FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Topic: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320 (Read 2924 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: Help - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #25 – March 19, 2020, 10:43:01 pm

Any chance it could be in the pump itself?

Re: Help - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #26 – March 19, 2020, 11:23:33 pm

Quote from: rbark – March 19, 2020, 10:43:01 pm

Any chance it could be in the pump itself?

I opened a drain valve (on the output side of the pump) with the pump on, and volume was great out the drain valve. So I need to look past that point.

Plus flow is low inside the coach on shore water with pump off. I don't think shore water passes through the pump? (Or does it? I'll check tomorrow).

Re: Help - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #27 – March 20, 2020, 12:09:51 am

Resolved.

Some last night and some this morning, I had cleaned the screens on the output side of the bath sink faucet head, and on the kitchen sink faucet head, finding many mineral deposits.

I had removed the faucet head on the kitchen sink and cleaned the inside where the hose attaches (input side) . I had removed the shower head and soaked it in vinegar, and removed deposits on the input side, and scrubbed the output side of the shower head.

I just did all that again - and all of them once again had heavy mineral deposits. Freshly cleaned for the second time in less than 24 hours, water flow at both sinks and shower head are restored again.

My theory is a bunch of mineral deposits were indeed in the basement water system, somewhere between the check valve and the faucets/shower head, blocking flow. If so, much of it has now broken loose, working their way out. I might have broken it loose by turning the water manifold valves on and off, or the fill check valve manual shutoff on and off twice.

I will clean these faucets and shower head daily until deposits stop showing up. And sometime in the near future, I will acquire 5 gallons of vinegar, use the input side of the water pump, and pump vinegar to every faucet, toilet, and the washer lines, both hot and cold, and let it soak a few hours.

Based on what I am seeing, I bet a great deal of mineral deposits will come out the lines after vinegar soaking.

I am a bit embarrassed that it was clogged again at the faucet heads, and that it was the cause of low flow even after cleaning once. It never occurred to me it could plug up again in less than 24 hours, since we always use a filter at the spigot.

Thank you all for the help and advice. Once I vinegar soak I will update this thread. It may be a while based on where we are, and we are trying hard to socially isolate due to the virus right now. Thankfully, we can now still avoid the campground restrooms and showers (hard surfaces in them).

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #28 – March 20, 2020, 08:29:57 am

Any type of water heater is another place that mineral deposits can accumulate. When I cleaned out our OEM Atwood propane water heater, I was surprised at how much "stuff" came out. No telling how long it had been since the last cleaning...if ever. The little CAMCO plastic tube water hose clean-out device was a big help in removing the loose minerals.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #29 – March 20, 2020, 08:40:24 am

Those mineral deposits are coming from the hot water side. With the Aqua Hot system off and cold, the coach hooked up to city water, open the low point hot water valve. I put a large pan under the drain to recycle the water in the garden and placed a screen under the drain to catch any debris and out came some sand looking grit and mineral deposits. I kept doing this till it came out clean. I was surprised on the amount of garbage that came out. For now no more garbage in the faucet screens. The flushing works better with the city water connection because of the constant water pressure. I would like to put vinegar in the Aqua Hot system hot water line but I haven't figured it out how to do that yet.

John M

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #30 – March 20, 2020, 08:50:03 am

I remove the faucet screens every fall before putting the coach in storage. Come spring I flush the lines.
Our hot water was getting cloudy and had an odor (this about four years ago) so I filled the water heater & all the lines with 5% vinegar and then turned on the water heater for 24 hours. Amazing how clean the water has been since.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #31 – March 20, 2020, 09:14:46 am

Quote from: John Morales – March 20, 2020, 08:40:24 am

I would like to put vinegar in the Aqua Hot system hot water line but I haven't figured it out how to do that yet.

See my post above, but just "winterize" the closest hot tap (by plumbing length) to the AquaHot with vinegar.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #32 – March 20, 2020, 11:46:25 am

Any suggestions on full strength vinegar versus diluted to some degree with distilled or tap water to clean deposits out of water lines?

