Maintenance & Restoration

brettrae · 11-21-2021, 11:02 AM

Hey all. So, due to an illness I was unable to winterize my Scamp before several nights of below freezing temps here at night. Today, when I went to pump RV Antifreeze through the lines, I noticed that my SHURflo pump isn't working. When I opened the faucets, water came out, but when all of the water was out of the lines and I poured 1 gallon of antifreeze into the fresh water tank, no antifreeze came out of the faucets. The pump runs continually without pulling anything from the freshwater tank. I'm afraid to leave it on for long since nothing is coming through it.

I'm assuming a pipe froze and caused a leak? Although I can't find one with just looking. It seems that maybe the tubing from the freshwater tank to the pump would be the culprit, since I was able to drain water from the faucet. Any ideas on what my first steps should be in diagnosing this? It's tough to get to everything, so I wanted to think this through before I started tearing everything apart. Thanks for the help.

Raspy · 11-21-2021, 12:31 PM

Those pumps are better at pumping water than they are air. Since you ran the tank completely out of water, and only added a small amount of water, the pump may not have enough "lift" to pull the water up that far. Sometimes too, only adding a gallon of water isn't enough to completely submerge the pickup tube in the tank, and it will draw air. You may have to add more water to the tank to get it going, and it should not hurt the pump at all to run it dry.

A better solution for the next time might be to add a three way valve on the suction line, with a hose that you can drop into the antifreeze jug. The pump will then draw from the jug instead of the main tank. You can still pour some into the main tank if you want to.

brettrae · 11-21-2021, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raspy

Those pumps are better at pumping water than they are air. Since you ran the tank completely out of water, and only added a small amount of water, the pump may not have enough "lift" to pull the water up that far. Sometimes too, only adding a gallon of water isn't enough to completely submerge the pickup tube in the tank, and it will draw air. You may have to add more water to the tank to get it going, and it should not hurt the pump at all to run it dry.

A better solution for the next time might be to add a three way valve on the suction line, with a hose that you can drop into the antifreeze jug. The pump will then draw from the jug instead of the main tank. You can still pour some into the main tank if you want to.

So I just unplugged the intake tubing and switched it out with tubing that I had submerged in a container of water. When I turned the the pump on, it still didn't suck any water. To me, this proves that there is something wrong with the pump, and not the intake tubing. I'm guessing that the pump must have frozen and gotten damaged. Will probably go ahead and order a replacement to verify if this is the case.

ThomasC · 11-21-2021, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brettrae

So I just unplugged the intake tubing and switched it out with tubing that I had submerged in a container of water. When I turned the the pump on, it still didn't suck any water. To me, this proves that there is something wrong with the pump, and not the intake tubing. I'm guessing that the pump must have frozen and gotten damaged. Will probably go ahead and order a replacement to verify if this is the case.

Hold the intake tube up above the pump and fill the tube with water. Turn it on again and get some water through it then try again. If it still doesn't work you are probably right.

CarlD · 11-21-2021, 04:56 PM

Here is an interesting video on the internals and issues with these pumps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFbTmUG5FTg

computerspook · 11-27-2021, 11:14 AM

A lot of farm supply stores actually sell these pumps. So you might not need to order one. Make sure you get one rate for potable water.

johnlochbuie · 11-27-2021, 12:03 PM

First of all you don't put antifreeze in fresh water tank and one gallon isn't enough for pump to pick it up it is just sucking air plus you need to turn on a faucet for the pump to come on you need to put 3 way valve in intake line just before pump .

gordon2 · 11-27-2021, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnlochbuie

First of all you don't put antifreeze in fresh water tank... you need to put 3 way valve in intake line just before pump .

Well.. in fact you do the first and you don't do the second IF you follow the directions from the manufacturer of the OP's camper (Evelands / Scamp). I put AF in my Scamp's fresh water tank and I did not add a three way valve. There are good reasons one might want to do what you say they must do, but they don't have to them and I'm quite sure that the majority of Scamp owners put AF in the fresh water tanks and do not have a valve to introduce AF between the tank and the pump.

tractors1 · 11-27-2021, 05:45 PM

Try a hair dryer or heat gun on th input piping, working backwards from the pump side.

johnlochbuie · 11-27-2021, 07:52 PM

Well that is fine if you like the taste of antifreeze and you use twice as much antifreeze I use less . half a gallon .

CarlD · 11-27-2021, 08:04 PM

Antifreeze (propylene glycol) is good to eat, it is in all ice cream and many other food.

gordon2 · 11-27-2021, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnlochbuie

Well that is fine if you like the taste of antifreeze and you use twice as much antifreeze I use less . half a gallon .

Those are good reasons to do things your way but you said it had to be done that way.. and it does not. If using AF in the tank you need to buy an extra gallon of AF... under $4 and once a year. I would sooner worry about the cost of another liquid used with camping trailers.. gasoline! Taste is not a concern for me because IMHO no matter how much you try to disinfect the camper water system I would not trust it for consumption. Many people agree that the on board tank is not safe to use for drinking water, so a little residual AF is no concern at all.

AC0GV · 11-27-2021, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gordon2

Well.. in fact you do the first and you don't do the second IF you follow the directions from the manufacturer of the OP's camper (Evelands / Scamp). I put AF in my Scamp's fresh water tank and I did not add a three way valve. There are good reasons one might want to do what you say they must do, but they don't have to them and I'm quite sure that the majority of Scamp owners put AF in the fresh water tanks and do not have a valve to introduce AF between the tank and the pump.

First, Scamp video says to put antifreeze in the fresh tank. Second, if you have room for it, you can unhook from the pump and use a winterizing hose available at most RV dealers and keep the taste out of the tank.