Do ALL Rv's do this? If I leave the water pump on..

Our 2013 class c does It. Or I should say did it, the one weekend we used it. I checked for leaks and found none. I just turned off the pump if we weren't using it. I asked this question in a forum specific to my rv and another said theirs does the same thing. When I take my rv in this spring to get the free inspection, dewinterized and something else fixed, I will have them check it and see.

We never used our pump in the TT we had, so I have no way of comparing it.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
:h
It's a spring loaded check valve. You can wiggle it all you want and nothing will blow. If it's just slightly off center it will leak just a bit and cause the pump to bump.

Yes it is a spring loaded check valve but what seals it is the o-ring on the plunger that is held closed by the spring.
Wiggling it, pushing in on it etc when there is line pressure can dislodge the o-ring and instead of reseating it it now will not seal at all.

That is why it's best to open a faucet and relieve line pressure first....well second. First would be to secure water source

:h
Street water pressure will open the check valve exactly like unseating/seating it with your finger; even more so. IOW's the street pressure will open that valve and dislodge the o-ring if it's defective.

Water pressure should not unseat the o-ring. IMHO you had a defective check valve.:)

It's designed to open and allow water to flow IN and to close under spring pressure to stop water from flowing OUT.
BUT if plumbing system is pressurized and the plunger is pressed in the inside pressure will cause water to flow out which can push o-ring out of position.

Most of my RVs have made a brief thump out of the water pump occasionally when not drawing water. It could be caused by the water heater cooling off, a slight issue with a check valve, or a small leak. I've always ruled out the leak, then ignored it.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
:h
It's a spring loaded check valve. You can wiggle it all you want and nothing will blow. If it's just slightly off center it will leak just a bit and cause the pump to bump.

Yes it is a spring loaded check valve but what seals it is the o-ring on the plunger that is held closed by the spring.
Wiggling it, pushing in on it etc when there is line pressure can dislodge the o-ring and instead of reseating it it now will not seal at all.

That is why it's best to open a faucet and relieve line pressure first....well second. First would be to secure water source

x2

Do your water pump a favor and install a 1 gallon expansion tank.The pump will never wake you up in the middle of the night.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
:h
It's a spring loaded check valve. You can wiggle it all you want and nothing will blow. If it's just slightly off center it will leak just a bit and cause the pump to bump.

Yes it is a spring loaded check valve but what seals it is the o-ring on the plunger that is held closed by the spring.
Wiggling it, pushing in on it etc when there is line pressure can dislodge the o-ring and instead of reseating it it now will not seal at all.

That is why it's best to open a faucet and relieve line pressure first....well second. First would be to secure water source

:h
Street water pressure will open the check valve exactly like unseating/seating it with your finger; even more so. IOW's the street pressure will open that valve and dislodge the o-ring if it's defective.

Water pressure should not unseat the o-ring. IMHO you had a defective check valve.:)

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
:h
It's a spring loaded check valve. You can wiggle it all you want and nothing will blow. If it's just slightly off center it will leak just a bit and cause the pump to bump.

Yes it is a spring loaded check valve but what seals it is the o-ring on the plunger that is held closed by the spring.
Wiggling it, pushing in on it etc when there is line pressure can dislodge the o-ring and instead of reseating it it now will not seal at all.

That is why it's best to open a faucet and relieve line pressure first....well second. First would be to secure water source

I noticed last season that our pump would run for a instant every so often and while checking for leaks found a tiny amount of water under the toilet, The fitting on the back had loosened just enough to allow a drip out every so often and once tightened, the intermittent running stopped.

Since then I have checked all of the fittings and found several loosening up, likely due to the wash boards we go over every trip.

psford wrote:

ChopperBill wrote:
Funny, have had 5 rv's 4 of them new. Every one of them would cycle for a second every few hours. No external leaks, the pump check valve just looses a little pressure and the pump cycles. No big deal unless you make it one.

I agree ,but it seems some do not, they think we have some kind of problem that needs addressing. Seems every RV I have owned did this, had a very short cycle now ,and then. Never worried about it, and have never seen a problem.

I do not think that at all. Just expressing my experiences.

For piece of mind, a thorough inspection would be in order though.


I think I got lucky with my rig, though. We had two problems (that I did not cause) over the years.

The first was that the outside shower did not work. Dealer fixed it under warranty. Turned out that the furnace install pinched both hot and cold water feed so no water out of it.

The second was the power steering hose rubbed through on a bracket on the engine. Ford Truck dealer fixed it and Coach-Net picked up the hotel bill.

I was happy with the couple times we used coach net but decided not to renew when the comp subscription ran out. As I said I have been lucky (knock on wood) and have had few problems

Sure, I had to replace the kitchen drawer rail brackets and a few latches and the plastic vent lids and the awning fabric and tires (On the third set now) and batteries.

I have had to replace a few bulbs and the fluorescent tube fixture in the garage broke and the circuit breaker for the lift gate rotted away.

I caught the front edge of the passenger side front fender on a chain stretched over a driveway and the side molding was damaged when DW scraped the booth at the Sac Fairgrounds.

The plastic cover over the driver seat belt fell off and the screws holding the partition pulled out and the power steps got rusty and the magnetic switch for them failed and the shower valve screw came out and it exploded in my hand.

The shower head sprang a leak and I popped several fuses and breakers over the years and the bathroom fan blades disintegrated and the antenna was left up at the wrong time and the dash radio antenna fell off and we froze the water heater tank.

There has been some slight De-lamination, I took out the rear wheel well trim when a tire blew and the windows had to be re-caulked.

On the whole, though, it has been a good, reliable rig. No real engine problems, no real drive-train problems and I have always been able to get the genny started and running

A burping pump can cause early failure of the pressure switch contacts and should be corrected. The contacts will be come pitted and fail. Sure they are suppose to last 100,000 cycle!
We normally turn our pump off when not in use. Yes, our rig has multiple switch locations.