Help, on the road water pump not pumping

[Il Bambino]

Hello
I have a 2022 20’ Caravel. Water pump has power and is running, but not pumping any water (since it doesn’t build pressure it keeps running) I’m afraid to let it run more than a couple of minutes at a time. Full FW tank. When on city water all systems okay. (No leaks)
Pump was working great when we picked up the trailer about three weeks ago.
I have checked all accessible fittings for tightness. Checked and cleaned minimal amount of debris from screen. Don’t see any water or bubbles in the filter screen “cap”,
I have researched this as best as I can, but have poor internet in the campground.
Going to dry camp the next six days…. So solving this is critical
TIA,
Jay
P.S. the owners manual states water pump is under the microwave, the pump is actually under the rear dinette (IDK if this was a 2022 change) will try and post a picture, but the suction side goes UP, back and down as far as I can tell. This makes no sense to me.
Another day I’ll post on the quality-unfortunately Airstream still doesn’t get it…..

[uncle_bob]

Hi

One embarrassing possibility is that a drain valve is just a bit open. I'm not going to tell you just how long *somebody* might have taken to spot that fact .... errr ... once upon a time

The fittings on the pump unscrew easily. You can unscrew the "output" side and cover it with your thumb (otherwise you get a flood ...).

1) put a small pan by the pump output and briefly turn on the pump. See if there is water coming out. If not, put the pipe back on.

2) unscrew the input side pipe. Water should spill out of the pipe into that pan you have handy. If not, the input pipe is blocked somehow.

3) same thing with the strainer cover. If the fresh water tank really is full, you should get water out as you unscrew it.

4) Next up is making sure the fresh water tank is indeed full

Somewhere along in there you should spot a problem.

Bob

[CRH]

Make sure the o ring is in the clear cap on the strainer. Without it, the pump will suck air. If the oring is in place, the next thing I find that works is to prime the pump by pouring some water in the strainer. That might be difficult with yours mounted sideways.

I assume you are opening a faucet while turning the pump on. That will let the trapped air out. I would open a couple of faucets and flip the pump switch off and on a few times...Works for me anyway.

[Foiled Again]

Wild, perhaps futile hope. check the filler cap on the white tank. I don't know of any reason that the pump would be affected by whether it is open or closed except that air has to enter the tank as water flows out.... so if the vent that let's air out while you are refilling is blocked, could the pump be sucking against a vacuum? Run the pump after opening the cap just to test.
AMAZON. Get a new pump and replace. I guarantee your current one is located where a midget contortionist can easily replace it. You will be glad of a spare.
Slim chance. Something in the white tank is blocking the water flow to the pump. Construction debris? Pull the pump and test OR unhook the supply side of the pump and hook up a hose with a (water thief or just a screw on clamp) turn on the pump and the water to the hose and if the pump does not prevent a mess, the pump has gone bad. IF the pump does work, it is time to check the pipes from the tank to the pump, then drain the tank. A particularly vicious "prank" I heard of in my youth was to put a marble into someone's gas tank.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

One embarrassing possibility is that a drain valve is just a bit open. I'm not going to tell you just how long *somebody* might have taken to spot that fact .... errr ... once upon a time

Bob

OMG, and the full white tank is now empty! Troubleshooting 101 - look for the simplest/dumbest problem. Only happens to "someone" who is meticulous about sanitizing!

[PatLee]

It looks like your water pump is easily accessed - lucky you! If you're on the road and don't want this to interrupt travels, just get it replaced. Oftentimes, a campground (KOAs especially) have Mobile RV services they contract with for their campers to get repairs on the road. Before its replaced, examine the pump. I had one once that didn't work simply because a piece of hard plastic was in its innards.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

OMG, and the full white tank is now empty! Troubleshooting 101 - look for the simplest/dumbest problem. Only happens to "someone" who is meticulous about sanitizing!

Hi

In our case it was "why is it taking so long to fill this tank? we've been putting water in it for an hour .... "

Valve got left open after winterizing the trailer.

