Dear Dave,
Last year I bought this low-mileage motorhome. I almost always stay in an RV park. I don’t hook up to the RV park water unless I am going to be there for a while. This summer, I stayed with different friends for over 6 weeks running off the water pump.
If the fresh water tank is full the pump will stutter on all the water faucets under low water flow. It is better wide open. The shower head is low volume, so the pump runs and shuts off all the time when showering.
The strange thing is, when the fresh tank gets down to about 1/4 full, it operates normally. I have an accumulator but no room to install it. Pump is a 2088-422-174. The pump is very close to the tank.
I was thinking about installing a lower pressure pump, which I should have once I get back to Quartzsite.
Any ideas? Thank you. —Vince, 2006 Fleetwood Terra 26Y
Dear Vince,
The low water flow must have something to do with the gravity pressure when the tank is full. I have never heard of this but will do some research. I would suggest removing the pump and replacing the diaphragm and clean all screens and secure the fittings. Stranger things have happened.
This (above) was the original question I received from Vince and I have been doing some research since. However, my contact at Shurflo and even Winnebago suggested it was a restriction issue on the incoming line or screen at the pump.
Then I got a follow-up from Vince explaining he had found the issue.
Dear Dave,
At my age I don’t always pick up on issues like I used to. This new-to-me small Class A has had an issue with filling the fresh tank slowly. Finally, a couple of days ago it dawned on me that the two problems were related. I took apart the under/beside the bed which allowed me to see the crimp in the vent line. This motorhome is set up like a travel trailer (no wet bay). I took the fixture off and found a vacuum fitting that I had to grind down some, but I was able to shove it into the hose. Only 0.3 inch in a 0.5-inch hose, but a huge improvement. —Vince
Thanks, Vince. Here is a photo of a vent line running parallel to the gravity fill on the Salem we are working on.
This is a little hard to see, but the vent line runs just above the gravity fill hose. I have run into issues filling and had a kink in the vent, as you indicated. I used a bend protector over the vent hose.
You might also enjoy this from Dave
Your RV’s fresh water system: What you should know
This is Part 5 of Dave Solberg’s “Everything you need to know about RVing” series. In this segment, Dave looks at RV fresh water systems and tells you just about everything you need to know about them, whether this is your first or 101st trip.
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and the author of the “RV Handbook.”
Read more from Dave here.
##RVDT2475
Another informative article, thanks.
Nice to know that sometimes those complicated problems are so easy to fix!
Thanks Dave & Vince
Snoopy
A good way to check if the vent line is kinked on a gravity fill system is to take the cap off the fill pipe and see if the problem goes away.
Thank you, Dave! 🙂 Great information! Thanks again, have a great day, safe travels, and safe stays! 🙂
I wonder if he knows that the the accumulator can be installed anywhere there is a cold water line. It does not need to be near the pump.
re: water flow issue, clogged vent… also important to note that many plastic fittings for 1/2″ vent tubing are 1/4″ID, and many older plastic gravity-fill ports w/ door and overflow/ vent do NOT have a SCREEN on the Vent Hole & Mud daubers LOVE the vent hole. Newer fill ports have a built-in screen. Also the 1/2″ reinforced vinyl tubing is more kink resistant than the clear tubing.