Water pump - Help!

[Teddy]

Hello! Can anyone make a suggestion about this:

I tried to winterize my Escape yesterday, but the water pump would not pull the anti-freeze from the fresh tank through the taps. I put a little over 3 gallons of anti-freeze in the fresh water tank, turned on the pump, and then opened the kitchen tap. The pump is on and making noise like it's working (although it actually sounds quieter than normal), but nothing comes out the of the taps. I tried the hot water tap and the bathroom taps as well. Pump is on, nothing comes through the taps. Any ideas? Thanks!

[cpaharley2008]

There is an Escape option called "E-Z-winerterizing" where you have a hose attached to your pump and by throwing a valve you can put the hose in a bottle of antifreeze and it will suck the antifreeze into your lines. Do you have this option? You do not want to put antifreeze in your fresh tank for several reasons (1) it takes a large volume of liquid and (2) it means you have to flush out your fresh tank. It is easier to use the option and the only flushing is in your water lines.

[gbaglo]

Or, you hand pump it through the city water inlet. Need to have somebody inside to turn the taps on and off.

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by Teddy

I put a little over 3 gallons of anti-freeze in the fresh water tank, turned on the pump, and then opened the kitchen tap. The pump is on and making noise like it's working (although it actually sounds quieter than normal), but nothing comes out the of the taps. I tried the hot water tap and the bathroom taps as well. Pump is on, nothing comes through the taps. Any ideas? Thanks!

What else did you do besides put 3 gallons of anti-freeze in the fresh water tank?

Did you drain your hot water heater?

If you drained your hot water heater did you bypass it afterwards?

Your hot water tank holds 6 gallons, if you drained it and didn't bypass it, you'd have to add more than 6 gallons of anti-freeze to fill it back up before it would come out of the faucets.

If you were partially following the user manual and did change the valve settings, it is possible you bypassed the hot water tank and opened the winterizing valve and are just sucking air into the system there.

You need to more details in what you actually did for someone to help.

[oldwave]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

There is an Escape option called "E-Z-winerterizing" where you have a hose attached to your pump and by throwing a valve you can put the hose in a bottle of antifreeze and it will suck the antifreeze into your lines. Do you have this option? You do not want to put antifreeze in your fresh tank for several reasons (1) it takes a large volume of liquid and (2) it means you have to flush out your fresh tank. It is easier to use the option and the only flushing is in your water lines.

I have this but have never used it, is the valve by the water pump?

[TTMartin]

Originally Posted by oldwave

I have this but have never used it, is the valve by the water pump?

On my Escape 19 it is easily accessible under the bed near the water heater bypass valves and the water pump since they are all in the same area.

You can identify it because it is attached to a short (2 feet or so) section of clear tubing that has an open end.

To use it just stick the end of the clear tube in the bottle of RV antifreeze, turn the valve and turn on the water pump. It will pump the RV antifreeze out of the bottle. When the bottle is empty turn off the water pump and close the valve. If you run more than one bottle of antifreeze through after turning the water pump off, transfer the hose to a new bottle.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Or, you hand pump it through the city water inlet. Need to have somebody inside to turn the taps on and off.

Certainly handier with two people, but I've done it by myself for the past seven years. Lots of walking involved! Just leave a faucet open, pump 3-4 times, go inside and see if anti-freeze is in the drain. Repeat four times, one for each faucet and again for the toilet. I just duct tape the toilet handle open. Dump anti-freeze down the shower drain, bath sink, kitchen sink and toilet. Truly, from start to finish, two gallons of anti-freeze and 20-30 minutes.

[rubicon327]

I assume you bypassed hot water heater otherwise your 3 gallons in fresh tank would have disappeared and would be in the hot water heater tank. Is it possible the pump just lost prime? If you have a strainer installed in the correct orientation you can remove the clear plastic cup, check for debris and add some liquid to restore the prime. As Jim said it is better to not put antifreeze in the fresh tank to begin with if possible.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aL_3kz7y2zM

[Teddy]

Hi!

Yes, I did bypass the water heater. I followed the directions exactly from the Escape manual, and have winterized the trailer in this manner each fall for the past three years. The anti-freeze is, of course, the non-toxic kind. Yes, I do have to flush the water system in the spring.

[Teddy]

I'm going to check the winterizing valve. Not sure I've ever paid attention to it.
What does it mean when the pump "loses prime?" Why does this happen?
Thanks everyone! I appreciate the input.

[Teddy]

Oh! Never mind answering the questions about the pump "losing its prime". I just watched the video. Thanks Rubicon!

[RangerMan]

Originally Posted by Donna D.

Certainly handier with two people, but I've done it by myself for the past seven years. Lots of walking involved! Just leave a faucet open, pump 3-4 times, go inside and see if anti-freeze is in the drain. Repeat four times, one for each faucet and again for the toilet. I just duct tape the toilet handle open. Dump anti-freeze down the shower drain, bath sink, kitchen sink and toilet. Truly, from start to finish, two gallons of anti-freeze and 20-30 minutes.

Don't forget the outside shower (If you have it)

[Teddy]

Hello!

We got the pump working, and were able to pull the antifreeze through the plumbing. Thanks goodness, as it was -9 degrees Celsius here last night.

I followed the video to restore the pump's prime - removed the little cup thing, then added a small amount of water. The water disappeared, but the pump still did not work. Added more water. Still nothing, but when I turned on the kitchen tap, the small amount of water that I had added came out of the tap. So the pump seemed to be able to feed the tap, but still could not draw water from the fresh water tank. In desperation (we knew it was going to be a cold night), we decided to pour a little antifreeze down into the pump and see if we could get that little bit to come out of the taps (I am guessing that's how the winterizing valve would work). Any amount of antifreeze through the taps would give us peace of mind. We poured a whole cup of antifreeze in. It came through the taps, and then the pump suddenly started pulling from the fresh water tank. Hallelujah! I am guessing that the pump "losing its prime" was still the problem. It just took a lot more liquid to get it going than was demonstrated in the video.

I remembered the outdoor shower, toilet, etc. but forgot to pour some antifreeze down the inside shower drain. Have to go back to the storage yard and do that this evening.

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

[Teddy]

Now I just have to figure out how to get my lovely doggy profile pic oriented correctly. Ha! Ha!

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by Teddy

Hello!

We got the pump working, and were able to pull the antifreeze through the plumbing. Thanks goodness, as it was -9 degrees Celsius here last night.

I followed the video to restore the pump's prime - removed the little cup thing, then added a small amount of water. The water disappeared, but the pump still did not work. Added more water. Still nothing, but when I turned on the kitchen tap, the small amount of water that I had added came out of the tap. So the pump seemed to be able to feed the tap, but still could not draw water from the fresh water tank. In desperation (we knew it was going to be a cold night), we decided to pour a little antifreeze down into the pump and see if we could get that little bit to come out of the taps (I am guessing that's how the winterizing valve would work). Any amount of antifreeze through the taps would give us peace of mind. We poured a whole cup of antifreeze in. It came through the taps, and then the pump suddenly started pulling from the fresh water tank. Hallelujah! I am guessing that the pump "losing its prime" was still the problem. It just took a lot more liquid to get it going than was demonstrated in the video.

I remembered the outdoor shower, toilet, etc. but forgot to pour some antifreeze down the inside shower drain. Have to go back to the storage yard and do that this evening.

Thanks so much for the suggestions!

Glad you got it going! If you are interested in installing a permanent winterizing tee valve I recently purchased this quality kit with brass valve. Had to replace a leaking setup that was installed incorrectly by the first owner. It was allowing air to be pulled in so the water flow was reduced and the pump kept running.
https://www.amazon.com/Camco-36543-C...0006JJ588?th=1

[Teddy]

Great! Thanks!

Teddy