuse attached directly to the pump...

It sounds like the pump's pressure switch is bad. The pressure switch is used to detect water flow - Low pressure means water is flowing, High pressure means water is not. If the switch has gone bad, the pump's motor will try to spin when the pump dead-heads, and draw too much current.

The original fuse is a slow-blow to allow the motor to briefly draw too much current when the pump first starts up under normal operation. I have seen new pressure switches available for belt-driven PAR pumps for around $22.

Tom