Pre-departure water pressure shutoff

[RMNummi]

Question: you shut off the water pump as part of your pre-departure checklist. Is the system still pressurized? Should I be opening faucets to drain residual pressure? Depressing toilet flush? Dang faucet on my 20 GT 25FBT has turned itself on twice now w sink cover on. Residual water pressure clearly present (and now on floor). Is this just a noob mistake?

[CBWELL]

Pre departure list, turn off pump, flush toilet, open kitchen faucet, replace sink covers, check fridge door, and get a bottle of water for the road! Plus all the other things that need to get done!

[nelsonh]

Essentially, yes, there is still residual pressure in the water lines after you turn off the pump. And yep you can release it by opening the faucets & toilet. So I [try to remember to] open the shower, lav, and kitchen faucets & press the toilet foot pedal briefly before departure to purge the residual water/pressure.

Is this residual pressure in the water lines harmful to "the system" if you don't release it? IMO, not really. But like you say, you can run the risk of a little water coming out during travel if a faucet should open itself. I put rubber bands on the kitchen & lav faucets as a [probably unneeded] precaution, and we never travel with the kitchen sink cover in place since we use the sink as a storage bin for miscellaneous kitchen items while in transit.

[Mollysdad]

Not only departure, but my pump stays off unless I'm actually using it. Same with the water heater.

[nelsonh]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

Not only departure, but my pump stays off unless I'm actually using it. Same with the water heater.

Agreed! We turn off the pump any time we're going to be away from the rig for more than a half hour. We do leave in on overnight when we're inside because we always have at least 1 toilet flush overnight.....

[uncle_bob]

Hi

If you *don't* turn off the pump at departure there can be an issue:

You bump down the road.

The faucet handle flips up.

The stopper in the sink flips down.

You are greeted by a wall of water when you open the trailer door at the next stop.

If the stopper does not flop down, it's a race between the fresh water tank and the gray water tank to see if you get that wall of water.

Pump off very much *should* be on the departure checklist. Depressurize the lines? Not sure that has much value.

Bob

[Hoagie]

In over 40 years of RVing I have never once experienced a faucet "flipping up" or otherwise turning on while underway. Not saying it can't happen and it is probably a good thing to be aware of. Maybe we've been lucky.

We also store things in the sink while underway so the cover are not in place. In fact, it rarely comes out of storage. Only if we are entertaining inside, itself very rare, and we need the extra counter space.

The only time our pump is left on is overnight and that is rare because we camp primarily with full hookups. It is always turned off when towing.

[richard5933]

Originally Posted by Hoagie

In over 40 years of RVing I have never once experienced a faucet "flipping up" or otherwise turning on while underway. Not saying it can't happen and it is probably a good thing to be aware of. Maybe we've been lucky.

We also store things in the sink while underway so the cover are not in place. In fact, it rarely comes out of storage. Only if we are entertaining inside, itself very rare, and we need the extra counter space.

The only time our pump is left on is overnight and that is rare because we camp primarily with full hookups. It is always turned off when towing.

A faucet turning on or not depends on the brand/model/etc. I've had the kitchen sink turn on once while traveling.


Whether or not to relieve the pressure? Probably a good idea as enough water can come from a faucet with the pump off to cause a mess. But not enough to cause a catastrophe, so no biggie either way.

[BigAl]

If you do relieve the pressure before travel you lose that much water. Could be an issue. Maybe not.

[Keys Dave]

I'm from the boating world and we always shut off the shore water when you leave the boat for any period of time. A broken water line can sink the boat. As for the pump, under way we often shut it off just because you can't hear it running over the engine noise. Also if no one is using water and the pump starts when you switch it back on you might have a leak in a line somewhere.