Dead Water Pump

[MarkV]

I posted this on the Facebook forum early do this might be Deja Vu for some of you. 

 

1) I think I fried the water pump. Accidently left it on when draining the fresh water tank. Came back and the green pump light was on but no pump activity. I checked the fuse box and the fuse is fine. There is 3-4v across the fuse. Is that enough?

 

2) I replaced the water pump. I reused the existing power wire but I had to cut the ground wire and reconnect with a wire nut. Before connecting the hoses etc, I tried turning on the pump. Nothing happened. Actually, seems like we took a step backward as now the green light on the pump switch no longer comes on.

 

3) Checked the power at the pump wires and we're not getting anything there. Is there another inline fuse somewhere?

 

What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it?

 

We are supposed to be leaving for a month-long trip on Saturday.

[Galway Girl]

Fuses can partially blow under load and then not be fully open.   Between fuse and ground should be ~12v.  Try replacing the pump fuse in your panel with a fresh one as a first step. 

[MarkV]

Update: we've had a faulty switch inn the bathroom so we just changed the configuration and now have 12v at the wires. 

Pump still won't come on though. 

Does Ii t need to be fully connected to the pipes to turn on?

[VBistro]

17 minutes ago, Galway Girl said:

Fuses can partially blow under load and then not be fully open.   Between fuse and ground should be ~12v.  Try replacing the pump fuse in your panel with a fresh one as a first step. 

Good point, Galway Girl, but once we got our switch configuration sorted, we have 12 V at the pump, but it still won't turn on.  Just to be thorough I'll swap out that fuse, though.  It can't hurt.

Thank you

[VBistro]

6 minutes ago, VBistro said:

Good point, Galway Girl, but once we got our switch configuration sorted, we have 12 V at the pump, but it still won't turn on.  Just to be thorough I'll swap out that fuse, though.  It can't hurt.

Thank you

Changed the fuse.  Nada.  The mystery really is that there is 12V at the power leads at the new pump, yet it won't power up when wired.

[MarkV]

25 minutes ago, Galway Girl said:

Fuses can partially blow under load and then not be fully open.   Between fuse and ground should be ~12v.  Try replacing the pump fuse in your panel with a fresh one as a first step. 

Just tried that. Pump still not working. 

[ScubaRx]

6 hours ago, MarkV said:

Update: we've had a faulty switch inn the bathroom so we just changed the configuration and now have 12v at the wires. 

Pump still won't come on though. 

Does Ii t need to be fully connected to the pipes to turn on?

Yes, it has to sense a change in the water pressure to turn on and off.

[MarkV]

We connected the pump fully and still no response. I'd expect it to at least kick on but it doesn't.  Current working theory is that the new pump is defective somehow as there seems to be no other logical explanation. Seems odd though.

Replacement pump here tomorrow so fingers crossed.  We have a ticket into Oliver in the off chance that there is some edge case we aren't considering.

[VBistro]

9 hours ago, ScubaRx said:

Yes, it has to sense a change in the water pressure to turn on and off.

So is there something special that we need to do once it’s plumbed in line to get it to kick in?  The system isn’t under pressure at the moment, since we just installed the new pump, so simply turning on a faucet wouldn’t cause a pressure change, would it?  Maybe fill the system to capacity (the tank is only 80% full at the moment), THEN turn on a faucet? I could see how that would change the pressure in the system somewhat and could trigger the “call” we need to kick the pump on.

TIA for your help.

mb

[VBistro]

OK.  I checked, and the fresh water tank is full.  Turned the pump switch on, opened a faucet and….nothing.  Is there some other priming step we’re missing?

 

mb

[VBistro]

OK.  Our last attempts at troubleshooting: 

1.  “primed” the pump by using the old “run city water through the system while in boondocking mode” trick (we’ve had to do this before when we had an airlock).  Turned everything back to normal mode: nothing.

2.  Now we are really at a last resort:  replacing the replacement pump with a brand new one that Mr. Amazon Driver delivered bright and early this morning.  “Bleepity, bleep, bleep, bleep!”

