You probably figured it out by the title, but I'm a bit of a newb to the RV world.I have a recently purchased 1996 Winnebago Brave 33' with queen bed. Over the past couple months, I've been going through all of the systems. Now that we shouldn't have any more freezing temps outside this year, I've started looking at the plumbing. I have the owners manual, and have been following the directions there, but not getting the results that I should.The previous owner told me it was winterized in the fall. Best I can tell, that is the case. The fresh water tank was mostly empty. I started by putting some water into that, and trying to get water pumping out of the faucets. So far, I've only been messing with the galley faucet. I can get hot and cold water to come out of that. The pump is never automatically turning off though.On the bottom of the RV, there is a hose coming through the floor that is cut about 3 inches below the floor. Looks like a drain tube. Any time the pump is on, water is coming out of that. According to the manual, the valves are in the correct position for use.I have 4 total valves that I've seen in the RV. One for the hot water heater bypass, and 3 total under the bed. Two under the bed are very close to each other. I think these are the pipe drain lines. One kind of on it's own, that I assume is tank drain.Can anyone help me get my water system operating correctly? Or help me figure out if this is user error or a problem with my plumbing? Sorry for the dump of information, but I'm hoping it provides some clues to my problem.Thanks!

To help first log into your favorite online photo sharing site (I use photobucket) and post some pics to help with the troubleshooting. :)

It's almost impossible to tell without a picture and just description, but water shouldn't be draining out of your RV unless you want it to. Play with the value leading up to it to see if it stops it by flipping to the other position. It's possible this valve may be broken. Your water pump will always run because it's never building pressure if it keeps draining and your water supply certainly won't last long.

If there is water being pumped out then you have a valve open. Recheck your valves and close the one for that line. After you get that problem cured, you will want to sanatize the system. There are tons of posts on how to do that, so do a little research and follow the instructions. Once that is done, fill the water tank, turn on the pump and once the HW heater tank is full, be sure it also lights off and makes hot water.

I thought pictures would end up being required. I meant to take some this morning before heading to the office, but forgot. I'll take some this afternoon, and get those posted up here.As for closing the valve attached to the drain tube, I haven't been able to determine exactly which valve that tube is attached to. I've tried putting the valves in different positions, and water seems to always come out of that tube.Is there anywhere I could look to find a plumbing schematic for my RV?

How Do I Use My Water System? 1996 Winnie Brave

14 Replies

TennTechMan
Explorer
May 13, 2013
Water issues have been sorted, mostly thanks to that schematic that was posted. As it turns out, the manual shows and describes valves with only 90 degrees of travel. The valves in my coach actually have 180 degrees of motion. Either someone broke the stops, changed them out, or the documentation is wrong. After that realization, it was just a matter of trying the different positions until I got the result I was looking for at each valve.

The only thing I lack now is firing up the hot water heater and confirming its operation.

Thanks again for all the help.
Dachristianman
Explorer
May 10, 2013
My 92 is a 27-footer, so the valves may be in different spots. Mine are accessible through my rear-most external storage compartment (which is also under my bed). The valves are next to the pump. 1 valve controls flow to drain the tank, and I can't remember what the other valve does. There is also a typical twist-style valve that allows me to isolate the tank and another that allows me to control flow to the external shower.

Let me know if you need more info and I'll try to run it to ground for you.

Tom
Dachristianman
Explorer
May 10, 2013
My 92 is a 27-footer, so the valves may be in different spots. Mine are accessible through my rear-most external storage compartment (which is also under my bed). The valves are next to the pump. 1 valve controls flow to drain the tank, and I can't remember what the other valve does. There is also a typical twist-style valve that allows me to isolate the tank and another that allows me to control flow to the external shower.

Let me know if you need more info and I'll try to run it to ground for you.

Tom
Dachristianman
Explorer
May 10, 2013
My 92 is a 27-footer, so the valves may be in different spots. Mine are accessible through my rear-most external storage compartment (which is also under my bed). The valves are next to the pump. 1 valve controls flow to drain the tank, and I can't remember what the other valve does. There is also a typical twist-style valve that allows me to isolate the tank and another that allows me to control flow to the external shower.

Let me know if you need more info and I'll try to run it to ground for you.

Tom
TennTechMan
Explorer
May 10, 2013
Dachristianman wrote:
There should be a drain valve somewhere close to the storage tank and pump. My Brave has a valve with a little ring on it that you pull up to drain the tank accessable through one of the rear storage compartments. That valve has to be pushed down in order to stop the water from draining out of that drain tube onto the ground.

Is this a different design valve from the 3 that are under the bed? Is it accessible from under the coach or inside the coach?

This sounds very promising.
TennTechMan
Explorer
May 10, 2013
Gary. wrote:
Turning on the hot water heater with no water in it is not good for it. Otherwise good luck.

Agreed. Haven't fired it up yet. So far, I've only run water through it. Once I get the water sorted, then I'll see if it actually makes the water hot.
Dachristianman
Explorer
May 10, 2013
There should be a drain valve somewhere close to the storage tank and pump. My Brave has a valve with a little ring on it that you pull up to drain the tank accessable through one of the rear storage compartments. That valve has to be pushed down in order to stop the water from draining out of that drain tube onto the ground.

Once you get the water to stop flowing, the pump should run only when the water pressure drops below a certain level. The pump tries to maintain a certain pressure inside the lines and it doesn't take much to activiate the pump.
Gary_
Explorer II
May 10, 2013
If you have not figured out the water system you probably should not have started the hot water heater. Turning on the hot water heater with no water in it is not good for it. Otherwise good luck.
TennTechMan
Explorer
May 10, 2013
Thanks for the schematic link! That is exactly what I was hoping for.
dieharder
Explorer
May 10, 2013
Here

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How Do I Use My Water System? 1996 Winnie Brave

14 Replies

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