Flojet Water Pump leak in 2016 Summerland 2020QB

IslandNomad · 01-28-2017, 08:08 PM

Hi all,

I live in Texas and did not winterize the trailer this year because I had to go out of the country at short notice.

We had a cold snap a couple of weeks ago, with temps dropping into the 20s (unusual here).

Today, I went to run the water pump, and heard water gushing into the front underbelly compartment. After stopping the pump, emptying and drying out the underbelly, I traced this down to the FloJet water pump, which is leaking from the front side.

My questions:

1) Should I give this in to the dealer for a warranty replacement or is it an easy replacement for me to try?

2) Should I replace with the same pump, or is there any other water pump that might be more resistant to cold weather?

3) A bunch of water ran into the fiberglass insulation in the underbelly. Will this just dry out by itself or should I try to dry it out?

4) Any other suggestions for how to prevent this from happening in the future are greatly appreciated :-)

**sourdough** · 01-28-2017, 08:14 PM

I doubt seriously that warranty will cover an RV that wasn't winterized in the winter when temps fell into the 20's....nor should they. Water pumps come in various shapes and sizes and usually have variances for water flow etc.....not winterization so replacing the pump with what came in the RV should be just fine. Just winterize the trailer when appropriate in the future. As far as the insulation I think your best bet would be to leave the underbelly loose and let air flow through to dry it.

**chuckster57** · 01-28-2017, 08:23 PM

/\ /\ Good advice. If I was paying for a replacement pump, I might look for a pump with a few more GPM flow.

IslandNomad · 01-29-2017, 08:30 AM

Thanks, I appreciate the replies.

We keep the travel trailer on some land that we own that does not have any facilities. It is about 30 minutes away from where we live. We like to go out and use it every 2 - 3 weeks, sometimes just for the day and sometimes overnight. We use a solar panel to keep the battery charged, which has worked very well.

Since we rarely get extended freezing weather here, I would like to avoid performing a full winterization, particularly with anti-freeze. Blowing out the system with compressed air might be an option. But I don't want to spend hours setting up and shutting down the RV every time I visit.

Any ideas on how to partially drain the system in a convenient way? Ideally, I would like to leave a few gallons in the fresh water tank if possible, although I can carry water too.

E.g. install some kind of drain valve for the water pump that I can just open and drain out at the end of the visit? Since I have to replace the pump, this is the right moment for some mods that could help.

How about insulation around the water pump?

All ideas, technological and procedural are appreciated!

**sourdough** · 01-29-2017, 08:49 AM

Keeping water in the tank in the winter would probably be a no no. It looks like you are in central tx but even there it can get below freezing for a while (we lived in Marble Falls for a couple of years). Unless you wanted to run to the trailer every time it looked like it was going to freeze I would leave the tanks empty and take water when I went. You might even leave the fresh water and low point drains open (along with the faucets) to let any freezing water expand/escape without breaking something (I learned this the hard way at our vacation home in the mountains).

If you do the above just winterize. If I were you I would just blow out the lines; takes about 20 minutes with a compressor (don't forget the outside shower and black tank flush). You will need to run the pump to suck the water out of the inlet tube and blow it out along with the water in the pump. I'm sure you could make some modifications to try to place drains in other locations but by the time you did that, and tried to drain the each time, it would be more trouble than just blowing out the lines.

**chuckster57** · 01-29-2017, 08:58 AM

You can leave water in the fresh tank, just not full. Think of the fresh tank as a giant ice cube tray. Water will expand as it freezes and as long as you leave enough space in the tank it will be okay. You may have to thaw it out to use it, which may be a separate issue to deal with (tank heater).

**sourdough** · 01-29-2017, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

You can leave water in the fresh tank, just not full. Think of the fresh tank as a giant ice cube tray. Water will expand as it freezes and as long as you leave enough space in the tank it will be okay. You may have to thaw it out to use it, which may be a separate issue to deal with (tank heater).

My worry about leaving water in the tank is twofold in extended cold weather; the low point drain will freeze and break (mine extends 3" or so below the underbelly) and the freezing water in the tank cannot expand unless the faucets are open somewhere so they have to be left open. Just my thoughts.

**chuckster57** · 01-29-2017, 12:14 PM

The fresh tank is vented right? I agree with you on the fresh water lines to the faucets.

**sourdough** · 01-29-2017, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

The fresh tank is vented right? I agree with you on the fresh water lines to the faucets.

Yes, it's vented. I guess after having so many frozen/broken pipes at our mountain home (until I replaced everything and replumbed it) I'm a little leery of leaving anything like the exposed drain pipe full of water. You hope it expands up and not out to break the pipe but......? I guess I'm phobic

**chuckster57** · 01-29-2017, 12:31 PM

I understand. once burned twice shy

IslandNomad · 01-30-2017, 09:02 AM

Thanks for the ideas. My freshwater tank is vented, so if ice starts to form in the fresh water tank, it will push air out of the vent.

I am still trying to figure out how to drain out the water pump and the water heater.

mfifield01 · 01-30-2017, 10:17 AM

I typically drain everything in mine. Then I blow the lines and black flush. After that I add some RV antifreeze to my p-traps. I don't push any antifreeze into the water lines. This seemed to work well last year.

IslandNomad · 02-04-2017, 08:57 PM

So I was able to replace the FloJet water pump with an identical model. The replacement should have been easy but took 45 minutes due to Keystone's horrible placement of the screws. I ran it and it worked fine.

Question: If I use only the air compressor method of winterizing, will that take care of the water in the water pump? Or should I try to disconnect the water pump quick-disconnect fitting and let it drain out?

ctbruce · 02-05-2017, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandNomad

So I was able to replace the FloJet water pump with an identical model. The replacement should have been easy but took 45 minutes due to Keystone's horrible placement of the screws. I ran it and it worked fine.

Question: If I use only the air compressor method of winterizing, will that take care of the water in the water pump? Or should I try to disconnect the water pump quick-disconnect fitting and let it drain out?

I just ran mine to dry, per notes from my dealer and on here. Not over long, but long enough to push the water out of the pump. I'll know how I did in a few more weeks according to Punxsatawney Phil.

Chip Bruce, RPh
Kansas City, MO
2016 Fuzion Impact 312
2017 3500HD Silverado LTZ

Tbos · 02-05-2017, 06:47 AM

Concur with ctbruce. At least run the pump until its pumping only air. That should make sure it's empty. Then you can always pull the hoses off of it (have a towel nearby) for a second to make sure there's residual water in the lines there.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

IslandNomad · 02-05-2017, 09:17 PM

Examining the water pump again today, it occurs to me that I could make a modification that would allow water to remain in the fresh water tank:

Install a simple on-off valve in the line from the fresh water tank to the water pump. It looks easy to do.

My winterization-lite protocol would be:
Turn the valve to the off position, thereby blocking any water from flowing from the fresh water tank to the water pump.
Run compressed air through the city water connection and open and close all faucets, etc.
Turn the water pump on very briefly, for about 15 - 30 seconds, to push out any water remaining in the water pump.

This would (in theory) remove water from the water pump while allowing water to remain in the fresh water tank, which I am not too concerned about.

Thoughts? Fatal flaws?

**JRTJH** · 02-06-2017, 04:05 AM

I'm not sure you'll clear all the water from the pump using that technique. If you put a valve on the input side and turn that valve to off, the pump won't be pulling air, it will be cavitating (with water in the pump head) and won't clear itself.

Additionally, when you look closely at the city water input line, you'll see that it comes from the outside trailer connection, through a check valve. There's a straight line to the first faucet and between the check valve and that faucet is a "Tee" that branches off to the water pump. When you connect an air compressor to the outside connection, you'll pressurize the first faucet and the water pump. But no water will be forced to move until you open the faucet. Then the air will force water to move to the faucet and further downstream to other faucets, the hot water side and to the low point drains.

As for the "Tee" to the water pump side, unless you remove the connection at the pump, there's no way for the water in that part of the line to flow anywhere. There's a check valve in the pump head that will prevent water from flowing through the pump and into the fresh water tank, plus you've added another valve on the other side of the pump, further preventing water from flowing. So, you'll have "standing water" from the "Tee" through the pump head and to the input line to your valve in the fresh water supply line.

My suggestion would be to blow out all the lines with compressed air, leave the low point drains open, then unlock and disconnect the water pump input connection. Water will then drain back into the fresh water tank, clearing that line. Unlock and remove the output water connection at the pump head, drain the water there, then cover the pump head with a towel, turn on the water pump, let it run for about 15 seconds, turn it off and reconnect all the hoses.

This will remove all water from the trailer lines, drain water remaining in the "pump to Tee line", allow the supply side of the pump to drain back into the fresh water tank and remove water from the pump head...

FloJet designed the "slip/lock" connectors to allow for easy removal for that reason. Adding extra valves only complicates the otherwise straightforward and reliable connections.

Your proposed method probably won't get water out of the pump head and the supply line to the "Tee". I'd recommend against it.

Don't forget to leave your faucets in the "ON" position after using compressed air and remember to pour about a cup of RV antifreeze down each drain to prevent the traps from freezing.

IslandNomad · 02-06-2017, 08:16 AM

Thank you so much for your detailed reply!

A question: You wrote:

Quote:

Don't forget to leave your faucets in the "ON" position after using compressed air

Is this to be done at the very end? And what is the benefit?

**sourdough** · 02-06-2017, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandNomad

Thank you so much for your detailed reply!

A question: You wrote:

Is this to be done at the very end? And what is the benefit?

You have to open the faucets to blow out the lines. When complete you leave them open so that any residual water trapped in the lines can expand when freezing instead of being locked in the line and possibly breaking something. Just a precaution. If you have a single handle faucet just put it in the middle as if you were mixing the hot and cold.

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