Water pump

chris1

morning everyone, we were wondering if the water pump needs to stay on if I am using the aldes heater after the heat comes on, when I am using my water tank as opposed to an external hose connect source?  Thanks for your help

Bayliss

@chris1, you do need to turn on your water pump when using water from your fresh water tank and/or Alde hot water tank when not connected to a water supply (e.g., at a campground.)  However, you only need to turn the pump on when you actually need water.  Regardless of whether I am hooked up to water at a campground, or am boondocking, I turn off my water pump when it is not in use.  So, the short answer is "no," the pump does not have to stay on.

chris1

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly

pthomas745

The pump doesn't use any power when it isn't running.  One of the reasons for turning it off is to prevent the faucets from being bumped or opened accidentally.   There have been several stories of owners having issues with wet floors, etc, from this happening while driving.  On my departure checklist, have an item for "pump off".

Denny16

I I always leave the pump,off, unless I am using water.
cheers

JPRoland

If i am in "City Water" mode with a hose connected from the campground water faucet and pressure is low, can I also turn on my water pump to boost pressure? I didn't know if I could use the pump in conjunction with city water. Many times the T@B pump performs way better than a campground's water hook-up.

ScottG

I wouldn't. Pressure regulators are usually advised with city water to keep the pressure below 50 psi. This is to protect the plumbing inside the camper. 

Even regulated at 50 psi, city water supplies are usually more pressurized than what the pump provides. Best case the pump probably wouldn't even turn on because of the exiting pressure. Worst case, the back pressure might damage the pump.

Regardless, even if you could boost the pressure above 50 psi, the safety relief valve near the Alde would open and dump water on the ground under the trailer.

I suppose if you had a really weak city water supply, this could theoretically work. Of course you would also need to keep your fresh water tank full.

Tampakayaker

Wouldn't the pump have to fight against the back flow valve if there is city water pressure?

ScottG

Tampakayaker said:

Wouldn't the pump have to fight against the back flow valve if there is city water pressure?

My thinking is that if the city water pressure was higher than the pump cut-off pressure (and I'd say in most cases it is) the pump would not even run and the check valve on the pump would stay closed. I.e., no fighting involved.

The only time the pump would run is if the system pressure fell below the pump activation pressure. The pump would then run to bring the system pressure back up before cutting off again, just the way it does when you are using the FW tank and are not hooked up to city water.

Again, this is a hypothetical situation with a lot of "ifs." The bottom line is that the pump should just cycle on and off depending on the pressure in the system, regardless of where that pressure is coming from.

The bottom bottom line is that turning the pump switch on while hooked up to any pressurized city water supply will likely do nothing.

Michigan_Mike

Tampakayaker said:

Wouldn't the pump have to fight against the back flow valve if there is city water pressure?

Not really, the pump is pulling water in from the freshwater tank and generally speaking is “down stream” from the city water intake (if you will).  The city water inlet ties directly into the trailers water system, feeds the Alde hot water tank and instantly provides water to the trailer, independent of the freshwater tank and pump.  There is no need to run the pump once you have installed your water pressure regulating valve at the city water source at your campsite and have your hose hooked to the trailer.  The generalized RV schematic attached below gives you a ballpark idea as to how things flow into the trailer. 

Tampakayaker

Michigan_Mike said:

Tampakayaker said:

Wouldn't the pump have to fight against the back flow valve if there is city water pressure?

Not really, the pump is pulling water in from the freshwater tank and generally speaking is “down stream” from the city water intake (if you will).  The city water inlet ties directly into the trailers water system, feeds the Alde hot water tank and instantly provides water to the trailer, independent of the freshwater tank and pump.  There is no need to run the pump once you have installed your water pressure regulating valve at the city water source at your campsite and have your hose hooked to the trailer.  The generalized RV schematic attached below gives you a ballpark idea as to how things flow into the trailer. 

OK.

I thought the one way valve preventing city water from going into the FW tank was on the output of the pump.

Diagram makes it look like it's on the input side of the pump.  Is that correct?

On our first outing on city water (with a filter and regulator) we came back to the camper with water coming out of the FW fill port and a full FW tank.  Luckily all the water was outside the T@B.

Learned 2 things, not to leave water turned on when leaving the site, and that the one way valve can fail.

Hasn't happened on our last two trips so I guess it had debris keeping it from closing properly.

ScottG

The check valve is built into the pump unit. I suspect it's not even a valve per se, but rather just a function of the diaphragm type pump mechanism. Ether way--as you already know--if it fails or gets stuck you will get city water filling your FW tank until it overflows through the fill port.

You might find this discussion interesting.

JPRoland

Awesome. I am glad I asked. You guys are a huge help. I didn't do it, by the way. It just didn't sound right. Thank you for all of this useful information!