Bob

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Il Bambino

Hello
I have a 2022 20’ Caravel. Water pump has power and is running, but not pumping any water (since it doesn’t build pressure it keeps running) I’m afraid to let it run more than a couple of minutes at a time. Full FW tank. When on city water all systems okay. (No leaks)
Pump was working great when we picked up the trailer about three weeks ago.
I have checked all accessible fittings for tightness. Checked and cleaned minimal amount of debris from screen. Don’t see any water or bubbles in the filter screen “cap”,
I have researched this as best as I can, but have poor internet in the campground.
Going to dry camp the next six days…. So solving this is critical
TIA,
Jay
P.S. the owners manual states water pump is under the microwave, the pump is actually under the rear dinette (IDK if this was a 2022 change) will try and post a picture, but the suction side goes UP, back and down as far as I can tell. This makes no sense to me.
Another day I’ll post on the quality-unfortunately Airstream still doesn’t get it…..

Is that the way all new WP's are mounted?
Our pump has all lines on the floor, even with the pump.
I can see the configuration causing an air lock...rong?

Bob
🇺🇸

[Belegedhel]

Hmmm, yeah, as I look at that picture in the first post, it is hard to tell if water is filling the filter and clear line from the tank, or if they are completely empty. It does seem a weird way to install a pump, having to overcome a "hill" like that to get the water moving.

Anyway, if these lines are full of air, it may be because the pump isn't creating enough vacuum, or it could be that it just needs to be primed.

Another thing to try is just to remove the cover that hides the diaphragm, and rinse that whole section out thoroughly. If you managed to suck some debris into the pump, it might not be sealing enough to create a vacuum. Typically, this also results in the city water pushing through the pump and overfilling the FW tank. Have you noticed water gushing out of your overfill lines while running on city water?

Don't be in too much of a hurry to just replace the pump. There are plenty of other things to confirm (as stated above) before condemning the pump.

good luck!

[Wazbro]

It looks like you have a valve for switching from the tank to a hose to put into a jug of antifreeze for winterizing. Check to make sure that valve is in the correct direction. If it is right you can switch it to the hose and try pumping from a jug of water.

[RivetzCarlAS]

Same issue with my 2022 international. Pump
On. No water coming out.

[John Ware]

Maybe Bambino will tell us what he found wrong with his. Did your problem just jump up out of nowhere or after an event? An add on: Old threads never die, Boxite.

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by RivetzCarlAS

Same issue with my 2022 international. Pump
On. No water coming out.

You are responding to a more-than-year-old thread.

However, these pumps have internal rubber diaphragms and check valves which can fail. Also, the output screen may be blocked. (That’s the clear-cylindrical item shown ABOVE the pump in the earlier picture….which would be better mounted horizontally on the floor.)

One of the earlier responses also mentioned ventilating the fresh water tank by opening the cap…. not a likely issue or solution since the fill is already vented with a screen inside the protective street-cover.

If the pump is running and has only lost it’s prime…perhaps some compressed air applied to that vent might get it moving again but it’s hazardous to pressurize the tank.

Any way to get public water connected to the trailer and see if the supply system will work properly? Then try turning on the pump to see if that will purge the pump?

[Fungus]

Install the spare you carry. Refurb the old pump when you get home, then make it your spare.

[GCinSC2]

Originally Posted by RivetzCarlAS

Same issue with my 2022 international. Pump

On. No water coming out.

When you turn the pump on and open a faucet does the pump make noise like it’s running?

[Il Bambino]

Originally Posted by John Ware

Maybe Bambino will tell us what he found wrong with his. Did your problem just jump up out of nowhere or after an event? An add on: Old threads never die, Boxite.

Hi all

Airstream sent a replacement pump that fixed the issue. What it didn’t fix was we had no water on the rest of the trip unless we had campsite hook ups!

In hindsight, the pump struggled when the tank got low. (Less pressure from the water tank I’m guessing)

I have since reworked the factory plumbing to remove the “hill” in the piping. Not a lot of room to work and shockingly another rats nest of sorts to work around.

I really wish this community could find someone at the MotherShip that actually cared about production quality. Many of the items would be solved if the assembly workers took just an extra minute to do it right. (ex: our refrigerator had only three screws that actually attached to the cabinet. The employee knew full well that one didn’t and instead of taking what wouldn’t have been more than 30 seconds it correct it just sent the trailer down the line)

Okay I’m done with venting and getting off of my soapbox now!

[John Ware]

Bambino, thanks for the follow up. The pump is above the tank so it has little or no head pressure and everything has to be just right for it to work which makes the problem hard to diagnose. My pump was replaced before it was a year old. Now I can concentrate on getting my hens to step up their egg production back to what it once was.

[GCinSC2]

From Darren at My RV Works basic water pump functional testing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jV48CSBl_4Q