Water Pump vs City Water April 22, 2018, 12:19:56 pm We’re gradually converting to full time water pump Users. This has become a 3 year slow conversion. We like that our fresh water tank has fresher water versus older water. In addition, I appreciate that water pump sound if or when a faucet isn’t properly closed. And it’s so easy to turn off the supply of water when leaving home. The water pump often has better pressure than the city water connection. Finally arrival and departure is a few steps easier. I doubt anyone else took 3 years to make this decision but I am a slow and stubborn learner. 🤩 4 Likes
Re: Water Pump vs City Water Reply #1 – April 22, 2018, 12:47:00 pm EdJust learn to say NO to city water hookups!Your LD's water system will be much happier.Larry 3 Likes
Re: Water Pump vs City Water Reply #2 – April 23, 2018, 10:35:05 am Some years ago, my family and my brother's family stayed at a small private campground in the Sierras. The owners told us that there had been Giardia cases attributed to swimming in the lake, however their piped water was clean. My brother and his family used the piped city water and we used our filtered coach water only. My brother's entire family contracted Giardia. My family did not.In addition to the contamination problem, I don't like city pressure, even when regulated by the little 40psi regulator, connected to my plumbing. With our 2 canister .5 micron filter, we filter city water into our tank and then use it exclusively.
Re: Water Pump vs City Water Reply #3 – May 06, 2018, 02:26:37 pm Quote from: Larry W - April 22, 2018, 12:47:00 pmEdJust learn to say NO to city water hookups!Your LD's water system will be much happier.LarryAnother city water hookup / water pump issue? I should have heeded Larry's advice! First the backstory: Last month, mid-April we were with the No. Calif. LD group at Jackson Rancheria w/full hookups. I usually only use water from the fresh tank & water pump & in fact the last time I had hooked up to city water was Feb 2017. So I'm thinking, ok, well, like all the other systems onboard, I'll "exercise" the city fill/check valve, whatever, so hooked up for the 4 days we were there and didn't use water pump at all. As others have noted, the water pressure was noticeably less than what I get from the water pump, but we dealt with it! so all is well, right? Rig goes back into storage until I picked it up this past Thursday for a quick 2-night trip to nearby Joseph Grant Park up in hills above San Jose (10 miles up Hwy 130/Mt. Hamilton Rd, quite the narrow twisty route). Primitive dry camping only. That's when I noticed when using water, the pump seemed to make extra/louder effort & noise and lasting for a bit longer than I remember after water shut off. But it would shut off and seem to be fine, until next time I opened a faucet, then again the pump rumbled a bit louder & longer than previously (before city water hookup) So just for fun, I accessed the pump to look at it (under wardrobe next to fridge in the 2006, 23.5' front lounge) and I noticed a very small puddle of water (about size of a drink coaster) right below the pump on the top of the metal casing (furnace intake?) with only a few drops that had dripped down the side to the wood below. Searched with flashlight looking for source of a drip and couldn't find any water drips/leaks at all from the pump/pipes above. I dried the blob of water up and left the pump exposed to dry things out and put a small tin under pump to catch any more water that might leak. (I forgot to take picture of the water before I wiped it up, but I'll post one showing the tin I put where leak was) so throughout the rest of the evening, I would check it to see if any more water dripped and none ever did, but the pump was still making the louder/longer noise. Luckily, I had downloaded the page about water pumps from the LD Companion on my iPad and someone commented that they had what sounded like the same issue, with the extra noise, etc. and that Vince at factory suggested running water from all faucets, to clear possible air in lines and then flip the water heater pressure valve for the air gap. I figured I'd try that too, couldn't hurt, right? So ran water out of both faucets & shower for about a minute, then turned off pump, opened WH pressure valve, snapping it shut (water did come out of the valve). Since then the pump has sounded "normal" like it had always been before. And for the whole two days & nights (until I left yesterday morning) I kept checking the area under & around pump for any sign of leaks and absolutely none--not a drop of water to be seen anywhere. So at long last my question is: Could the 4 days I was hooked up to city water last month have caused this "hiccup" with the pump. Or is it just a coincidence and that's an early sign the pump will fail? Just a fluke? Pump otherwise has been working just fine since I bought the rig in Dec 2016. Curious where that small bit of water came from, since I couldn't detect any source of a leak?? Unless there is some other benefit of using the city water hookup occasionally , I've also made the decision to never-ever use city water again! Anything else recommended I should do at this point, or just leave well enough alone?Appreciate anyone else's experiences, thoughts, comments, thanks!Daryl (forgot to mention, it' the original water pump from 2006, Shurflo) 1 Likes
Re: Water Pump vs City Water Reply #4 – May 06, 2018, 05:36:46 pm "...opened WH pressure valve, snapping it shut (water did come out of the valve)."And thereby you did yourself a big favor. While there isn't much elevation change between Jackson, CA and San Jose, there is enough to cause problems such as you experienced, particularly if the existing conditions were marginal to begin with. It is always a good idea to reestablish that water 'cushion' in the tank after an elevation change. I've experienced it several times myself.
Re: Water Pump vs City Water Reply #5 – May 06, 2018, 09:28:37 pm thanks, Steve! Great tip-- I've never even thought about a change in elevation being an issue. Lesson learned and will remember to add that to my routine camp setup when traveling at different altitudes. Daryl 2 Likes
Topic: Water Pump vs City Water (Read 340 times)
previous topic - next topic
Topic: Water Pump vs City Water (Read 340 times)
previous topic - next topic