Low Water Pressure in Bathroom only

[Mcb]

So I’ve got good water pressure at the galley sink.. with both city water and using the pump and tank.. I’ve got really low water pressure at the bathroom sink, and even lower water pressure ( looks like anyway) at the toilet.. Again, this is the case trying both city and house water supplies. 
We’ve had the camper in storage for a month, prior to that everything worked fine everyday for a couple months.. nothing has frozen.. there doesn’t seem ( no sputtering ) to be air in the lines.... I’ve cleaned the plastic bits out of the screen.. 

any thoughts? 
thanks!

 

 

[Mainiac]

A couple of years ago I had to open up the bathroom faucet. There was two or three clumps of calcium like particles. They were sitting on the ports of the single lever cartridge. Cleaned them off and no problems since. The lucky part was we were at the Oliver Rally and Richie had the sealant and put the towel bar back on the vanity for me. I thought it was at the end of the hoses. If I had opened the faucet first, I wouldn't have opened the vanity. Not all water is as clear as in Maine. A filter is hooked up every time, even if just for one day...

Edited March 2, 2021 by Mainiac

[topgun2]

I'd guess - more "plastic bits" somewhere in the lines or a "kinked" line (doubtful but possible).

edit - or what Maciac just said 🙂

Edited March 2, 2021 by topgun2

[Mcb]

Ok, I’ll try that. We’ve been using a filter everyday. The toilet is the odd bit of this ...
 

[John E Davies]

You can try a vinegar flush, to dissolve any deposits; use the winterization port to suck in a weak vinegar mix (1 gal per 5 gal water) through the plumbing and also into the (regular) water heater. Let it sit for a day, drain and flush well. Be aware that the vinegar water going onto concrete will etch it slightly (leave a very clean area). It won’t hurt, but if you don’t want to look at it for a year or two, do this where it won’t matter, or where it will hurt your lawn.

John Davies

Spokane WA

[Mcb]

Thanks John, Oliver suggested a vinegar purge as well.. but didn’t provide the recipe... thanks for that! 
we are on the road currently, I’ll give it a try when we are out of the camper for a couple days.. 

 

[Mainiac]

We also remove the hose on the toilet, after shutting off the valve. Put hose in pail and flushed the hose. It seemed all clear. Removed the flush valve, and seem to remember there was a small "something"  there too. At least it seemed to work better after.

[Mcb]

On 3/2/2021 at 8:59 AM, John E Davies said:

You can try a vinegar flush, to dissolve any deposits; use the winterization port to suck in a weak vinegar mix (1 gal per 5 gal water) through the plumbing and also into the (regular) water heater. Let it sit for a day, drain and flush well. Be aware that the vinegar water going onto concrete will etch it slightly (leave a very clean area). It won’t hurt, but if you don’t want to look at it for a year or two, do this where it won’t matter, or where it will hurt your lawn.

John Davies

Spokane WA

Hey there John, the vinegar purge worked out great, thanks! When hooked to city water ive now got good pressure in all areas. From the tank ...not so much... pump runs for a loooong time after the faucet is turned off. I’ve cleaned filter several times. Because we are on the road I hadn’t filled the tank, only had 35-50 % filled. I think I’ll fill it next stop, maybe the pump is sucking  air out of the tank that I need to displace in order to get things back on an even keel.. 

thanks again for the vinegar idea!

mark 

[Frank C]

5 hours ago, Mcb said:

 pump runs for a loooong time after the faucet is turned off. I’ve cleaned filter several times. Because we are on the road I hadn’t filled the tank, only had 35-50 % filled. I think I’ll fill it next stop, maybe the pump is sucking  air

Check the O-ring seal on the clear plastic cup of the filter just before the pump inlet.  If the O-ring is missing, or out of place or twisted, the pump will suck in air and run for a while after turning the faucet off.  We had the same symptoms.  The O-ring wasn’t properly seated in the groove, allowing air into the pump.  And the water line between the fresh tank and the filter can also become clogged with plastic bits & shavings.    

Edited March 7, 2021 by FrankC

[Mcb]

On 3/7/2021 at 6:37 AM, FrankC said:

Check the O-ring seal on the clear plastic cup of the filter just before the pump inlet.  If the O-ring is missing, or out of place or twisted, the pump will suck in air and run for a while after turning the faucet off.  We had the same symptoms.  The O-ring wasn’t properly seated in the groove, allowing air into the pump.  And the water line between the fresh tank and the filter can also become clogged with plastic bits & shavings.    

Thanks FrankC . I hauled out that section of water line and blew it out as you suggested. No big plastic chunks, so it seemed ok. In the end I ended up bleaching then flushing water through the system a bunch of times, cleaning the filter repeatably. Water pressure to both sinks has improved both from city water as well as the tank.. but the toilet was still just a trickle. It turns out there is a screen in the intake valve, and I dug a lot of stuff out of it with a screw driver ( gently) .. i don’t know what the material was, sort of a grayish paste.. wet fiberglass dust? Whatever it was, getting it out of there did the trick.. 

 

 

[NCeagle]

I have seen some of that grayish paste too - when I changed out my bathroom faucet, which was only about a month after we got our Ollie.  It's almost certainly lime / calcium but I couldn't figure out why I would have had so much after such a short period of time.  I wish I would have tested it - if I see more I'll let it dry out and then put a drop of acid on it.  If it is lime / calcium and it's getting into the plumbing and forming paste that fast, it may be time to add a portable water softener in addition to the Camco filter when going to a full hookup campground.

[Mcb]

We’ve used the camco filter almost every time...it’ll be every time from now on. 🙂