Seneca winterizing pump won't go off

[tallcott]

Have a 2018 Seneca 37TS. Went to winterize, drained all lines, closed all lines, turned filter around in city water inlet, set valves to winterization, did everything according to manual,lifted anti freeze jug at same level as city water inlet, and when I turned pump on it continues to run with everything closed and yet when I open a hot water valve in coach no anti freeze comes thru any suggestions

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by tallcott

Have a 2018 Seneca 37TS. Went to winterize, drained all lines, closed all lines, turned filter around in city water inlet, set valves to winterization, did everything according to manual,lifted anti freeze jug at same level as city water inlet, and when I turned pump on it continues to run with everything closed and yet when I open a hot water valve in coach no anti freeze comes thru any suggestions

Did the antifreeze "disappear" or did it not pick it up from your bucket/container?

The pump is running because it has not filled the lines enough to raise the pressure to the pump's cutout pressure. What type of water heater do you have also?

Don't forget to either blow out or add antifreeze to your icemaker. Since you are already attempting antifreeze that may be your only option now. Also remember your washer lines, even if you don't have a washer installed.

[tallcott]

The anti freeze is not picking up and we have the Aqua go tankless water heater. Thanks for the reminder on ice maker and washer dryer prep. Could this be that the pump has not primed? We have turned the cone shaped screen in the city water inlet

[Robbbyr]

On my TS I am able to pick up antifreeze reliably without turning the inlet screen around, but it certainly isn't hurting to have yours turned.

On my unit I have a low point drain in the rear of my wet bay, it drains the line leading directly to the pump inlet. One time after I had blown all my lines out with air and then was then trying to pump pink stuff it would not pick up. Finally figured out I had left that low point drain open and since it is on the suction side of the pump it was just sucking air right there, Closed that valve and "voila", the pump started drawing in antifreeze from my bucket. I don't know if newer units have that same valve and drain but worth checking.

Another time when I was winterizing I shut off the valves leading into/out of the whole house water filter. I removed the filter element as I always do when winterizing and mostly filled the filter housing with antifreeze and carefully screwed the housing back on the base. But I forgot to open those valves and again, no drawing in of antifreeze! Open the two valves and in the pink stuff went.

As far as the refrigerator I developed my own procedure, if you want me to lay it out let me know!

[Robbbyr]

I also was wondering if you are using the Jayco-supplied hose to pick up antifreeze out of your container? You need to have a hose that won't collapse since it is drawing a vacuum. I have seen some folks try to use a non-reinforced hose and the hose collapses or kinks preventing pickup.

[tallcott]

I have the supplied hose that came from Jayco, I spoke with a tech from a dealership and they advised me that this system is real sensitive and that I am not getting pump to prime and to check hose and gaskets. He said that they have many times when people can not get system to take anti freeze then they get to the dealership and no problems.



Yes let me know about your refrigerator , all of your input is appreciated

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by tallcott

I have the supplied hose that came from Jayco, I spoke with a tech from a dealership and they advised me that this system is real sensitive and that I am not getting pump to prime and to check hose and gaskets. He said that they have many times when people can not get system to take anti freeze then they get to the dealership and no problems.



Yes let me know about your refrigerator , all of your input is appreciated

I certainly have heard some rigs can be finicky trying to draw in antifreeze!

I cannot remember if you said you removed the whole-house water filter element. If not, trying to draw through the element will make it more difficult for the pump to pick up the antifreeze due to added restriction created by the element. I remove my element and toss it before winterizing, knowing a new one will go in when I remove the antifreeze in the Spring. I also mostly fill the empty filter housing with antifreeze and put it back on to reduce the amount that has to be pulled in before it actually gets to the pump.

Regarding the Norcold - As you probably know the icemaker requires 120-volt power to function, it won't make ice if you are boondocking and only running the refrigerator on gas and 12-volts. The solenoid valve outside in the lower access area is what allows water to fill the icemaker on command of the electronics. To thoroughly blow it out or fill it with antifreeze requires you to open that solenoid. To open the solenoid I use a cheap "zip" extension cord, cutting off the female receptacle end. Then I crimped on female spade lugs on that end. That way I can temporarily substitute the cord for the original wiring.

Put a couple of towels in the icemaker side of the freezer to catch the water/antifreeze that will be pushed out. The water system needs to pressurized with air or antifreeze depending on your winterizing procedure. Then you remove the 2 Norcold wires hooked to the solenoid, connect up the extension cord's connections. When ready to purge the icemaker, plug in the extension cord to a live 120-volt outlet. Only will take a few seconds to blow out the water or introduce the antifreeze. Don't leave the solenoid plugged in for more that 10-15 seconds at a time. If pumping antifreeze you should be able to see the antifreeze fill the semi-clear tubing feeding the icemaker.

When done, make sure your extension cord is unplugged from power and then remove the cord connections from the solenoid valve. Reconnect the original Norcold connections. Clean up the freezer! In the spring you can do the same thing to purge the antifreeze from the icemaker. Obviously throw away the first few batches of ice in the Spring.

Hope that makes sense!

