Dump valve stuck open

dazdaz65

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2
Hi All
Please be gentle with me, I'm new to motorhomes.
I have 05 Ci Carioca 644
I haven't had it long and as I've said I'm new to all this and don't really know how things should work so here goes.
The dump valve (something I knew nothing about) next to the water heater under the FB decided to open and I lost all my fresh water.
When I tried to close it by lifting the red button, it just kept flicking back down to open again as if it was energized?
Left it a few days and now it operates as I think it should ie stays shut when I lift the said red button.
Now it might have been a glitch that's sorted it self out but thats not really what I want to know.
On the 3 or 4 occasions I've been away in the van I've had no issues but to run a tap, hot or cold, I first have to turn on the pump at the control panel then open said tap. As soon as I turn on the pump I can hear it kicking in and I use what water I need, then turn off the tap, but the pump continues to run until I turn it off at the control panel.
I really want to know is this normal procedure?
I have a canal boat and the pump remains on all the time and only kicks in when I open a tap, then shuts off when I close the tap. A flow switch controls the pump automatically.
Should my van be the same?
Can anyone on here advertise
Many thanks
Daz
 
Was it cold outside when this happened?

In my van the dump valve will automatically below 3 or 4degC if the heater isn't turned on, which is why I used to leave it on minimum setting all through the winter.

I've heard of people holding the valve closed with a clothes peg, but then you run the risk if freezing and damaging your boiler.

The pump will run because with the dump valve open it can't build up enough pressure to turn off. Presumably the water that you run off through the taps had lots of air in it?
 
Andy is right about careful use of a peg to hold the switch up, but are you actually using the van at the moment?
If not leave things as they are and allow the water to drain away.
If you are using the van, I’m presuming you have some form of heating at night to keep the switch at a reasonable temp to allay any risk of frost. Your dump switch is temperature sensitive and will not allow water to freeze in the system, hence if it gets too cold it releases the valve and dumps all your water.
As far as the taps go,I’m not sure if you have micro switches inside each tap, or a pressure pump operating inline somewhere.
If you have a pressure pump, you can adjust the tap ‘run’ by turning the Phillips screw at the bottom of the pump.
 
That all makes sense with regards to the dump valve as it was cold when the issue happened.
Brilliant I'm more savvy than a couple of hours ago:p
But the pump needing to be switched on and off manually when I want to run a tap.
Is that normal?
Sorry to be a pain
 
dazdaz65 said:
That all makes sense with regards to the dump valve as it was cold when the issue happened.
Brilliant I'm more savvy than a couple of hours ago:p
But the pump needing to be switched on and off manually when I want to run a tap.
Is that normal?
Sorry to be a pain
Click to expand...
No that’s not normal the pump should go on when running a tap then go off when you turn the tap off mine only stays on if I haven’t purged all the air out of the system but when the tap stops spluttering and the water is free flowing the pump goes off with the tap, hope this makes sense.
 
No you shouldn’t have to turn the pump on and off. Again it depends what type of taps and pump you have in your van.
If you have the sort of taps with micro switches inside them they are made by Reich and spares can be found on eBay.
If you have a pressure pump, it should start pumping when a tap is opened, and stop when the tap is closed. It could be that you have an airlock in the pipe work..
Now that the temp has risen slightly, you could try draining all the water completely. Then refill the tank with fresh clean water.
First go round and open each Hot tap in turn and wait for it to run well with no spluttering.
Then go round and do the same with each cold tap and wait for it to run well.
The purpose of this is to make sure the hot water boiler has been filled completely with no air bubbles anywhere.
Now, check what type of water pump that you have. If you have a Sureflo, it will be a pressure pump and can soon be adjusted or repaired or even replaced.
Let me know how you get on.
 
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Modern Truma dump valves open at 3 degrees but won't latch closed again under 7 degrees. Put the the heating on for a while then try again.
 
