NewbieLurker out of Hiding requesting Water Pressure Help

[Maginnis]

Hi

We're new to caravanning and did our inaugral weekend last weekend, absolutely loved it and can't wait to get out again.

However, we have a water problem and wondered if anyone could shed some light, I'm aware water issues come up regularly so apologies if I am covering old ground but I have used the search option but couldn't find a resolution.

We have an Ace Prestige 25, 2004, 4 berth van. It has a Truma water heater and micro-switched taps (no pressure switch as far as I'm aware). On arrival last weekend, we filled our waterbut, immersed the pump and connected it to the van. Unfortunately in our inexperience we didn't connect it properly and water poured out of the connector to the van, this wasn't a disaster as later when we discovered our water problem, it confirmed the pump was actually working.

Anyway, we opened the taps on 'hot' to allow the onboard hot water tank to fill and remove any air from the pipes, this is where I problem arose as we have very little water pressure coming from the taps once all the air had been expelled.

The taps in the bathroom and kitchen run at exactly the same (slow) flow rate. There is no difference in water pressure whether using hot or cold water.

Strangely the water to the shower is perfectly fine and plentiful enough for a shower - which apparently is a bit of a conundrum. Having further investigated it seems to shower feeds are separate from the taps as they go off in the other direction from two T connections

We were advised to buy a new, faster flow pump, which we did, despite knowing the pump worked as it poured water down the side of the van earlier we didn't connect it up properly, and obviously this didn't resolve the problem.

We have checked for kinks in pipes and squashed pipes in case we have advertantly packed stuff in underbed storage incorrectly, but cannot find any problems.

We, in our limited experience, are at a loss to understand the problem as it affects two different sinks, both hot and cold water (so we have eliminated a blocked pipe????), but doesn't affect the shower.

We have booked for the van to be serviced next week as it's annual one is due and asked the guy to have a look at the water although when I explained it he was stumped too.

I would appreciate any suggestions, and bearing in mind we are newbies, 'lay mans' terms would be much appreciated.

By the way, we did check the outlet valve was set to 'closed' - and even drained it completely and tried again from afresh thinking it may be an airlock.

Many thanks in advance

Tina & Chris

 

[rayc]

hi, If it were me I would start with the cold water supply. When you open a cold tap and the pump runs I think you have said that the pressure is low at both the kitchen and bathrooom sinks. Are you sure there is more pressure at the shower. If you remove the shower head then is the flow considerably more than from the sink taps? If the answer is yes then you have got to start breaking joints through the common part of the sink supplies. Seeeming as it appears you also have the problem with the hot water supply it again points to a problem with the common part of the cold supply. Sorry i can't be of more help.

 

[gary]

As both hot and cold are the same and you have eliminated the pump, the only common ground is the water inlet itself and most likely to be at fault, is a sticking non-return valve within?

 

[Happy-Lappy]

Tina,

You do not state if you were on EHU or running off 12v

If you were running off the battery, then unless this was fully charged this will cause the pressure will drop. It could also mean the pressure swith near the water heater needs adjusting.

Hopefully the problem will be picked up when the service is undertaken,

best regards, Martin

 

[xtrailman]

Just a wild card. But have you checked the pump supply voltage?

Has the water spillage soaked the supply connections.

I dont understand why your shower pressure should be ok, but i am assuming that the shower comes of the the pipework after the two sinks?

If not try a hose pipe on the sink taps and back flush, but dont overdo the pressure.

 

[Maginnis]

Thank you all for your replies:-

Ray (c) - Must confess I didn't take the shower head off to check, but as it took nigh on 5 minutes to fill the kettle from the kitchen tap, but the shower was forceful enough to take Husband by surprise and soak him, I think it's much stronger in the shower. Can you explain what you mean by 'breaking joints through the common part of the sink supplies' please? am I looking for blockages, grit, etc? Thank you for your suggestions, I appreciate your time.

