Water leak?

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ip076

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Joined
Apr 11, 2017
Posts
139
So, while looking into modifying my 5er's basement a little to gain some storage, I'm wondering if I have a leak in the water heater.

I can hear a "ticking" sound, almost like water dripping on steel or aluminum.  The pump will run for about 3 seconds out of every 45 or so.  The ticking will go away, eventually returning, and after few seconds the pump kicks on and the cycle continues.  Being a newbie, I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but it doesn't seem like it should be normal to me. 

Any thoughts?
 
This is not normal. Once the pump shuts off, if the system has no leaks, it will not turn on again until the pressure drops. If it's starting without opening any faucets, either the check valve at the pump which stops the pressure from going back into the fresh water tank is leaking by or you have a leak someplace. Time to start investigating.
 
Thank you.

Do you think the noise from the water heater has anything to do with it, or is that coincidental?

I should add I have not found any evidence of water anywhere.  There are no leaks under the RV.  I've noticed the water pressure at my kitchen sink isn't what I thought it would be, but I chalked that up to an RV thing versus a house thing.  I wonder if maybe the pump itself is bad.  I'll look for the check valve.  Any idea where I might find that?  there are only two lines into the pump, and they both come from the water connection panel. 
 
Go listen to the water heater in your house or the house furnace when its heating. It pops and ticks and makes all kinds of sound. Its heating metal. Very similar to the outside of your house if you have an area that gets sunbaked, the siding will make sound as well when the sun is baking it. Boil a pot of water in a tea pot, without the whistle, it makes sounds and ticks and pops etc. The hot water heater in houses you will hear a dripping as well because of condensation that the large tank of water has ( a metal glass of water thats cold sitting in a warm area will sweat and drip when heated) Just my two cents.
 
ip076 said:
Thank you.

Do you think the noise from the water heater has anything to do with it, or is that coincidental?

I should add I have not found any evidence of water anywhere.  There are no leaks under the RV.  I've noticed the water pressure at my kitchen sink isn't what I thought it would be, but I chalked that up to an RV thing versus a house thing.  I wonder if maybe the pump itself is bad.  I'll look for the check valve.  Any idea where I might find that?  there are only two lines into the pump, and they both come from the water connection panel.

The check valve is part of the pump. I doubt very much that the pump would be bad. It's only a year old. Is the RV still covered by a warrantee? If it is, take it back if you can't find anything obvious.  Does it still cycle on and off?
 
I think this is really an educational thing for me...There's a four way valve at the water connection:  City, Tank, Normal, and Sanitize.

City is obviously for connection to the city water service.  Tank feeds the fresh water tank from the connected hose.  I assume Sanitize is for cleaning the tank, haven't gotten there yet.  When I'm using fresh water from the tank should this valve be in "Normal" or "Tank"?  I assumed Normal was it...and with it set to Normal the pump runs as previously described.  If the valve is in "Tank" it doesn't run as described, but only when the faucet is turned on...thought it seems to be pretty low pressure. 

I'll dig out the book and do some reading too.

The RV does have a warranty on it. 
 
I should also add that I'm 2,000 miles away from where I bought it, not planning on being back that way for probably 18 months.  I could take it to a service center locally, if I do I'll probably wait  until I have to leave for work again and just leave it with them.
 
So, I did a little more investigation.

I unhooked the output of the water pump and held a rubber stopper in the port.  I turned the pump on and held it for a bit, long enough that it should have turned on twice based on my last experience.  The pump did not turn on as it has been, so I think I've eliminated the pump as a suspect.

I'm now leaning toward the four way Anderson water hookup valve.  When you turn it to city (no pressure since there's no hookup) the dripping sound goes away...no surprise.  When I turned it back to Normal, there was a hissing or sucking sound from the valve, and then the pump would run as it has been.  I turned it back to City, let it sit for a while, and turned it back to Normal.  No sucking or hissing sound, and the pump hasn't turned on unwarranted yet.  I might see if I can source a valve replacement locally tomorrow. 
 
If you have an exterior shower be sure to check it too.  Very common for people to turn it off at the sprayer and not the taps.

 
8Muddypaws said:
If you have an exterior shower be sure to check it too.  Very common for people to turn it off at the sprayer and not the taps.

I do, thanks for the help.  I did check it, but it was shut off at the taps.  I will admit, I shut it off at the sprayer first and then the taps.

Thanks again for the help.  I'm pretty sure it's that valve.  It hasn't acted up since I posted yesterday, so I think I'm going to take a wait and see approach since I can't find one locally anyways. 

 
Just to close this thread out, the leak was definitely coming from the fill valve...which oddly enough has a "Kantleak" name stamped on it...right...

Anderson sells a replacement cartridge that swaps out the core of the valve, similar to a Moen faucet.  Easy enough 30 minute fix, most of that was reading the directions and watching a youtube video to ensure I didn't screw anything up.

 

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