When I clean our electric tea kettle of deposits, 50 percent tap water to 50 percent vinegar cleans it in two boil cycles.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #33 – March 20, 2020, 11:57:35 am

I drink it full strength, no reason not to do the same in your water system or tea kettle.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #34 – March 20, 2020, 01:21:19 pm

There are water softeners for Rv. You hook it up inline as you are filling. You can use other then salt. Potassium to soften. That takes the worry of salt out of the operation.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #35 – March 20, 2020, 01:48:58 pm

Quote from: AC7880 – March 20, 2020, 11:46:25 am

Any suggestions on full strength vinegar versus diluted to some degree with distilled or tap water to clean deposits out of water lines?

Yeah... full strength, and don't be in too big of a hurry to rinse the vinegar out... 6 hours of soaking wouldn't be too long. When you rinse, remove the aerator/head, do one fixture at a time for maximum flow, and don't shut off the fixture until the water runs clear. Closing some valves when there's chucks of crud flowing will tear-up the seals/o-rings.

Great to hear you found the problem

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #36 – March 20, 2020, 06:27:07 pm

How about the use of a boiler descale solution. Is that too strong for our system?
John M.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #37 – March 20, 2020, 06:54:13 pm

Quote from: John Morales – March 20, 2020, 06:27:07 pm

How about the use of a boiler descale solution. Is that too strong for our system?
John M.

Approved for potable water systems?

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #38 – March 20, 2020, 07:58:19 pm

Still getting debris out at the faucet heads (on hot water side). Must be a bunch breaking loose at once.

I'll vinegar wash sometime fairly soon.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #39 – March 20, 2020, 08:47:32 pm

Quote from: AC7880 – March 20, 2020, 07:58:19 pm

Still getting debris out at the faucet heads (on hot water side). Must be a bunch breaking loose at once.

On a positive note - if it's breaking loose without intervention, it won't take you as long to descale the rest of the system

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #40 – March 20, 2020, 10:13:57 pm

You need to let the vinegar soak for 24 hours, not just a couple hours. If you add it while leaving a hot water faucet open until you smell and taste vinegar, you will have filled the Aqua-Hot with the vinegar solution. You should regularly open the hot water drain until the water runs clear.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #41 – March 20, 2020, 11:00:50 pm

Quote from: amos.harrison – March 20, 2020, 10:13:57 pm

You need to let the vinegar soak for 24 hours, not just a couple hours. If you add it while leaving a hot water faucet open until you smell and taste vinegar, you will have filled the Aqua-Hot with the vinegar solution. You should regularly open the hot water drain until the water runs clear.

Full timing, so 24 hours would be tough. I can do 12 - 16 hours, twice if need be - a week or two apart. We are avoiding campground showers etc right now. We are really serious about social distancing and avoiding public area hard surfaces.

Probably do first batch next week after getting vinegar and 3 - 4 foot of hose for the input side of the water pump.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #42 – March 21, 2020, 09:28:46 am

Quote from: AC7880 – March 20, 2020, 11:00:50 pm

Probably do first batch next week after getting vinegar and 3 - 4 foot of hose for the input side of the water pump.

Check the spares/parts that came with the coach for the hose we used for that.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #43 – March 21, 2020, 05:22:31 pm

Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie – March 20, 2020, 08:29:57 am

Any type of water heater is another place that mineral deposits can accumulate. When I cleaned out our OEM Atwood propane water heater, I was surprised at how much "stuff" came out. No telling how long it had been since the last cleaning...if ever. The little CAMCO plastic tube water hose clean-out device was a big help in removing the loose minerals.

Whoaaaaa

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #44 – March 21, 2020, 05:28:48 pm

That is NOT atypical for a water heater that has not been serviced in a couple of years.

And, I use the "cheap fix"-- 5' of cheap clear vinyl hose from any hardware store. Fill water tank, turn off pump, open faucet to depressurize, remove drain plug, insert hose, start siphon and "vacuum" the bottom of the tank. Repeat until no minerals come out.