[Rice1951]

Robbbyr, that’s interesting on how you winterize the ice maker. How did you discover that procedure with the solenoid valve? Last year I turned the fridge on so I could run pink stuff through it to make pink cubes. Then to dewinterize I just kept making ice until they came out clear. This summer my ice maker quit working and I’m still waiting for Jayco to replace it under warranty. So to winterize last week I removed the ice maker and since it wouldn’t operate the solenoid valve I removed that also to store it in the house for the winter. I will reinstall it in the Spring along with the new ice maker when I get my coach out of storage.
My coach also was a little finicky in introducing antifreeze. One night it was slow in pumping antifreeze into the system but I could get all the lines and faucets. I could not get it into the washing machine. I gave up and went back out the next day and repeated the procedure and this time it worked with the washing machine. So go figure. It’s pretty simple without any extras. Add in the ice maker, washing machine, macerator and tankless WH and now my life is more complicated. Be careful what you wish for.

[Robbbyr]

I was the kid who took things apart just to see how they worked. Always tinkered, I guess I just have an ability to quickly learn how things "work". Served me well in the Navy and during my career on the fire department.

My home driveway is too sloped to run the refrigerator, so I had to devise an alternate method to get it done. I blow my system out with air first then do antifreeze, I tend to be a "belt and suspenders" guy. Because of my inability to run the fridge at home, the extension cord shortcut lets me first blow out the residual water then add the antifreeze in a short period of time.

I have a Splendide vented combo, it always has cooperated with winterizing. I also blow it out with air first too, allowing it to pump out what remaining water it can. Then I introduce the antifreeze through the lines per Splendide's winterizing instructions. I let it pump some antifreeze out so that it drains some into the washer's drain line trap, don't want to forget about that trap and have a hard freeze break the plastic pipe. If it did it would likely make quite a mess the next season!

I usually end up using about 6 gallons of antifreeze, more than many since I also have a two gallon accumulator in my water system. I definitely make sure it is purged and then flushed with antifreeze.

[tallcott]

okay thanks for the procedure on the refrigerator and thanks to being a "belt and suspenders"kinda of guy. Great ideas out there.

[tallcott]

It would be nice to have manufactures to be more unit specific on procedures such as winterizing and more diagrams for that unit it would save them time from having to answer phones for these particular questions.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by tallcott

It would be nice to have manufactures to be more unit specific on procedures such as winterizing and more diagrams for that unit it would save them time from having to answer phones for these particular questions.

I can't argue with that! In today's world how tough could it be to record basic procedures and then distribute them on a DVD to customers?

[tallcott]

we bought a 10 dollar hand pump by camco, turned the little screen in the water inlet and pumped, we turned on the pump , pump primed air left and we were able to get the anti freeze to all the lines.

[Robbbyr]

Originally Posted by tallcott

we bought a 10 dollar hand pump by camco, turned the little screen in the water inlet and pumped, we turned on the pump , pump primed air left and we were able to get the anti freeze to all the lines.

Yea! Glad it worked out.

[McGintys924]

Originally Posted by tallcott

we bought a 10 dollar hand pump by camco, turned the little screen in the water inlet and pumped, we turned on the pump , pump primed air left and we were able to get the anti freeze to all the lines.

I tried doing it with the onboard pump and have also been unsuccessful. I have a spare portable water tank that I put antifreeze into and use another 110v surflo pump to put antifreeze to fixtures.

Can you elaborate on the $10 pump and how it helps?

[johnboy]

Originally Posted by McGintys924

I tried doing it with the onboard pump and have also been unsuccessful. I have a spare portable water tank that I put antifreeze into and use another 110v surflo pump to put antifreeze to fixtures.

Can you elaborate on the $10 pump and how it helps?

Hi McGinity, I believe this is the pump Tallcott was referring to from camping world. Just do a search for "hand pump by camco" I have a similar pump from o'reilly auto.



I too had similar issues stated here on my 2017 37TS. Turned the screen around fixed the issue then the following year I forgot to turn back on the values on the water filter. But any way here is the link:
https://www.campingworld.com/plastic...hoCWW4QAvD_BwE

[McGintys924]

Originally Posted by johnboy

Hi McGinity, I believe this is the pump Tallcott was referring to from camping world. Just do a search for "hand pump by camco" I have a similar pump from o'reilly auto.



I too had similar issues stated here on my 2017 37TS. Turned the screen around fixed the issue then the following year I forgot to turn back on the values on the water filter. But any way here is the link:
https://www.campingworld.com/plastic...hoCWW4QAvD_BwE

Thanks Johnboy.
I am winterizing tomorrow so I am going to try some techniques out as I do it.

[memphis02]

Originally Posted by tallcott

Have a 2018 Seneca 37TS. Went to winterize, drained all lines, closed all lines, turned filter around in city water inlet, set valves to winterization, did everything according to manual,lifted anti freeze jug at same level as city water inlet, and when I turned pump on it continues to run with everything closed and yet when I open a hot water valve in coach no anti freeze comes thru any suggestions

Did you pull the water filter out, and open the valves back up? I forgot to reopen the valves on either side of the filter housing a few weeks ago and sat there listening to my pump suck air for a good long minute before I figured out I'd goofed up.

[johnboy]

Originally Posted by memphis02

Did you pull the water filter out, and open the valves back up? I forgot to reopen the valves on either side of the filter housing a few weeks ago and sat there listening to my pump suck air for a good long minute before I figured out I'd goofed up.

Hi Memphis,
Yes you need to remove the water filter. Its stated in the user manual in the winterizing section, and you don't want that pink stuff in the water filter. I too last year forgot to reopen the the values and it took me a while to figure what the issue was.

John
Boy