17' Series Water and gas issues

[Megs]

Is it normal for the water pump to periodically come on for about one second when we aren't using any taps or water at the time? Over the last two days the pump has been doing this. Firstly it was only every couple of hours then by last night it was happening every ten minutes. We ended up turning it off. This morning, hubby went to have a shower and the water ran out after only a few minutes. The water tank selector was in the position to use water from both tanks. There is definitely no water left as only a splutter comes out when using the hand pump. This is our first trip using the pump/water tanks as we've used mains water on previous trips. Hubby said he filled up the tanks until water started to splutter out the top. We haven't used heaps of water (one shower, washing up, handwashing, drinking water) so we can't work out if the problem is an issue with the water pump, tanks not being fully filled to start with or a major leak somewhere (it's raining so hard to tell).

Other issue is the gas. It was working fine yesterday morning (used the stove) but in the arvo went to use the stove again and no gas coming out. Tried turning off electric hot water and using gas instead (to test if a stove problem or general gas supply problem) and it wouldn't work either. Both gas tanks are still both relatively full and we tried switching to the other tank with no luck.

Any advice/ideas appreciated!

 

[cruza driver]

With the water problem I would say you have a leak. The pump turning on is the pump trying to keep pressure in the water lines.

Have you noticed any water under the Expanda when on mains?

 

[BUSH PALACE]

Water problems i would say is what CD has explained if in doubt turn the pump off when youve finished with it ..
with your gas make sure your stove top is back fully as its a safety device

 

[macca]

With the water problem I would say you have a leak. The pump turning on is the pump trying to keep pressure in the water lines.

Have you noticed any water under the Expanda when on mains?

Could be a faulty non return valve also or as suggested above.

With the gas try turning both bottles off, then try stove top burner as normal, just to release any pressure in pipes. Turn stove knob off, go out to regulator, give it a gentle tap with a spanner then turn one gas bottle on slowly, then try gas stove again.

 

[Bushman]

Our pump occassionally turns on as describe, up usually once or twice a day, usually in the middle of the night and scares the crap out off me. We just turn it off (when I remember)

 

[Burnsy]

With the water leak you should be able to narrow it down to a section by selecting the front or back tank. Run the pump on each and see on which tank the pump tries to keep pressure up. I had an issue with my back tank section and it turned out to be where the plastic T piece screwed onto the tank due to the join in the tank from the mould, the join is right through the center of the male thread! In the end I used sika as well to seal.

Cheers.

 

[Megs]

Thanks Macca, that seems to have fixed the gas problem, working again now

I hadn't noticed any water leaking from under the van when on mains, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any (I'm not the most observantperson ever).
Good to know it's not normal for the pump to do that. We are taking it in next week for some warranty jobs, so will add it to the list...

 

[Megs]

Get the water leak fixed that is, not the pump.

 

[Gaz70]

i found with the T peice tap selector for the tanks is even when turned to one tank it can suck out of both...i pulled it out and blew into one side, i then blew into the closed side and air went through...i have since replaced with inline taps to each tank with a t-piece where the tap used to be...this fixed the problem of draining both tanks at the same time.
also found you need to keep the handpump primed or air gets back into the line and starts sucking air backwards from the handpump...hope that makes some sense!!

 

[macca]

Thanks Macca, that seems to have fixed the gas problem, working again now

I hadn't noticed any water leaking from under the van when on mains, but that doesn't mean there wasn't any (I'm not the most observantperson ever).
Good to know it's not normal for the pump to do that. We are taking it in next week for some warranty jobs, so will add it to the list...

It can be a common problem, sometimes people think the reg is faulty but it can happen on a hot day, the reg over pressures from the radiant heat from the sun or sometimes it just happens. Always turn gas on slowly and you are normally ok, but always make sure appliances are of before you do. Glad it is working.

 

[andrea]

It is really easy to get airlocks in the tank when filling it especially if using a flow with reasonable pressure. you are better to fill them at a much lower flow rate one tank at a time. Also, the shower uses over 5 litres/minutes (yes I tested after we went through our water super fast) so a 10 minute shower uses over 50L. Washing up uses about 10 ltr and every time plus rinsing and the tap is on there is another litre gone (10 seconds). When you are on tanks you really need to be over concious of water usage. Personally, I would say you had airlocks in your water tanks and proably only had about half of what you thought and just used the water faster than you really thought. When you get home, try it again and maybe pop some cardboard under the van to see if there are any leaks or not.