Help PLEASE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No Water (1 Viewer)

[normanandsue]

if run dry some submersible pumps (i think whale are one as it happens a lot on caravan systems) get a small air bubble in the impeller chamber and the cure is a few sharp taps on the pump body, or gently tap the pump on the tank wall, to dislodge it........if you can access the pump.

AS the tank was empty this seems a realistic diagnosis of the problem, but sadly I have no idea how to access the pump inside the tank I can't see how to find out if this is a solution, unless when driving tomorrow it will bang against the sides as we roll along.

 

[normanandsue]

In our caravan days we had a similar problem, I used to take off shower head and have a good suck, with pump running

It must be worth a try

If it is airlocked as it sounds like, when mine 'unlocked' there was a distinct change in pump tone

Stop sucking when you hear the change

Good luck, sorry if it wastes time







edit - thinking about I might have blown not sucked!!

if first didn't work, try blowing, it might just push an airlock out

Missed the edit on your post but thanks to Joy I found it, so now I have sucked and blew (blue) and whilst not solving the problem as highlighted the pump might be the problem. Whilst sucking and blowing I left the sink tap open and a small (Very) amount of water dribbled out of the sink tap, When I stopped blowing no water appeared from either the shower or the sink tap.

Norman

 

[MikeandCarolyn]

Broken Link Removed

might be summat in here

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[MattR]

I had similar symptoms and had some great advice from Funsters. I solved it by blowing as hard as I could to confirm that the water pick up pipe was below the water level (I wasn't sure what pipe it was in my tank). Once I confirmed that it was below water level, I sucked as hard as I could (with the cold tap in the shower room nearest the tank open) and soon after, it appeared that the water hit the pump, clearing any air locks and I got a mouth full or water

There is a slim possibility that you are only getting some remnant water trapped in the pipe when you suck rather than fresh water from the tank.

Good luck.

 

[Barclaybasher]

Not meaning to be defeatist but..........rather than spending too much time while you are away - unless it's an easy fix - can you manage without on board water?

Spent 2 weeks in France with my son in March with a tank full of stale water:Sad:

Used toilets and showers on sites, filled water container (on site) for washing up and toilet while traveling, sorted water out when we got back:thumb:

 

[Ridgeway]

You really need to find the pump. As PJ mentioned give it a good shake and bang against the tank side, usually dunking it in and out few times helps as well.

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[normanandsue]

Not meaning to be defeatist but..........rather than spending too much time while you are away - unless it's an easy fix - can you manage without on board water?

Spent 2 weeks in France with my son in March with a tank full of stale water:Sad:

Used toilets and showers on sites, filled water container (on site) for washing up and toilet while traveling, sorted water out when we got back:thumb:

We would like to get it sorted if we could but we have reached this conclusion that whilst annoying it can be endured without spoiling our holiday.

Norman

 

[mitzimad]

if you have access to a mains pressure hose try back feeding through one of the taps in the first instance do it with other taps open then slowly close them if water comes through dont join the hose to the tap enough to build up presure in the system as the water heater will not hold mains pressure

 

[normanandsue]

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might be summat in here

Thanks Mike we have this book with us and quite honestly it is only one step away from useless

Norman

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[Landy lover]

According to the on line manual you have a flojet stand alone pump which can be run dry without worry. Therefore there is no pump to knock against the tank etc.

Assuming you have not turned anything off as in service taps or turned anything on like drain taps and also assuming you have filled the onboard tank to the brim ?? and the amount of water you put in it reflects the volume it should hold ?? ie there is not an air lock in the filler pipe stopping the tank from being filled ( therefore it would still be empty ) ?? then there is no reason why you should not have water pumped.

Some of your answers indicate that you may have multiple taps open when you are sucking on the shower pipe. close all taps fully then just open just the shower COLD and suck on that - it should then give you water. Having multiple taps open will mean your effort in sucking is only moving residual water to and fro between taps,

Good luck - hope you get it sorted

 

[normanandsue]

According to the on line manual you have a flojet stand alone pump which can be run dry without worry. Therefore there is no pump to knock against the tank etc.

Assuming you have not turned anything off as in service taps or turned anything on like drain taps and also assuming you have filled the onboard tank to the brim ?? and the amount of water you put in it reflects the volume it should hold ?? ie there is not an air lock in the filler pipe stopping the tank from being filled ( therefore it would still be empty ) ?? then there is no reason why you should not have water pumped.

Some of your answers indicate that you may have multiple taps open when you are sucking on the shower pipe. close all taps fully then just open just the shower COLD and suck on that - it should then give you water. Having multiple taps open will mean your effort in sucking is only moving residual water to and fro between taps,

Good luck - hope you get it sorted

Thanks Landy lover - I have not switched off any service switches, and I have filled my tank to the brim (there is water in the tank I opened the blue drain pipe a crack to see. The Fresh Water gauge that read empty before now reads full)
I have sucked and blown the shower hose with all other taps closed. I have sucked and blown same hose with the hot tap open and the cold tap open all to little or no avail. The only glimmer of hope was when blowing into shower hose on hot with sink tap on hot I got the faintest little dribble from the sink tap.
So sadly still not sorted.

Thank you all for your advice.and helpful suggestions. Just goes to prove what a great club Funsters is:thumb::thumb::thumb:

Norman

My next line of attack is an e mail to autosleeper on Tuesday

 

[sedge]

In which direction are you going Norman?

There's a list of Pilote dealers in the back of the handbook for ours and I know that the one near Berck sur Mer for instance, has a workshop and sell bits, as well as various vans, we've often been past there and been in the shop in the past to pick up Elsan fluid (or Thetford or whatever) You just never know who might have a clue or the right bits even though it's an English van, or what.

There's a brill bloke up the back of Vendres Plage we had our solar panel fixed, speaks more than enough English but a bit far from where you are! By that time we'd already driven up to Narbonne Accessories in Narbonne funnily enough and to various Pilote dealers along our way, but nobody was able or willing to help. This bloke and his son - wait for it!! - worked through their LUNCHTIME on our van !!!!!!

(What's 'gobsmacked' in French?)

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[normanandsue]

In which direction are you going Norman?

There's a list of Pilote dealers in the back of the handbook for ours and I know that the one near Berck sur Mer for instance, has a workshop and sell bits, as well as various vans, we've often been past there and been in the shop in the past to pick up Elsan fluid (or Thetford or whatever) You just never know who might have a clue or the right bits even though it's an English van, or what.

There's a brill bloke up the back of Vendres Plage we had our solar panel fixed, speaks more than enough English but a bit far from where you are! By that time we'd already driven up to Narbonne Accessories in Narbonne funnily enough and to various Pilote dealers along our way, but nobody was able or willing to help. This bloke and his son - wait for it!! - worked through their LUNCHTIME on our van !!!!!!

(What's 'gobsmacked' in French?)

As van is still under warranty I don't want anyone other than autosleeper dealer touching it.

 

[sedge]

I didn't know that - I was actually just trying to be helpful ! :Sad:

I'd be a bit miffed having to stay on campsites meself, but if you do it anyway I spose it's no hindrance.

 

[pappajohn]

Thanks Landy lover - I have not switched off any service switches, and I have filled my tank to the brim (there is water in the tank I opened the blue drain pipe a crack to see. The Fresh Water gauge that read empty before now reads full)
I have sucked and blown the shower hose with all other taps closed. I have sucked and blown same hose with the hot tap open and the cold tap open all to little or no avail. The only glimmer of hope was when blowing into shower hose on hot with sink tap on hot I got the faintest little dribble from the sink tap.
So sadly still not sorted.

Thank you all for your advice.and helpful suggestions. Just goes to prove what a great club Funsters is:thumb::thumb::thumb:

Norman

My next line of attack is an e mail to autosleeper on Tuesday

landy's answer points to a diaphragm pump.......could be a little bit of grit/dirt has got into the seat on one of the three valves and stopping it sealing......or even possible the diaphragm has split.

