Pump winterizing question

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Originally Posted by Jim & DJ

Possibly need to have a faucet open for the liquid to flow through ?

I think it might be this. I could have sworn I had a similar issue last year, then it was a "duh" moment lol.

Of course I installed my own winterizing kit, and the first time I put it in backwards and didn't work lol. Once I figured that out, seemed to work ok until the above moment I mentioned.

I am hoping that this year things will go much smoother.

[grampscamper]

Originally Posted by Jim & DJ

Possibly need to have a faucet open for the liquid to flow through ?

I tried that but it didn't seem to help.

[On_THE_ROAD_AGAIN]

A few years ago when I had the RV store winterize it, I watched closely how they did it and remember they had a heck of a time getting the pump to kick in and start to fill the lines. They had a elderly man working there and he showed them some tricks. First thing he did was put a garden hose cut to about three feet on the winterize connection and put the other end in a gallon container of antifreeze. He turned a rocker switch to bypass hot water tank and then took the anode out of hot water tank and opened the relief valve. His next step was to open up all faucets. Once that was done,he shut all faucets, walked over to turn water pump on and then started to open one faucet at a time and turned it off and on until he started to get it to have suction. He then ran them until all lines were pink. It was slick and quick..Hope that helps

[Desert185]

Old guys rule. High mileage, low maintenance.

[grampscamper]

I dropped by the storage facility to check on our trailer a few days ago. I thought I would open the fresh tank drain valve again to see if I would get any more water to drain out after towing it there. Normally I would drain it at home and leave the valve open while I drive so any remaining water could slosh around and drain out. I forgot to do it this time. When I opened the drain a little plumbing antifreeze drained out. I didn't put any antifreeze in the fresh water tank. It would seem that the pump may have a faulty check valve.
I was surprized to see antifreeze drain from my fresh water tank. This may explain why I'm having some difficulty.

[Pmedic4]

Two years ago, I also had a difficult time getting the water pump to draw up antifreeze, struggled with it, and finally got it to work, but like wasted 3 gallons of antifreeze. Interestingly, that camping season I had a problem with the water pump where it would run, bring up the pressure, and about 2 minutes later make a whining noise for about 15 seconds, and the pump would run again, of course in the middle of the night. I took the pump apart, and found a small piece of silicon in the check valve, removed it, put the pump back together and didn't have a problem pumping. Last year, when I winterized, the pump siphoned without a problem.

My assumption now, is the piece of silicon causing the cycling issue, also caused the inability of the pump to siphon.

[grampscamper]

Originally Posted by Pmedic4

Two years ago, I also had a difficult time getting the water pump to draw up antifreeze, struggled with it, and finally got it to work, but like wasted 3 gallons of antifreeze. Interestingly, that camping season I had a problem with the water pump where it would run, bring up the pressure, and about 2 minutes later make a whining noise for about 15 seconds, and the pump would run again, of course in the middle of the night. I took the pump apart, and found a small piece of silicon in the check valve, removed it, put the pump back together and didn't have a problem pumping. Last year, when I winterized, the pump siphoned without a problem.

My assumption now, is the piece of silicon causing the cycling issue, also caused the inability of the pump to siphon.

Yes. I think you may be correct. It seems like either a faulty pump or some debris stuck in the pump. I will troubleshoot when I take it out of storage next spring.
Thanks for your reply.