Fuzion Water System Craziness

BRB Rig · 10-25-2020, 09:59 PM

Snowbirds here. Last week, we were ready to beat the Northwestern snow after four months of enhancements and repairs to our 2015 Fuzion hauler. Then ..... water system issues ....

Our issues? Nothing coming from the freshwater tank. Tank is full, not frozen, and no visible leaks from under the rig. We buy a new Shurflo 4008 pump to eliminate that issue. Again, nothing from the freshwater tank, just lots of air.

So, we decide to test the pump, strainer, and Shurflo accumulator by detaching the incoming line to the strainer and pump and replace it with a line from an external 30 gallon tank. We bleed air from a near empty water heater, and the pump fills it. About a minute of air from the open faucets and then, a smooth flow of H20.

So, we can only believe the issue resides somewhere before the strainer and pump. Could it be the Normal Flow/Fill switch? The Winterizing Switch, or the long blue tube that goes to the freshwater tank in the middle of the rig?

We don’t know how to test or remove any of these parts, especially the switch connectors in the storage bay?

Could the long blue line between the fresh tank and crazy connections in the storage bay be the culprit? How does one get to the freshwater tank which we assume is just above the white outlet and pull valve just behind our dump pipe? Could it be blocked and how would we unblock it?

Has anyone ever invested in replacing all of the tubes with a better system? Are there RV plumbers that specialize in doing such a thing? We’re 100% OTG and have a budget to substantiate our peace of mind.

Any advice appreciated.

Moda & Cherry

**JRTJH** · 10-26-2020, 05:38 AM

If the water pump/fresh water tank system has worked properly in the past, then the "system" is plumbed properly. Pipes don't move or change connections by themselves. So, that eliminates the plumbing being connected correctly from the potential issues...

If you have a "convenience center" you likely have a valve in the wrong position or you have a malfunctioning valve. If you do not have a convenience center, either the "pickup hose" in the fresh water tank has a split or a leaking connection/fitting. That would allow air into the pickup hose (connected to the pump inlet fitting) and the pump would draw air, not water, creating your problem.

My guess is that you've got a cracked fitting, probably an elbow or the inlet fitting on the pump.

BRB Rig · 10-26-2020, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

My guess is that you've got a cracked fitting, probably an elbow or the inlet fitting on the pump.

Thank you JRTJH. You are probably correct. When we removed the pump and strainer, the blue hose connector that connects to the strainer may have had a rubber gasket seal at within the threads. We’re not certain one was there. Do all the connectors have these seals?

roadglide · 10-26-2020, 08:02 AM

I always hook up to fresh water doing that will prime the 11 gallon hot water heater. That water heater takes along time to prime with the pump.

JJaxon · 10-26-2020, 12:54 PM

Another known common mistake is leaving the outside faucet valve open. Does the OP verify ALL valves are closed when trying to prime the pump? I left the dog wash hose connected at the outside faucet and the valve open, and forgot it until I didn't have water pressure inside.

Backtrack the entire system, look for the obvious, sometimes that is the culprit.

IM SYKO · 04-11-2021, 08:39 AM

This is what the plumbing on for my 2017 Fuzion 417 looked like. The cables didn’t want to work very easily for the tanks. Took it back the day after I got it for warranty repair and they told me they couldn't see anything wrong. Besides the cables being to long look at how they routed them....

**JRTJH** · 04-11-2021, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IM SYKO

This is what the plumbing on for my 2017 Fuzion 417 looked like. The cables didn’t want to work very easily for the tanks. Took it back the day after I got it for warranty repair and they told me they couldn't see anything wrong. Besides the cables being to long look at how they routed them....

Look at all the potential for a dealer to make money !!!!!

Every one of those plastic elbows is a leak "just waiting to happen"... Man that's the worst "plumbing job" I've seen in a long time !!!!!...