SO MANY BAD WORDS…..the replacement for the replacement dropped right in and started pumping!  So….the replacement pump we bought as a “spare” at Camping world this spring is apparently faulty.  Glad we discovered that here and not in the middle of nowhere.  Good news:  I ordered 2 new pumps from Amazon yesterday, so we still have a spare.  

SO FRUSTRATING.  We’ve been spinning our wheels for 24 hours, completely flummoxed and driving ourselves nuts.  Grrrrrrrl

[JWalmsley]

28 minutes ago, VBistro said:

OK.  Our last attempts at troubleshooting: 

1.  “primed” the pump by using the old “run city water through the system while in boondocking mode” trick (we’ve had to do this before when we had an airlock).  Turned everything back to normal mode: nothing.

2.  Now we are really at a last resort:  replacing the replacement pump with a brand new one that Mr. Amazon Driver delivered bright and early this morning.  “Bleepity, bleep, bleep, bleep!”

SO MANY BAD WORDS…..the replacement for the replacement dropped right in and started pumping!  So….the replacement pump we bought as a “spare” at Camping world this spring is apparently faulty.  Glad we discovered that here and not in the middle of nowhere.  Good news:  I ordered 2 new pumps from Amazon yesterday, so we still have a spare.  

SO FRUSTRATING.  We’ve been spinning our wheels for 24 hours, completely flummoxed and driving ourselves nuts.  Grrrrrrrl

I know you mentioned posting on the Oliver Facebook and also here in forums, given your urgency due to a month long adventure coming up.

Give the Oliver service department a ring and see what they can help you with.

Service phone number: 1-888-526-3978

 

[mountainoliver]

I think that I remember a similar post some months ago and it was mentioned to check for a good ground as well. There may be 12 volts at the pump but if the ground isn’t completing the connection the pump won’t run. I think that the issue then turned out to be a faulty ground connection. Good luck

[ScubaRx]

I believe she figured it out about 4 hours ago and said that it is working now. 

[jd1923]

5 hours ago, VBistro said:

the replacement for the replacement dropped right in and started pumping! 

For future reference, when you have 12VDC+ (nominal 12V, not 3-4V) at the pump (red wire) and ground (black), two things are true: 1) Any and all relevant fuses must be good, and 2) therefore the pump must be bad.

RV pumps and most any electric pump do not need water to start! Just power. I'm installing an upgraded water pump in ours. It's on my workbench not connected to plumbing at all. I connect it to my shop marine 12V battery and it runs immediately. It's loud to start-off without water. Put my thumb over the inlet with a little pressure and now new pump runs quietly. Push hard with my thumb to shut off the air and the pump stops as it achieves cut-off pressure. You can always bench test 12V appliances. I do it upon receipt, so I do not go beyond the Amazon 30-day return window.

It might be too late for you, though Amazon is great on returns! Now is a good time to upgrade your water system.

My OEM pump was 3 GPM at 55 PSI and my upgraded Seaflo pump will produce 5 GPM at 60 PSI. I am also adding two .75L accumulators in series on the output side of the pump to reduce water pump cycling (can flush the toilet at night, and the pump under wife's bed doesn't run). I can't stand a weak shower and we carry 35-gal extra water tank in the TV! Amazon.com: SEAFLO 55-Series Diaphragm Pump - 12V DC, 5.5 GPM, 60 PSI : Industrial & Scientific

[VBistro]

4 hours ago, jd1923 said:

For future reference, when you have 12VDC+ (nominal 12V, not 3-4V) at the pump (red wire) and ground (black), two things are true: 1) Any and all relevant fuses must be good, and 2) therefore the pump must be bad.

RV pumps and most any electric pump do not need water to start! Just power. I'm installing an upgraded water pump in ours. It's on my workbench not connected to plumbing at all. I connect it to my shop marine 12V battery and it runs immediately. It's loud to start-off without water. Put my thumb over the inlet with a little pressure and now new pump runs quietly. Push hard with my thumb to shut off the air and the pump stops as it achieves cut-off pressure. You can always bench test 12V appliances. I do it upon receipt, so I do not go beyond the Amazon 30-day return window.

This is all excellent information. Thank you!  Unfortunately we don’t have time for an upgrade before we start our month-long trip tomorrow, but it’s definitely something to consider in the future. Who wouldn’t t want a quieter system?? 🙂