Shurflo pump issue

[kman]

Hi there,
I just bought my first RV, a 1998 Gulfstream Seahawk 5th wheel. It did not come with an owners manual.
There is a Shurflo brand water pump which is used to fill the freshwater resevoir. This is different from most RVs, I think. The idea is that it is a selfpriming pump that will draw water from a pail or other supply to fill the tank. That said, I can not get it to function properly. The pump runs however it does not draw water. My trailer is parked on my acreage and I dont have city water there so I am trying to fill the freshwater tank from 5 gallon jugs. I'm just not having any luck. Thanks for any suggestions.

KM

 

[LEN]

RE: Shurflo pump issue

Welcome

First yours is like most 5ers or TT or MH's.
The line you are hooking to is for winterizing the coach.(Do a search on winterizing and you will get all the info needed.)
You have 2 ways of filling the water tank. The connection for city water, which has two options, dirrect from the city water to the coach and no pump just the city water presure and the second to fill the water tank from this connection.
And the second is a gravity fill of one type or another, then you must turn on the water pump and all should be fine.
A side note check to make sure your hotwater heater has water in it before turning it on as you could do damage to an empty tank. The hotwater tank may have a by pass valve system that allows winterizing the coach and emptiing the Hot water tank.

LEN

 

[Guest]

RE: Shurflo pump issue

well first of all welcome to the forums
Now there should be a tank fill spot on the 5er ,, it should be labeled fresh water fill ,, not the city water thing ,, once u fill the on board tank ,, the pump should pick up the water in the tank ,, u only use the city water connection when u hook up at the CG ,, in other words u don;t have to have the pump on when hooked up to CG water supply ,, ,, Ken @ Grandview Trailer Sales might have more info on where U'r tank fill is located ,, he sells Gulf Streams ,, but agian look around the rv ,, u should see a tank fill area ,, most are in the same spot as the city water hookup is ,, JMO :approve: :approve: :approve:

 

[Guest]

RE: Shurflo pump issue

ok ,, Len u beat me too it ,, but u brought out some things i did not think of ,, thank u :approve: :approve: :approve:

 

[Grandview Trailer Sa]

Re: Shurflo pump issue

Kman,
Welcome to the forum.
Gulf Stream does use a "bucket fill" system in their higher end trailers. It is for your set up when you don't have water available. It allows you to take a "bucket" or some source of water to the trailer and fill the fresh water tank. If you pump works after you have water in fresh water tank, you have a valve cut off that is preventing suction in the hose you have coming from your bucket.

Like Len and Rod said, there should ALSO be a gravity feed system that IS like everyone else. It should be labeled fresh water fill. It will have a white cap about 1.5 - 2" in dia. Since you said you don't have fresh water available, it sounds like you are going to have to figure out the bucket fill function.

I am not that familiar how they did it in '98, but look for a valve that is closed going to your source of water. You will also need to close a valve from your fresh water tank, if left open, it will prevent your pump pulling from your bucket.

Good Luck and let us know!

 

[kman]

Re: Shurflo pump issue

Thanks for the quick feedback I will fiddle around with the setup when I am up at the trailer this weekend and report back.
Thanks again.

K

 

[kman]

Re: Shurflo pump issue

OK,
Regarding filling the freshwater tank - The only input on my RV appears to be the "city water connection". I discovered that there is a small stopper valve inside that connection (I expect this is normal) which was preventing me from drawing water into the connection using the pump. I did find that I was able to syphon water in through that connection after wedging the stopper valve open. I put 10 gallons into the tank that was apparently otherwise empty.

With the pump running, and ten gallons of water in the tank, I get a bit of brief sputtering of water when I try any of the faucets in the RV but that is it. What am I doing wrong?

 

[Guest]

Re: Shurflo pump issue

well i still say , u have to have a tank fill somewhere ,, but since u got 10 gals of water in the tank ,, maybe something else ,, Ken might know more than i do on the gulf stream ,, but the little ck valve u seen in the city water hookup ,, that is normal ,, it's a ck valve ,, and kinda like a backflow preventer ,, it makes the city water stay in the lines when u unhook the hose ,, as for the sputtering ,, this is normal untill u get all the air out of the water lines ,, and the water heater ,, just let it run for a bit and they will clear up ,, but make sure u'r water heater is also full of water ,, a good trick to help with air in the WH is to crack the hot water faucet ,, closets to the WH before u connect to city water,, or run u'r pump ,, that way it purges all the air from the WH tank ,, ,, but i still say u got a tank fill somewhere ,, even way back in the mid 70's they had tank fills ,, :approve: :approve:
Btw ,, never seen the picture

 

[C Nash]

Re: Shurflo pump issue

I have never seen a rv w/o a fresh filler but there may be some. I can't believe it would be inside on a fifth wheel. The sputtering is probably like Rod said just air because the hot water tank and lines still have air. there may be a valve on the fresh water inlet that you can switch to fill the fresh tank and there could be valves where the previous owner switched to winterize. Can you get in touch with the previous owner to ask about the fill. Most are easy to see and are located above and near the fresh water tank.

 

[Guest]

Re: Shurflo pump issue

good ,, nash ,, i did not think of the valves ,, i know alot of the new MH's have a one connection spot ,, usally the city water ,, but they have a valve in the service bay ,, and it's usally labeled CITY > TANK ,, i know my MH is a 97 ,, and i still have the little round spot for the tank fill ,, and not even anywhere near the city water hook up ,, infact on the other side of the MH ,, but the valves do make sense ,, but u are right on trying to cantact the original owner ,, but maybe ken might help out somemore when he wakes up form his 12 hr nap :approve: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: