My rockwood popup is sending water out of the overflow when I turn on the pump. Last month I was using a city water hookup and had no problem. Five days ago, I filled the fresh water tank and water was flowing correctly. The next day the pump kept running with little water coming out the faucet, I heard water running outside and saw that it was coming from a plastic tube which I didn,t even know existed but which I think is an overflow valve. Any ideas lou loibl ohio
water tank overflow
- Thread starter lkaymart
- Start date
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Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Your tank does have a combination overflow and vent pipe, but the pump shouldn't be in a position where it could send water out it, even if it failed somehow. The pump sucks water From the tank and pushes it into the piping, so any place it pushes water out must be on the output side and not the tank side. I'm thinking the tube you see is a drain line of some sort, maybe a low point drain for emptying the lines for winter weather. Maybe a cap on that drain line was lost? Does it have threads, or maybe a valve handle of some sort?
lumpy75
Well-known member
On my old fold down the shut off for the tank drain was inside the camper. Had to lift the seat up and it was mounted to the floor. Make sure you do not have the same but I would think it would drain pump or not.
d_eggman2
Member
Could it be your city water check valve stuck?
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Perhaps broken by some road debris? Or maybe a screw-on cap just vibrated loose while driving? Such things happen once in awhile. Hard to guess about yours without an on-site inspection. Have you identified whether it has an actual valve, or just a cap? If a valve, does it turn and what happens when it does? Some additional clues might help get an answer...
Lou Schneider
Site Team
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2005
- Posts
- 13,250
Did you fill your water tank using the gravity fill on the outside of the rig (where you can insert a hose or funnel) or did you use the valve that fills the tank from the city water connection (the same one that provides city water to your faucets)?
If you used the city water fill, you might have left the valve that fills the tank in the fill position. This routes water from the pressurized side of the system (at the output of the pump) back to the unpressurized side to fill the tank.
With the valve open you'll never develop pressure on the pump's output as it's just being shunted back to the input.
If you used the city water fill, you might have left the valve that fills the tank in the fill position. This routes water from the pressurized side of the system (at the output of the pump) back to the unpressurized side to fill the tank.
With the valve open you'll never develop pressure on the pump's output as it's just being shunted back to the input.
John From Detroit
Well-known member
The pump can not send water out the overflow.. The over flow is connected to the TOP of the tank, the pump to the bottom, If turning on the pump causes water to flow out of a tube,, Odds are you have eitehr
1: An open low point drain (High probability)
2: A broken pipe (low, very low).
1: An open low point drain (High probability)
2: A broken pipe (low, very low).
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
If your pump keeps running, it is unable to build enough pressure to reach the shut-off point. That says either (1) the water is being pumped somewhere, or (2) the pump is bad, or (3) the pump is unable to suck enough water in to build pressure. #1 is caused by water going out somewhere through a leak, back into the fresh tank (if the water system has a tank fill bypass valve). #2 means the pump diaphragm has failed and it simply isn't pumping enough water. #3 is caused by either a clogged intake screen on the pump or a leak in the pump intake hose, i.e. it is sucking air instead of water.
I would check #3 first - it's a common problem.
