Water pump will only pump when tank is 1/3 or more full.
I just got back from a long weekend in my TT. Water supply issue. The TT is a 2011 Bullet Premiere 19 FBPR. It has 10 3-day trips "under it's belt". IE it is just about brand new. Not much use.
The 40 gallon fresh tank is located underneath the floor, between the main chassis I-beam rails in a sealed belly. Not too easy to see of get to, but I have had it "exposed" about a year ago.
The pump and associated inlet hose and outlet hose are accessible, above the floor in a sealed cabinet. The pump inlet is about 10 inches above the fresh tank outlet directly above it.
The pump is a Flo-Jet Model 03526-144. It has the "quick connect" type of connectors. They are not threaded. There was plenty of power in the battery and I was connected to 120 VAC.
So here's the problem:
Upon arrival at the camping area I pulled up to a water spigot to fill the fresh water. The trailer was level in both planes and the tank was empty. I flushed the spigot and hose for a few minutes before filling. I filled the fresh tank via the gravity fill until it burped out the fill when I removed the hose. I know it was as full as it can get. The monitor panel registered "FULL" all 4 dots lit up.
As the weekend progressed, all was well. The monitor panel went to 3 dots, then eventually to 2 dots commensurate with water use, and gray tank indicator lights.
Then, in what seemed to be a premature, (empty tank) situation, the faucets sputtered with air and water, and sounded like it was running dry. IE it sounded like there was no "load" on the pump. Even with all faucets off, it was just spinning quietly. I opened a few faucets and still no difference. Just sputtering.
With the pump running and one faucet open, I adjusted the level of the trailer. First I raised the front about 2 inches, then lowered it back 2 inches, then lowered it 2 more. No difference. I re-leveled it. Then I did the same thing only side to side, and not quite as much. Very difficult to get two inches difference side to side. But I KNOW I got enough to shift the level of any water in the tank. Needless to say, it made no difference on the pump. It was still spinning "dry".
At this point, I added some water to the gravity feed from a nearby hose on a spigot. After 2-4 minutes, the pump "grabbed" and began to sound "under load", normal and began to pump water out the faucet, and it shut off normally when closing the faucet. At first sputtering, then after a while a reasonable smooth (normal) flow. All was well.
Not for long.
After we "used" just about the amount of water I had added, it started the sputtering and spinning dry again.
With the pump spinning dry, the trailer level, and the monitor showing 2 dots (1/4 to 1/3 tank) of fresh water, I wanted to determine if, in fact, there was any water left in the fresh tank. I decided to drain any and all water out of the fresh tank from the drain on the bottom of the tank. I measured 10.2 gallons out of the fresh tank drain. So there was DEFINITELY water in the tank.
The only guess I can make is that the pump is weak. Whether the motor portion or the pump portion I don't know. My guess is that when there is a full tank, there is more pressure on the water at the bottom of the tank (the outlet) Thus, the pump doesn't have to work quite as hard to draw the water up into the pump inlet, and subsequently on out to the the faucets. Or is this a check valve issue? Is the check valve integrated into the pump head someplace?
I'd like to fix this without having to go into the "belly of the beast" again.
Any thoughts welcome.
Thanks.
Paul.../NH
The 40 gallon fresh tank is located underneath the floor, between the main chassis I-beam rails in a sealed belly. Not too easy to see of get to, but I have had it "exposed" about a year ago.
The pump and associated inlet hose and outlet hose are accessible, above the floor in a sealed cabinet. The pump inlet is about 10 inches above the fresh tank outlet directly above it.
The pump is a Flo-Jet Model 03526-144. It has the "quick connect" type of connectors. They are not threaded. There was plenty of power in the battery and I was connected to 120 VAC.
So here's the problem:
Upon arrival at the camping area I pulled up to a water spigot to fill the fresh water. The trailer was level in both planes and the tank was empty. I flushed the spigot and hose for a few minutes before filling. I filled the fresh tank via the gravity fill until it burped out the fill when I removed the hose. I know it was as full as it can get. The monitor panel registered "FULL" all 4 dots lit up.
As the weekend progressed, all was well. The monitor panel went to 3 dots, then eventually to 2 dots commensurate with water use, and gray tank indicator lights.
Then, in what seemed to be a premature, (empty tank) situation, the faucets sputtered with air and water, and sounded like it was running dry. IE it sounded like there was no "load" on the pump. Even with all faucets off, it was just spinning quietly. I opened a few faucets and still no difference. Just sputtering.
With the pump running and one faucet open, I adjusted the level of the trailer. First I raised the front about 2 inches, then lowered it back 2 inches, then lowered it 2 more. No difference. I re-leveled it. Then I did the same thing only side to side, and not quite as much. Very difficult to get two inches difference side to side. But I KNOW I got enough to shift the level of any water in the tank. Needless to say, it made no difference on the pump. It was still spinning "dry".
At this point, I added some water to the gravity feed from a nearby hose on a spigot. After 2-4 minutes, the pump "grabbed" and began to sound "under load", normal and began to pump water out the faucet, and it shut off normally when closing the faucet. At first sputtering, then after a while a reasonable smooth (normal) flow. All was well.
Not for long.
After we "used" just about the amount of water I had added, it started the sputtering and spinning dry again.
With the pump spinning dry, the trailer level, and the monitor showing 2 dots (1/4 to 1/3 tank) of fresh water, I wanted to determine if, in fact, there was any water left in the fresh tank. I decided to drain any and all water out of the fresh tank from the drain on the bottom of the tank. I measured 10.2 gallons out of the fresh tank drain. So there was DEFINITELY water in the tank.
The only guess I can make is that the pump is weak. Whether the motor portion or the pump portion I don't know. My guess is that when there is a full tank, there is more pressure on the water at the bottom of the tank (the outlet) Thus, the pump doesn't have to work quite as hard to draw the water up into the pump inlet, and subsequently on out to the the faucets. Or is this a check valve issue? Is the check valve integrated into the pump head someplace?
I'd like to fix this without having to go into the "belly of the beast" again.
Any thoughts welcome.
Thanks.
Paul.../NH
