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Old 06-05-2011, 11:41 PM   #1
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Jayco 213 EXP w/no water flow from fresh holding tank

Hello all.
I'm a newbie here so looking for some advice.

I recently picked up a 2009 Jayco EXP 213 used from a local dealer.

Our first trip was with hookups and I didn't not any issue getting good water flow and pressure out of the faucets.

Our second trip was without any hookups. I had filled the freshwater tank at home before leaving on the trip. Trying to think back, I think I did this through the gravity fill valve instead of the one on the driver side with the dedicated standard hose connection. I'm hoping I filled it at the right place?

During the entire outing (1 night and hardly 2 days) we barely got any water out of the system (yes the water pump was running). It would just spit and spurt out of the faucets in the bathroom and the kitchen. There seems to be a lot of air in the system. Eventually I guess we ran out completely - which was suprising for only being out 1 night - guess we need to learn to conserve better too.

So how about the water flow and presssure in general. Is there a process for purging the air from all the lines? I checked the filter on the ShurFlo water pump and rinsed it out, but didn't see anything in it barely at all.
What else can i check?
Do I need to look into getting a better water pump?
Is there an easy way for me to check the pressue in the lines to ensure I'm gettnig the rated pressure out of the system?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Chip

It there an internal pressure regulater somewhare that I can adjust to get any more pressure - I think I read that the pump is either 40 or 45psi.
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Old 06-06-2011, 05:46 AM   #2
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Two items I can think of to check:
  1. How much water does the display indicate when you press the "fresh" on the control center? (this should give you some idea whether there's water in the tank. However, keep in mind that even if it displays zero, the water level in the tank is somewhere between empty and a third of a tank.
  2. Was the trailer winterized? If so was the valve for the hose that gets inserted into the antifreeze bottle turned off after the winterizing process was completed? If not, you could be sucking air through that line instead of water from the tank. While you're at it, make sure you have the valve for the water line that runs between the FWT and water pump turned on.
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Old 06-06-2011, 10:47 AM   #3
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Did you remember to close the fresh water tank drain? It is located just in front of the axles on the drivers side. A little white valve.

The fresh water tank is only 26 gallons, so you have to conserve. I take a blue water tote with me and usually add a jug a day.
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Old 06-06-2011, 06:53 PM   #4
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Did you get hot water from your hot water tank when you went out the first trip(when on pressurized water source)? The reason I ask this is because I had a similar experience this spring when de-winterizind my trailer. I hooked up my hose to the city water connection and flushed all the antifreeze out, then opened the water heater bypass and thought I had filled the HWT. Then I filled my fresh water tank through the side like you did and tried to check the pump for proper operation. Well, the pump kept running and wouldn't shut off like there was a leak or tap was turned on somewhere. There wasn't. I shut it off via the switch and there was still water coming out of my taps when turned on. Lower pressure than normal and spitting quite a bit like you describe.
Turns out the problem was the top valve on the water heater bypass was broken and not actually open as I had thought(the handle was in line with the tubing). This prevented the water heater from filling with water and instead pressurized with air. The pump would not shut off as it had not reached it's preset cutoff pressure and could not as it was trying to force water into the tank and all it was doing was compressing the air that was in there and had nowhere to go except out the taps when turned on.
So check to ensure you are getting water out of your HWT, and not experiencing he same problem I encountered.
Sorry for the long winded reply, but I feel it's the only way to describe my problem in the hopes that this helps you.
Also, driving to your destination with the fresh water tank full is carrying around a lot of extra weight for the trip. The water in it will slosh around spilling out of the overflow vent tube, so you may have arrived at your campsite with a lot less water than you left home with.
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Old 06-06-2011, 07:15 PM   #5
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Thanks for the replies thus far - I have a few things to try now.

>> How much water does the display indicate when you press the "fresh" on the control center?

Full

>> Was the trailer winterized?

I don't know that this trailer was EVER winterized, since its in Arizona and we really don't have a winter with any freeze issues.

>> was the valve for the hose that gets inserted into the antifreeze bottle turned off

OH, so that's what that extra hose going to nowhere is for :-)
I did see this one next to the water pump and it is closed completely.