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[wanderer]

Similar happened to me twice although a different motorhome. The first time the connecting pipe from the pump to the outlet point in the tank had disconnected , the second time the non returning valve had stuck open and water was going into the boiler and then returning back to the tank.

 

[Wildman]

The only glimmer of hope was when blowing into shower hose on hot with sink tap on hot I got the faintest little dribble from the sink tap.
So sadly still not sorted.

nothing should come out of the sink tap if it is closed. if more than one outlet is open at a time you will be drawing AIR not water.
Have you had a freeze since it was last drained down, if so residual water in the pump could have frozen and damaged it.
Access to the tank/pump is probably under a seat.

 

[aba]

Really stupid question now but why did you empty the tank after the Peterborough show knowing you were using the van the next week????
I'd have just topped it up.

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[golly]

Just took delivery of a Kemerton last week, which has an in tank pump, not had a chance to use it properly yet. I would email AS at http://www.auto-sleepers.com/contact-us I found them helpful with our last van. I would be interested to know the outcome.

John

 

[normanandsue]

Really stupid question now but why did you empty the tank after the Peterborough show knowing you were using the van the next week????
I'd have just topped it up.

Not a stupid question at all!
The tank was almost empty when we left Peterborough. As we were not going to be using the van on site for 5 days and then we would be in France on a site so rather than drive with a full tank of water all that distance we just left it empty until we arrived.

 

[aba]

Not a stupid question at all!
The tank was almost empty when we left Peterborough. As we were not going to be using the van on site for 5 days and then we would be in France on a site so rather than drive with a full tank of water all that distance we just left it empty until we arrived.

So you didn't drain it.
Maybe the sloshing of the small amount of water left in the tank has washed some installation debris and fragments into the pick up pipe which has holed the diaphragm in the pump (if it's a diaphragm pump not submersible).

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[B-well]

while trying to encourage the flow of water through shower hose, try to have hose at floor level below water tank level to assist the draw. close all other taps until water starts to flow, ensure pump is on. good luck:thumb:

 

[gozomike]

Hi Norman - Sorry to hear of you problems, I agree with other comments that it does sound like an air lock. A couple of different approaches, probably will not work but might be worth a try.

Have you tried moving the van back & forth with the pump running to see if it will pick up water.

If you can get at the pump it would be worth disconnecting the output & seeing if it would work then.

Mike

 

[normanandsue]

Yahoo we got water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having had no H&C running water since arriving in France on Sunday, today Sue gingerly tried the sink tap and lo and behold we had water; a little at first, then a splutter then full flow.
Now try the hot water; again a little splutter then full flow. Not sure if it will be hot but we will switch the heater on and try.

What did we do that caused the air lock to unlock itself? I am sure my blowing and sucking helped, I am sure a lot of angst did not so perhaps it could be a bi product of the French road system consisting of many bumpy roads coupled with a couple of emergency right hand turns as we followed our wonky sat nav on the road to Verdun.

So thanks guys for all your helpful suggestions knew I could rely on you all.:thumb::thumb::thumb:

Norman

PS Anyone know how to fix a wonky Sat Nav?

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[TheBig1]

open window, pick up satnav, extend arm out of window and release, breathe in and think calm thoughts

no more dodgy satnav

 

[Viennese]

Norman & Sue - delighted your water is sorted out. We spent nearly 3 weeks in France with no running water in the kitchen sink the first time we went in our 12 year old Symphony, it turned out the supply pipe to the tap had detached itself. Because we were very newbies we didn't dare try running the water elsewhere. A phone call to Autosleepers, and they immediately identified the problem and told me how to fix it. Should have phoned them from France! As it was we became very good at water carrying!

Have fun

C

 

[mikekaren2]

Sorted

Glad it is sorted, I suggest that you avoid letting the tank going low now it is running ok. Of course you will have to drink more wine!!!

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