Rerouting the valve cables should be a "dealer responsibility"... If they won't do it, I'd be calling Keystone. At the very least, they need to be "briefing the line workers" about correct routing.....

bobbecky · 04-11-2021, 01:25 PM

If you had an empty water heater tank and you were getting air out of a faucet, then the pump was working just fine and you just hadn't waited long enough for the water that was following the air to come out of the faucet. If there was no air, then that could have been the pump not working.

bobbecky · 04-11-2021, 01:30 PM

His plumbing doesn't look much different from our 2012 Montana. I've added a check valve along with the pump silencing hoses, but it is still a maze, and the connectors haven't failed and we full time. Never having the system freeze might be easier on all the plastic connections

**flybouy** · 04-11-2021, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Look at all the potential for a dealer to make money !!!!!

Every one of those plastic elbows is a leak "just waiting to happen"... Man that's the worst "plumbing job" I've seen in a long time !!!!!...

Rerouting the valve cables should be a "dealer responsibility"... If they won't do it, I'd be calling Keystone. At the very least, they need to be "briefing the line workers" about correct routing.....

John, that's called "job security".

IM SYKO · 04-11-2021, 09:11 PM

I notified Keystone that the tags identifying the on board fuel tanks were backwards. The one labled generator was for the fuel dispenser etc. 1 year later they were still leaving the assembly line incorrect. You cant make that **** up!

Glenlivet · 09-01-2021, 05:03 PM

Hi. I recently bought a 302 Fuzion, 2011 and I have been having some adventures in the plumbing dept, making me wonder if there isn't someone at the assembly plant who has a warped sense of humor or a deep seated hatred of customers.
I started with empty holding tanks and a half filled fresh water tank. Installed a new washing machine to the service connections and outlet provided in the garage bay, and I thought that while it is filling for its first load I would test out filling the fresh tank via the city water connection. Bad idea. See, my manual said I have one 112 gallon fresh water tank, one 86 gallon grey water tank, and the 43 gallon black tank.
There's also a manufacturers warning sticker saying the washer water drains into the black tank, so be careful.

Anyway the water started welling up the drain pipe! I quickly shut everything down. Shut off the city water fill too. I'd better open the drains first, right? The cover cap was on there really tight..... blooey! It came off under pressure, catching me in the blast too. It was like Robin Williams in the movie RV.
Well, the long and short of it was that the labels on everything were reversed. The 'city water' inlet was actually the black tank flush and with the gate valves closed it was pressurizing the black tank and forcing water past the gate valve, and since the cap was in place, forcing brown water past the grey tank valve too. This confounded later testing due to the point that brown waste water was now in the grey tank making me doubt the correctness of the plumbing configuration.
I suspected the pressure had damaged the gate valves because the black tank was found to not close completely.
I'll cut to the chase and save any readers of this adventure some time.

It turns out I have a model that has two smaller grey tanks, not one big one. It overflowed because Grey tank 2's 43 gallon tank was full. The little washer (not disclosed in any of the printed matter) with one wash and two rinse cycles in the program I used, consumes 22 gallons per wash!

The label saying the washer drains into the black tank, is wrong. It drains into Grey #2 along with the kitchen sink.
The shower and B/R sink drain into Grey #1
The toilet happily, drains into the Black tank alone.
The reason the black tank gate valve wouldn't close properly was because someone in the past had put around a dozen tampons down the toilet and these were swelled up like dead rats. (sorry)
And why did all this happen? All the labels were switched around or rather were applied in the wrong spots. The grey #1 and black tank labels were reversed. The city water, winterize, and black flush labels are shuffled.

Happily after multiple flushes and measurements there appears to be no functional damage.
So apparently I have a Black, Grey #1 and Grey #2 tanks, each of a nominal 43 gallons. From empty they register the full 4 lights on the progress bar at 28 US gallons, and are actually full to the top of their plumbing at 46 gallons. So it's a safe 43 gallons alright but since the readout starts to say full at 28 gallons that means when you are registering into the top 15 gallons you really don't know how much usable room you have left. Do you really 'have' a 43 gallon tank when the top 15 gallons can't be measured?

ps. I found that the washer has a setting that only uses 11 gallons for a load. Phew.

You may also like: