Casita 17 Spirit Deluxe pump and furnace

[Dan Felipe R]

Hi folks-
My trailer is a 2008 Casita Spirit Deluxe.
I could use some help with Plumbing and heating questions.
1. Is a Casita water pump supposed to run with a loud groaning sound wherever a tap is open? The noise is not as bad once the pump has run several times, which I’m guessing might be because the air has been purged. The water pressure is ok for cooking and washing up but isn’t really enough to run the shower.

2. One of the original joints on a red (hot) plastic water line drips a bit at a tee. It has a compression band. What’s the right way to fix this?

3. Is there any way to quiet the furnace (other than turn it off)? Seems to be mostly fan noise. This might be state of the art; my brother has a noisy furnace in his RV and has to sleep with earplugs.

Thanks, cheers.

[jerrybob]

Hi Dan......

Sounds like your pump is either clogged......there is a filter inside that can be cleaned or is shot. I would personally replace the pump......it should run your shower.

You might try a hose clamp on the leak.....might be an easy fix.

Yes....the furnances are loud.....if you camp with hook ups.....many of us carry a small electric heater.....our small trailers warm up very quickly.

Good luck.

[Casita Greg]

I'd check the inflow screen filter for debris as jerrybob mentioned. It should look something like this, and should be just before the pump intake between the fresh water tank and the water pump. They are often crudded up with debris, (but that's what they're there for.)

And you may also want to unscrew your faucet aerator screens and check them as well. They are also known for debris clogging them as well.

And, while they do make a furnace mod kit with different fans to replace the factory fans in the furnace, they won't gain you much in the way of quiet because most of the noise comes from the furnace motor itself. There really isn't a good way to make them quiet enough to sleep next to. Just the nature of the beast. I have a 2008 17 SD as well, and I replaced the factory fans with the so-called hush kit mod. All I can say is save your money.

[Dan Felipe R]

Thanks, Jerry and Greg-
I will check the filter screen on the pump, good tip. We leave the big back bed made up so I’ll have to crawl under and try to fix the leak and clean the pump at one go. Or three, with trips to the store in between….

I did come across forum threads on replacing the furnace motor and fan together with the newer SEQ stuff—does that improve noise more than just the fan?

We stayed warm enough under three blankets and quilts without the furnace so that may suffice until temps go under 40° again. My wife is an awfully light sleeper. Our camping is going to be 80% without hookups so resistance heating isn’t much help.

[jerrybob]

You're welcome. Not sure any mod kit for the heater will solve your noise problem.....especially for a light sleeper. The size of our trailers combined with the location of the heater is just not gonna be your friend. Maybe some really good sleeping bags is the answer if you camp without hook ups in cold weather???? Best of luck....safe travels.

[Dan Felipe R]

Today’s win: cleaned some nasty tarry ick out of the pump filter screen so I know that’s not the problem. Hah — if anything now the pump output is weaker. So I ordered a replacement Flo Jet pump from Casita which has a very reasonable price. I will still check out the old pump internals just in case but I will have a complete fix either way.

The furnace noise will drop way down the priority list as it doesn’t sound like throwing money at it will make enough difference.

Next up in my cavalcade of fun chores: a valvectomy, gray vent mod, installing 250W of solar panels and a Victron charge controller.

Happy trails.

[Casita Greg]

Originally Posted by Dan Felipe R

I did come across forum threads on replacing the furnace motor and fan together with the newer SEQ stuff—does that improve noise more than just the fan?

The "hush kit" I installed on the furnace was basically the SEQ (Q for quiet,) revision that the factory did a while back as their lame attempt to quiet down that noisy furnace, and really the only difference that was made from the SE version is the different fan wheels. It would make no sense to replace the motor itself, as that, in and of itself, would cost about as much as the furnace is worth. And fwiw, I didn't realize any appreciable gain in "quiet" when the furnace is running with the mod kit. Also, we generally don't use the furnace. We usually camp with hook-ups, and we use a small super quiet 6,000 BTU electric ceramic element heat cube for heating the trailer. You don't even notice that it is even on.

[Dan Felipe R]

Thanks for the clarification, Greg — I hear you loud and clear. Being more on the boondocking side of the spectrum, we will be fair weather campers and travel with a heavier quilt in spring and fall.

[StevenMaria]

You should really pay attention to the dripping water leak. If it starts spraying, you can do an incredible amount of damage. a picture would be very helpful to plan the repair, but here are some things to think about. the pex in Casitas are clamped with copper alloy rings. The problem with these is if they stretch like in a freezing condition, they do not shrink back down as the stainless steel ones will. you’ll find at Lowe’s or other stores. as steel has a certain amount of springiness. Steel rings clamp down with a special tool, which is actually smaller than the one you used for the copper repair. This is good in tight places. you’ll need this tool and also a Pex tubing cutter. I think you will likely damage the Pex when you try and cut off that ring. That being said you’re probably going to want to cut back the leaking piece, some distance and splice a new piece in. Pex is very stiff, so in planning this you’re going to want some wiggle room in the pipes section you are working. The actual clamping process is very simple and fast buy some tubing and practice with your new tools.

[computerspook]

I have a scamp and yeah the furnace is not very quiet. But the good news is that it will do a great job. I have "camped" while operational at a emergency incident in the winter and it did its job. It even kept things warm(ish) when instead of sleeping quarters the camper turned into operational HQ in zero degree weather. That meant that the door was opening every few minutes. So there generally is a lot of capacity there in these.


Now I do find that at about 20F I need to heat the tanks a bit. Otherwise the propane will not boil fast enough for 20,000BTUs. Have used a variety of systems for this mostly heat lamps. But I found a cheaper heater on amazon that takes 80W when it is on. That is more doable.

Now when I don't have hook ups I generally am using more power than a battery can provide for any length of time so I use a generator. That does the trick for AC and if need be radient heat. Just a thought. Many are pretty quiet.


I do find that some kind of a suit case or tool box or two between the bunk and the furnace will in fact quiet it noticeably.

[Dan Felipe R]

Originally Posted by StevenMaria

You should really pay attention to the dripping water leak. If it starts spraying, you can do an incredible amount of damage.

Steve that is good advice, I realize I will have to learn to repair the tubing but it was not as high on my priority list as it should be. And I didn’t know that the red and blue tubing is in the same family as Pex.
The leak is directly below the hot water diverter valve where there are a lot of short pieces of tubing and not much space. How does one cut through the band - hacksaw?

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by Dan Felipe R

Steve that is good advice, I realize I will have to learn to repair the tubing but it was not as high on my priority list as it should be. And I didn’t know that the red and blue tubing is in the same family as Pex.
The leak is directly below the hot water diverter valve where there are a lot of short pieces of tubing and not much space. How does one cut through the band - hacksaw?

Might try a vibro/oscillating saw

[StevenMaria]

Dremel tool

[StevenMaria]

so is the leak in the blue line that goes down from the diverter valve and into a fitting that right angles into the bottom of the hw heater?

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by StevenMaria

Dremel tool

Probably in a good other good choice