Water Pump Lost Suction??

[Norm___Deb]

I've always winterized my water system using a "T" valve that lets me pump RV antifreeze direct into my water system from the antifreeze bottle and I have never had any problems doing it this way, However, today I started to winterize and I first checked if the water pump would pull water from the on board water tank. It did. I then changed the "T" switch and it pulled about a gallon of pink RV stuff into the line. As that gallon was running out, I then switched to another bottle and the pump would not pull any more fluid. The pump is still running and vibrating and sounds normal. After several tries, I changed the "T" switch back to the on board water tank, just to see if the pump would pull water from there. It would not! I believe that I have been told that these pumps can "loose" their prime and stop pumping, like mine is doing. Is this true, and if so what steps should I take to make mine re-prime itself. I have a standard SureFlo pump.

[Norm___Deb]

Situation fixed! I took a mouthful of water and blew it into the RV Antifreeze tube while the water pump was on and a faucet was open, and then quickly re-inserted the pickup line back into the RV antifreeze bottle. This must have caused the pump to re-prime and the pump start sucking the antifreeze into the water lines. I finished winterizing with no further trouble. Thanks so much for all your suggestions.

[Jagtech]

Also check the filter/strainer on the pump inlet isn't plugged. I always remove it when I winterize, so I'm not drawing antifreeze through ti.

[camp-n-family]

Just air locked. Open a sink or shower tap and it should start to flow again. Mine does that every trip when I first fill the tanks and use the pump. Pump runs and won't stop, even with taps closed. I open a tap to let the air out of the lines and the water starts flowing. Only then will the pump shut off after the tap is shut off.

[Dick_B]

and open more than one faucet until the prime is restored.

[enblethen]

Raise the jug of anti-freeze up so the liquid is near the elevation of the pump.