fresh water pump runs but won't prime and push water

magic43 wrote:

ksg5000 wrote:
Another possibility - check the inlet filter. Sometimes that can get plugged up which prevents water flow - mine was filled with plastic shavings likely from the holes Fleetwood drilled into the plastic tank when setting up the FW tank.

And yet another possibility. My camper did not have a filter and the shavings were inside of the pump preventing the valves from closing. I took it apart, cleaned out the plastic shavings and installed a filter to prevent future problems.

Had this too! :) My pump has a tiny strainer, but it was all full with plastic shavings that workers ALWAYS leave in the pipes, in a new trailer. Didn't completely block the water flow but slowed it down a lot.

ksg5000 wrote:
Another possibility - check the inlet filter. Sometimes that can get plugged up which prevents water flow - mine was filled with plastic shavings likely from the holes Fleetwood drilled into the plastic tank when setting up the FW tank.

And yet another possibility. My camper did not have a filter and the shavings were inside of the pump preventing the valves from closing. I took it apart, cleaned out the plastic shavings and installed a filter to prevent future problems.

Turn pump off. Open a faucet and let any water out. Turn pump on and in a few seconds see if you have pressure. If you do but turn the water of and the pump continues to run, and you open the faucet and have little to no pressure, the pump switch is bad. That is what the tech told us. I haven't analized what he said.
We had to replace the pump. Two quick fasten clip on water hoses and one electrical plug if yours is like ours. It is on a Revolution and an Aquaflow 5.5 gph 55psi model. We bought it from factory team at American Coach Rally. They installed it but we could have. Four bolts/screws hold the pump in palcee.

Another possibility - air leak in the housing. Plastic is changing shape with time and the seam/crack between the two halves of the pump lets some air through. Tighten the screws. Happened to me once.

Statistically, air bubble in the line is more likely - open all the faucets for a minute or two.

A quick and dirty fix is to use a wet dry vacuum on a faucet. Often if it is a bit of trash in a pump valve, water will flush it on through.

Thanks for all the ideas. I'll come back when I get it working

We had a case recently, where the pickup for the pump, and the tank drain valve, were installed at the same port in the bottom of the tank. The Valve had a slight leak, dripping water out of the tank. But when the Pump ran, it pulled air into its suction and wouldn't prime. Water in the tank just lies there, but the pump has to develop suction and pressure, so a small water drip could be a big air leak.

ScottG wrote:
I've had this happen three times over the years. In those cases it was caused by the pump sucking up some tiny piece of debris. Take the head off and rinse the parts off under some running water (irony!).

This must be what happened to mine once. Was all set to replace it, but we drove to another campsite first, and then it worked when we got there, and ever since. The drive must have shook out some debris somewhere.

I'd go with the "open a few faucets" answer first. Mine will only prime with faucet open to allow air to escape.

My older trailer has the winterizing hose with a valve right next to the water pump. I did not have that valve closed enough one time causing the water pump to suck in air instead of prime water from the fresh water tank.

Kinda like this pictorial...

Google Image

I have used this winterizing tube a few times to check out pump by sticking it down a bucket of fresh water for testing... Works good me me doing this...

When I have problems like this I always think back what I did last haha... Most of the time it was self inflicted hehe...

Roy Ken