Yes, this is for a propane water heater,

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #45 – March 31, 2020, 11:03:10 pm

Vinegar flush fresh water system:
Over a period of time I was able to acquire 4 gallons of white vinegar. (it was in short supply due to corona virus supply chain issues).

Symptoms before flush: Kitchen sink faucet, bath faucet, shower head clogging quickly with mineral hard water deposits. Hot water low point drain on passenger side by water manifold running slow, low point drain on drivers side at Aqua Hot running normally.

I did not know how many gallons of vinegar I needed, so acquired 4 gallons (when I was actually searching for 5 gallons).

First on the under kitchen sink water filter, I turned the valve off to ensure no vinegar would reach the filter. I had the AH off for about 1.5 hours prior (both electric and diesel)

In the basement, I shut off the valve next to the fresh water tank that feeds to the input side of the 12 volt water pump. I removed the hose on the input side of the water pump, and attached 3 feet of 1/2" hose, putting the other end into the first gallon of vinegar. Turned on water pump, opened hot water side of outside faucet in the dump bay. The pump successfully pulled vinegar. By second gallon pure vinegar was flowing out the outside faucet and both low point hot water drains.

With gallons 3 and 4, I ran vinegar to cold water drain points both sides, cold water outside faucet, hot water side kitchen sink (faucet head removed), hot water side bath sink (screen removed) hot water side shower hose (shower head removed).

At hot water drain points and the faucets, blue colored vinegar was flowing out. I "assume" this is a chemical reaction of vinegar to copper in the AquaHot. That blue vinegar stains, so keep that in mind.

With vinegar remaining, ran vinegar to hot water side washer. Ran vinegar to cold water side kitchen, bath, and shower. Vinegar in the 4th gallon was nearly gone, got small amount to toilet, and "maybe" a tiny amount to cold side washer. Turned on AquaHot both electric and diesel, left it on for the duration of cleaning.

Left vinegar in cold side faucets, cold drain points, cold side washer for 2 hours and flushed it out with fresh water. No debris from faucets.

Left vinegar in hot side for 18 hours. Flushed all points (starting with low point drains) with fresh water. Lot's of blue vinegar and mineral deposits flushed out. Flushed all points (faucets etc). Water volume to all greatly increased. Water volume to low point hot water drain on water manifold side greatly improved.

One piece I had missed was the backflow preventer on the shower. Removed it to get mineral deposits out.

Lessons learned: 2 gallons is enough to do only the AH to outside faucet hot side, and both low point drains. 4 gallons is enough to run vinegar to hot AND cold, all faucets and low point drains. A 5th gallon would be enough to run vinegar to washer hot/cold, and toilet, with enough left to soak faucet screens and shower head etc.

I will probably now vinegar wash the AH to outside low point drains and outside faucet yearly. Probably add the hot water side to indoor faucets as well.

Not sure any need to do the cold water side as well, but vinegar is pretty inexpensive overall.

Key words for future search: acid wash vinegar flush AquaHot

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #46 – April 01, 2020, 10:11:00 am

Vinegar washing the cold side is unnecessary. Deposits are in the hot side.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #47 – August 09, 2021, 02:54:47 pm

Reading this post interests me as I too have lower pressure on the shower while using the tank and shore water. Listening to the pump while on tank water only it cycles off and on constantly while showering. I would think while the shower is running it would stay running. Is this correct? The pump is a shurflo 4008. I am currently out in the boonies and to do a complete vinegar flush would not work properly. Any suggestions??

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #48 – August 09, 2021, 06:12:47 pm

You probably have an expansion tank. What you describe sounds normal.

Water pressure while connected and using shore water would vary with the pressure coming out of the faucet.

Water pressure using the tanks and pump should be pretty constant. It will cycle on and off while using the water until the expansion tank fills up.

Re: FIXED - low water flow inside coach - both shore and water pump 2003 U320

Reply #49 – August 09, 2021, 06:45:41 pm

Thanks. Yes we do have an expansion tank. Good to know!

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