Gary - I like your thinking, however I have no idea what/where the non-return valve would be. We have a truma water system, where the fat blue electric and water cable plugs into the van appears to be a sealed unit, is it something I can easily buy and replace or would the guy servicing it next week have to do it? Thanks for the suggestion, it's not one anyone has mentioned before and makes sense

Happy-Lappy - we were running on EHU (we were in Sandy Balls in the New Forest). Battery was/is full charged, I have become rather anal about making sure it is LOL. As far as I'm aware we don't have a pressure switch as they are microswitched taps??? I'm very happy to be corrected on that if I'm wrong, and if so, how can I identify the switch, there is nothing mentioned in the manual about one as it talks about the taps controlling the pump.

Ray - Pump Supply voltage, again not something we thought to check but having bought a new faster flow pump which made no difference to the flow rate, I'm assuming it's ok. I did wonder if my connecting it up wrong the first time and flooding water down the side of the van soaked the connections somehow so we dried it all off, left it for a few hours before reconnecting, but it may well be a cause.

I considered back flushing, but as I'm a novice I don't want to do more damage. I also considered attaching a hose pipe to the inlet and directly to the tap to determine if its the taps or pipework, but again, in my ignorance I don't want to make things worse.

I appreciate all the suggestions, and will put them to the guy doing the service next week, maybe he won't think I'm such a numpty if I can 'talk the talk' even if I can't 'walk the walk' LOL.

I will update if/when we have a resolution.

Best regards

Tina & Chris

 

[Robtel]

Hi Tina,

Bit of a long shot this but might be worth the telling.

Some years ago with a previous van I had a similar problem with low ater pressure from kitchen tap - bathroom and shower was o.k.

I noticed at the end of the kitchen tap, the businees end where the water comes out (please excuse the non techie descrpitions) there were two flat surfaces opposite each other and it seemed as though this part could be unscrewed. A small spanner did undo this and I found there was a small finely meshed filter inside. This was partially blocked with charcoal particles from the main water filter. A quick rinse under a tap to clear it and the water flow was o.k.

Do you have anything similar or even a clogged filter elsewhere?

Hope you get it sorted out o.k.

Robert

 

[ThePlotter]

You beat me to it,take the tap filters off and clean them ,(there aren't any on the shower which might explain things)they get blocked with as said bits from the filter if you have one and also if using hard water a lot they clog with calcium.Let us know what the problem was when you get it sorted

 

[Maginnis]

Rob-T & The Plotter,

Thanks for suggestions, we did consider taking the taps apart but thought it might become a big job. It's perfectly reasonable to suspect the grit/calcium thing, and potentially it could happen to both but not affect the shower.

We're hoping to pop down to the van tomorrow for some bits and pieces, I'll take the plumbers wrench and Cillit Bang with me and see what damage I can do!!!

Will definitely update when we get a resolution, I really really appreciate the suggestions and help, you lot are fab )

Tina

 

[SirRogerFFS]

Hi Tina , we have an Ace Supreme twinstar and on our second trip had a similar problem ours just turned out to be be air somewhere in the system and we just kept pumping it thro but also have the problem as mentioned above and that was to change the fliters at the end of the taps, an easy job to do .

Now here is a stupid one for you when drained down for the winter have you made sure the drain tap is fully closed off .(worth a try),Im sure there is an easy solution for you .

Regards Sir Roger

 

[Maginnis]

******Update*******

Which one of you lovelies mentioned grit/calcium in the tap filters?????? Ah, that would be you Rob-T, and The Plotter, what clever little sweethearts you both are!!!

We took the screw end of the tap in the kitchen to find a massive build up of gunk, strange hair like substances, bits of leaf, grit, grime and all sorts of unmentionable bits - yuk!

We turned the tap on with no filter on the end and had perfect water pressure on both hot and cold which means it has to be the filter thing, although that was quite obvious from just looking at it. I have taken a picture but not sure if I can upload it to the thread. I might try later. Low and behold the bathroom one was exactly the same.

We cleaned them with Cillit bang which has helped a bit, but we're planning a visit to our local caravan suppliers to buy some new end bits, see, ever technical with my descriptions!!

I really really really appreciate everyone's help in sorting out the problem and without your help we wouldn't have had the confidence to take the taps apart to see, but I'm so happy we did.

Best regards and happy 'vanning

Tina & Chris