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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / August 2005Coleman Westlake water pump comes on intermittently
I have an '00 Coleman Westlake, and the past two trips where I've been on battery power, the water pump kicks on for a second about every 10 minutes or so. It seems like the water system must have a slow leak somewhere, and the pump kicks on to re-pressurize. I'll be damned if I can find any leak. At last year's end-of-season checkup the dealer said that one of the outside shower knobs was left on and the hand-held shower handle was leaking slowly from being squeezed inside the compartment...yep, another Stupid Camper Trick, I thought. But this past trip, the outside shower was off...off...off and it still does this. All fittings to sink, water heater and pump seem tight and dry...no moisture found anywhere. Pretty maddening...we've taken to shutting the pump off at night to get some sleep. Am wondering, could the source be a slow leak from the water tank or a fitting in the supply-side of the water system (i.e. before water reaches the pump)? This would seem unlikely to me, as the pressure loss could only come from the output side of the pump...right? Could it be the pressure relief valve on the water heater...though even there, I don't see any evidence of leaks. Any similar experiences and/or suggestions very welcome...thanks!  SignatureSteve Kranz Homebrewer extraordinaire, banjo player mediocaire Visit the Midnight Homebrewers' League on the web at: http://users.adelphia.net/~smkranz > Am wondering, could the source be a slow leak from the water tank or a > fitting in the supply-side of the water system (i.e. before water > reaches the pump)? This would seem unlikely to me, as the pressure > loss could only come from the output side of the pump...right? At that rate of pumping I would expect that if there is a leak you would have water dripping somewhere. It usually happens to me when one of the drain valves is not seated properly. Not long and there is a wet spot under the unit. I would guess that it is the check valve in the pump is losing pressure. If that happens you might experience filling of the fresh water tank when hooked to shore water. You most likely can get a repair kit for your pump. You can also get a separate check valve to put in the output line of your pump. >I have an '00 Coleman Westlake, and the past two trips where I've >been on battery power, the water pump kicks on for a second about >every 10 minutes or so. It seems like the water system must have a >slow leak somewhere, and the pump kicks on to re-pressurize. I'll be >damned if I can find any leak. Since you can find no leaks from the pump forward, I have a suggestion. There is most likely a check valve on the inlet side of the pump. It may have trash in it or just a bad seat. They are so inexpensive, I'd just replace it. If by chance there is no check valve before the pump, I'd add one because it seem the leak is back to the fresh water tank. Tom J Tom J wrote: > Since you can find no leaks from the pump forward, I have a > suggestion. There is most likely a check valve on the inlet side of [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Tom J Spent some time with the water pump. It's a Shurflo model 2088-403-144 with a built-in check valve. Soooo, apart came the pump to get inside. Not intuitive, but finally (after first cleaning out the screen filter, then taking the rest apart and putting it back together twice without correcting the problem) I figgered out how to get the check valve out. Looks like it doesn't come apart inside the housing, but it does. The closure is a thin, round piece of semi-rigid foam that is held closed with pressure from a small spring above it. I blew back into the housing's outlet port, and a couple of times was able to get air to leak past the valve, because it wasn't always seating tightly (the thing is five years old and it's a pretty small spring), so I stretched the spring a little bit to increase the tension it puts on the valve. Put it all back together and it seems to be holding tight...for now. Will stop by to get a replacement check valve for the next time it starts acting up. Thanks again for the insight. SignatureSteve Kranz Homebrewer extraordinaire, banjo player mediocaire Visit the Midnight Homebrewers' League on the web at: http://users.adelphia.net/~smkranz > Tom J wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > > Thanks again for the insight. Glad you found the problem. You can also go to any hardware or big "orange box" store and buy an add on check valve and install between the fresh water tank and pump for a permanent fix. In most cases, they will have the proper fittings to fit your hose system Tom J > Any similar experiences and/or suggestions very welcome...thanks! Thanks for the suggestions on the check valve, I'll open it up and look into that this weekend. SignatureSteve Kranz Homebrewer extraordinaire, banjo player mediocaire Visit the Midnight Homebrewers' League on the web at: http://users.adelphia.net/~smkranz Anybody try putting full carpeting in your pop-up? How well did it work? Did you use a carpet pad underneath? Did you have to secure it somehow? What did you do at the door jamb? Thanks Never tried. We have a couple rubber-backed throw rugs that fit nicely and serve our purpose. Much easier to move for cleaning. I can only imagine what that rug would smell like after getting wet foot prints on it, then being closed up for awhile. Ugh. SignatureChris Cowles Gainesville, FL > Anybody try putting full carpeting in your pop-up? How well did it > work? Did you use a carpet pad underneath? Did you have to secure it > somehow? What did you do at the door jamb? > Thanks > Never tried. We have a couple rubber-backed throw rugs that fit nicely and > serve our purpose. Much easier to move for cleaning. > > I can only imagine what that rug would smell like after getting wet foot > prints on it, then being closed up for awhile. Ugh. Agreed. With all the dirt, gravel, leaves, etc. that gets tracked into the popup, you'd need to vaccuum every day. Rugs are the way to go. That said, if you feel the need to cover every inch of floor space, you could try one of those bathroom floor rugs that you cut to fit. They are rubber-backed and pretty easy to cut to fit, and you can easily remove it for cleaning. We have one in our hi-traffic bath. The way to customize the shape is to get a roll of heavy brown "craft paper", and make a "template" of the shape of your floor by laying out the paper, cutting and taping pieces together, then laying the template out onto the rug and cutting the rug with scissors along the outline of the template. Depending on the floor plan, and the size of your popup, I'm guessing you would probably wind up with two or more pieces (i.e. seams) of rug unless your popup is really small. SignatureSteve Kranz Homebrewer extraordinaire, banjo player mediocaire Visit the Midnight Homebrewers' League on the web at: http://users.adelphia.net/~smkranz Excellent suggestions all. I think I'll try the thin rubber-backed floor rugs first. Thanks. > Anybody try putting full carpeting in your pop-up? How well did it > work? Did you use a carpet pad underneath? Did you have to secure it > somehow? What did you do at the door jamb? > Thanks You need to check, alot of pop-up have their cabinet doors just barely off the floor. Several of mine only have has about 1/4 in of clearance. What I did was to cut several pieces and glued the edges so they wouldn't fray/unravel. I take them when it is colder. Also you might want to consider how much weight this will add to your trailer, especially if you are close to the GVWR. Bill I bought my popup used. Previous owner had bought some really thin commercial carpeting and cut it to fit. He did a pretty nice job, it fit in the popup really well. No pad, no special considerations at the door. He didn't fasten it down at all, so you could take it out easily if it got wet, or just to lay it down in the garage and vacuum it.. Upside - more comfortable than vinyl. Downside - harder to sweep, adds one more chore to camping. Bottom line - we used it, I would do it again. (Popup is gone now though...) >Anybody try putting full carpeting in your pop-up? How well did it >work? Did you use a carpet pad underneath? Did you have to secure it >somehow? What did you do at the door jamb? >Thanks |
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