Last Updated on December 31, 2021 by Douglas
Our RVs have a water pump attached to its fresh water tank. The water pump is responsible for delivering the water to the faucets, kitchen, bathroom, and the washing machine. However, when your RV is connected to an RV park’s water source or the municipal water line, the source itself provides more pressure to keep the water going in your RV. RV water pumps, much like any other moving part of your RV, is always prone to damage or malfunctioning.
Today, we’ll learn how you can troubleshoot and fix an RV’s pump that keeps running. Here are some of the frequently asked questions in this regard.
RV’s Pump Running But No Water
You’ll have to do something troubleshooting if you’re facing this problem. First of all, check the freshwater tank and see if there is any water in it. Usually, the tank is too low on water, or your RV is parked on a slope which is preventing the water pump from accessing the water.
If you see that the water tank is full enough, you should then check your water lines for any loose connections, stuck things, or leaks. Especially, if you have recently made a repair to any water fittings, they might have gone bad again. So, look for any signs of damage or leaks before doing anything crazy with your RV’s pump.
You should also check the line connecting both the water tank and the water pump. If the line is dry, then there’s definitely something wrong in this line. However, if you see that the line is filled with water, then the problem is with the RV water pump itself. If you have any experience of there repairs, you can try and do a repair yourself.
However, some serious issues also cause the RV water pump to completely fail, and un this case, you’ll need to replace the water pump.
Should I Repair The Water Pump Myself?
The process of RV pump repair starts by disconnecting the power line to the water pump. You can hold the water pump over a bucket and the ask someone to turn it on. If the water pump pulls water, then its perfectly fine, and a clog might be causing the water supply in your RV to fail. A failed water pump won’t pull any water, and will be apparently dead even after turning getting turned on.
If you have experience of working with water pumps, and have all the tools available, you can definitely do the repair by yourself. You can easily find spare parts for these pumps in any relevant market.
However, if you don’t have any tools or experience of doing the repair, you should seek professional help. The mechanic will let you know if he can repair the water pump, or you’ll need a replacement pump. If pumps works fine, you’ll have to check the water lines leading to the faucets to see what the problem is on that end.
To check the water lines, turn off all the valves one by one and leave rest of them open. This, way, you’ll be able to determine which water line is clogged. If it’s a small water line that us causing the problem, you should get it replaced instead of trying different fixes. Just visit a hardware store and you’ll get the things you need for this process.
Pump Won’t Work After Winterizing It Properly
If you live in an area which gets really cold in the winter season, you’ll have to properly winterize the RV (including its water pump).
While the whole process might seem simple at first, it is also easy to forget minor details which can later cause some major problems when you try to reuse the RV in the next season.
You should start by checking the drain of the fresh water tank. If you’re trying to fill up the tank in the spring season, it can fail to push water into the system. So, before doing this, make sure that everything is properly connected. Every valve should also be open. If the pump doesn’t power on, you should start checking the breakers and fuses for malfunctions.
If everything seems fine, you should use a multimeter to see if the necessary 12 Volts are being delivered to the pump. The pump should also be grounded. Water can usually cause the ground connection to stop working, and the pump won’t work as well if this happens.
If everything mentioned above is working perfectly and the pump still won’t turn on, then this could mean that the pump died because of water expansion inside it in the winter season. I viable option in this scenario will be to replace the pump.
How to Replace an RV’s Water Pump?
If your RV is tight on space in the undercarriage, then a simple repair can get complicated. Therefore, if you aren’t comfortable with the repair, or don’t have the tools/ expertise of repairing the pump, you should take it to an expert mechanic to get the issue resolved without any hassle.
However, if you’re set on doing the Pump replacement by yourself, here are the steps you can follow.
- First of all, fully drain the freshwater tank.
- Cut off the power line powering up the pump.
- Remove the water lines from the pump, keep it above a bucket, and trunk it one again. Check to see if it is pulling any water from the tank or not. If not, run the pump without the tank water line to remove any excess water.
- Now, unscrew the RV water pump from the RV’s frame.
You can now reverse all the steps you followed early on to start the process of installing the new pump. If you can’t find the same pump, you might be able to find something which performs just as good, or even better in some cases. Make sure that all the connections are the same size on the new pump.
When connecting the water lines to the pump, use pipe tape to make good tight seals. This always helps in preventing leaks in the near future. The in and out lines should be double checked to make sure that they are connected in the right order.
If you can find them in a cheap price, you can buy some new water lines and replace the old ones, as this is the best time to do that as well.
My RV’s Water Pump Has Become Louder Than Before
Since water pumps have lots of moving parts, use electricity and pull water at the same time, they are always prone to getting corroded. This makes them louder than usual.
Even the smaller of their parts can make water pumps a lot louder than they originally are. Unusual noise coming put of the RV water pump can also indicate the failure of one or more of its internal parts.
If your RV’s water pump is secured firmly in place, than the issue can be with one of its internal components. Debris getting into the water tanks, and things like damaged impeller blades can cause water pumps to make unusual noise.
- You can start the inspection by first turning the RV water pump off. Just cutting off the power supply line to do this.
- You should then unscrew the pump from it mounting location. If the pump is loose from the mounting location, try adding rubber padding to absorb the pumps vibration. The pump will make less noise when it can’t collide with the RV’s frame.
- You can also replace any old water lines, or reapply the pipe tape to make the seals tight.
Priming The RV’s Water Pump
After winterizing the pump and going through the season, you’ll need to prime the pump before reusing it in the spring season. This is a very simple process if you pay enough attention to the below mentioned steps.
- Refill the water tank of your RV.
- Fully open a cold water faucet in the RV.
- Turn on the RV water pump.
- Once the water tank gets appropriately full, you can then start opening every faucet one by one to see if they’re working fine. This will also take all of the air out of the water system.
Repairing an RV Water Pump Leak
If the RV water pump keeps running even after you close the faucet, there can be a leak somewhere in the system. Some leaks are easier to detect, and some aren’t.
Start by checking all the valves, and inspect the check valve as well to see if its cracked. A cracked check valve can cause the pump to keep running even after the faucet is closed.
If the check valve is cracked, you can follow the below mentioned steps to fix it.
- Turn off the water supply and see if the check valve has any leaks.
- Even if it doesn’t show any signs of damage at first sight, you should take it off to see if there are any minor cracks. You should also check for any failed or cracked seals.
- After detecting the cracked, you should replace the check valve. You can but them for any hardware store. Bring the old valve with you to get the perfect replacement.
To install the new valve, you should warp its both ends in pipe tape. You should then turn it firmly in place. You can also use duct tape to prevent it from shaking.