If you
drain the fresh water (by operating the dump valve) when you finish your last day of holiday before you start your journey home,
and open all the taps
and turn on the pump for a while till the water stops running
and open the grey water dump tap
Then turn off the pump, leave all the taps open and drive home, any (most of) the water in the pipes, the pump and most importanty the boiler will find its way to the grey water tank and empty itself as you drive round corners, over bumps and so on. I believe that doing this means you don't have to worry about heating the system when it is parked up.

If you need to refill the fresh tank and go away in the camper and the frost dump valve is open you can close it quicker by blowing a hair drier at it
 
I never dump my water, when I get home I just turn the pump off that way if the frost valve kicks in it only dumps the 10 litres in the boiler rather that 10 + 75litres in the main tank.
 
Why carry around 75kg (= 75 litres of water) around with you - you are using fuel and brakes unnecessarily. And suppose you are close to your MGW it might tip you over the limit if you are stopped and weighed.
 
Campervanannie said:
I never dump my water, when I get home I just turn the pump off that way if the frost valve kicks in it only dumps the 10 litres in the boiler rather that 10 + 75litres in the main tank.
Click to expand...
that means you have stagnant water for your next trip :unsure: good luck with that 🤮
 
cheyenne said:
that means you have stagnant water for your next trip :unsure: good luck with that 🤮
Click to expand...
Water takes over 6 months to go stagnant and that’s water just sat doing nothing but constant usage for washing, showering and topping up will last much longer plus we don’t drink from the tank and we try not to waste water unnecessarily.
 
gasgas said:
Why carry around 75kg (= 75 litres of water) around with you - you are using fuel and brakes unnecessarily. And suppose you are close to your MGW it might tip you over the limit if you are stopped and weighed.
Click to expand...
I’d rather carry the water than waste it just to save a few pennies on fuel and weight wise according to my local ish weigh bridge I am under fully loaded plus water and fuel onboard.
 
Campervanannie said:
I’d rather carry the water than waste it just to save a few pennies on fuel and weight wise according to my local ish weigh bridge I am under fully loaded plus water and fuel onboard.
Click to expand...
Same here Annie last time I got weighed fully loaded I still had 100kg to play with
 
I still don't see why you would want to carry the weight of another adult around with you everywhere. Water isn't expensive to replace, I can't see any point in carrying it around when you aren't going to use it. We drink the tank water, all water in Europe is dosed with chlorine so it's quite safe.
 
Campervanannie said:
I’d rather carry the water than waste it just to save a few pennies on fuel and weight wise according to my local ish weigh bridge I am under fully loaded plus water and fuel onboard.
Click to expand...
On the other hand, if you're using extra fuel to move the water then you're creating more emissions. I wonder whether there is a way of determining which option is more environmentally friendly. :)
 
gasgas said:
If you
drain the fresh water (by operating the dump valve) when you finish your last day of holiday before you start your journey home,
and open all the taps
and turn on the pump for a while till the water stops running
and open the grey water dump tap
Then turn off the pump, leave all the taps open and drive home, any (most of) the water in the pipes, the pump and most importantly the boiler will find its way to the grey water tank and empty itself as you drive round corners, over bumps and so on. I believe that doing this means you don't have to worry about heating the system when it is parked up.

If you need to refill the fresh tank and go away in the camper and the frost dump valve is open you can close it quicker by blowing a hair drier at it
Click to expand...
Not sure how water from the boiler would find its way into the grey water tank; dump valve normally dumps it straight out. Also, leaving the grey water outlet open when driving can create the wrong impression and harm the image of motorhomers. In my case, I would also be worried about losing the grey water outlet cover.
 
10kg of water isn’t going to make any effect on fuel economy for a campervan/motorhome I wouldn’t think, not unless the motor is very underpowered anyway. They are as aerodynamic as a brick.

I wouldn’t dream of travelling without water. I suppose it’s not so bad if you use campsites and the like but then it’s better to have a caravan
 
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