>> make sure you have the valve for the water line that runs between the FWT and water pump turned on

Yes, its open.

>> The fresh water tank is only 26 gallons

Is it 26 or 30.5?

>> I take a blue water tote with me and usually add a jug a day

Good advice, I'll have to get in the habit of doing that.

>> Did you remember to close the fresh water tank drain?

Yes. Its closed and I emptied it the other day so I know it works.


>> Did you get hot water from your hot water tank when you went out the first trip(when on pressurized water source)?

Yes, I'm pretty sure we did.
I can test this again now if I bring it to my house this time.

I do remember hearing the pump running a lot - so maybe that's indicative of a leak somewhere and the tank never able to get up to pressure.

>> Turns out the problem was the top valve on the water heater bypass

I don't even know where these are, I'll have to take a look at the manual I suppose and see what is set up there. Maybe I'll take some picture and see if anyone can identify anything wrong.


>> driving to your destination with the fresh water tank full is carrying around a lot of extra weight for the trip

That would explain my poor mileage I guess - ha ha. No, I know this, I just didn't know if I was going to find a place to get some potable water close to our destination or not. I found a place for this this weekend, so next weekend I'll make sure I go empty.

>> spilling out of the overflow vent tube

Where is the overflow vent tube located?

I'll check a few things tonight. more advice is always welcome.
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Old 06-06-2011, 07:47 PM   #6
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The overflow vent tube will be located when you fill your fresh water tank 'till it's full. The extra water draining out the bottom will be coming out of it.

The water heater can be located by looking on the outside(usually left side) and finding the access panel that says HOT on it. Once located you know where to look on the inside. Usually under a seat, but can be elsewhere. The inlet and outlet lines(clear plastic tubing) will have a brass valve near the HWT. Those should be open(handle inline with tubing). You should also have a short piece of tubing connecting the inlet and outlets together prior to the two aforementioned valves. It's the water heater bypass. That should also have a small valve on it and it should be closed(handle 90 degrees to tubing).
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Old 06-07-2011, 10:18 PM   #7
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@Quantum:

>> The fresh water tank is only 26 gallons, so you have to conserve. I take a blue water tote with me and usually add a jug a day.


So I was thinking about this again and how does this work? The gray water tank is the same size at 30.5 gallons, so if you are adding 5 gallons a day, where is all that water going? Wouldn't your gray water tank fill up pretty quickly?
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Old 06-08-2011, 04:25 PM   #8
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Nah, we dump the dish water outside, so that helps keep it down.
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Old 06-13-2011, 11:06 PM   #9
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So to close on my thread here, I checked everything that everyone mentioned here and didn't find anything obvious.
I found out that the pump was basically always running and never getting up to pressure.
I eventually removed the water pump and all the nearby fittings. I rigged the pump up to a cigarette lighter 12V adapter and put a hose on the intake side and turned it on and noticed that the pump was working perfectly fine.
Still boggled with what was wrong, I was running out of time before I needed to return the trailer to storage for the night, so I put it all back together again. After reinstalling everything I tried it out again and it worked Perfectly! The pump only came on for maybe 20-60sec before it would come up to pressure and then shut off. So I'm guessing there must have been a lose fitting there somewhere that was allowing some air to enter the system.
Anyway, I'm very happy (and my wife is too) to have water flowing reliably from the faucets now and appreciate the guidance folks provide here.

Thanks,

Chip
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Old 06-14-2011, 06:14 AM   #10
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Judging from the work, research and time you've spent in resolving an unusual problem, I can only say that you will make a great addition to this website by helping others as a diagnostition. You appear to have all the necessary skills. Congratulations!
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Old 06-14-2011, 10:13 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FPM III View Post
Judging from the work, research and time you've spent in resolving an unusual problem, I can only say that you will make a great addition to this website by helping others as a diagnostition. You appear to have all the necessary skills. Congratulations!

Definitely come hang out with us when you can
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Old 06-14-2011, 01:35 PM   #12
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Nah, we dump the dish water outside, so that helps keep it down.
Another (more environmentally friendly) solution is to do your dishes in a basin and pour the dishwater down the toilet when finished. This helps utilize the black tank more.
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