Coach Water Pump - Leave on or not?

[lmichel]

I like to use water from my fresh tank and never connect to the tap, except to fill.

Normally, I'll flip the switch to turn on the pump. Flush, do dishes, wash hands, etc.. I never drink that water. Then, I'll turn the switch off.
Why you ask?
Because when I leave it on, it very slowly loses pressure and the pump has to kick it back up again. Sometimes it'll hold for an hour, sometimes it'll hold for 5 minutes..

However, if the pump is off and the hot water heater electric kicks on, I can actually hear the crackling and roiling of the water heating up. On the other hand, with the pump on and pressure up, the hot water heater is silent when heating the water.

Am I hurting anything with the water heating and the hot water tank full of water but not under pressure?

[lwmcguire]

Rebuild or replace your pump and see if that stops the psig dropping off

We always leave the pump on until we are heading out the door

Use the freshwater tank to minimize lots of issues and to avoid using known bad water in some areas of the country.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by lmichel

I like to use water from my fresh tank and never connect to the tap, except to fill.

Normally, I'll flip the switch to turn on the pump. Flush, do dishes, wash hands, etc.. I never drink that water. Then, I'll turn the switch off.
Why you ask?
Because when I leave it on, it very slowly loses pressure and the pump has to kick it back up again. Sometimes it'll hold for an hour, sometimes it'll hold for 5 minutes..

However, if the pump is off and the hot water heater electric kicks on, I can actually hear the crackling and roiling of the water heating up. On the other hand, with the pump on and pressure up, the hot water heater is silent when heating the water.

Am I hurting anything with the water heating and the hot water tank full of water but not under pressure?

My 30 year rv tech told us if this happens it is a leak

[JamieGeek]

Yeah if the pump occasionally runs when on and no faucet is open it is either a leak (look for wet spots) or the pump isn't holding pressure.

We leave the pump on when camping except if we leave the campground (e.g. go sightseeing or something). Once we returned to the campground and found the black water tank overfilling as the bathroom sink was left on (yup bathroom sink goes to black tank).

Now we turn the water off when leaving--pump or city water.

[EA37TS]

Determine the cause of the bleed down. My system has stayed pressurized for months while winterized.

Use air at 45 psi first in case there’s a leak.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

Yeah if the pump occasionally runs when on and no faucet is open it is either a leak (look for wet spots) or the pump isn't holding pressure.

We leave the pump on when camping except if we leave the campground (e.g. go sightseeing or something). Once we returned to the campground and found the black water tank overfilling as the bathroom sink was left on (yup bathroom sink goes to black tank).

Now we turn the water off when leaving--pump or city water.

Same here pump off when out of camper and city water off when away

[lmichel]

Well yes, there is a small leak...and get this.... it's in the "KANT LEAK" valve in the water bay. That valve is no longer available (guess why) and NOS parts are way over priced. It's about 5 drops per minute and falls right through the bay opening for the dump output. How convenient is that?! I have taken it all apart and tuned it up - there are some very odd o-rings that are more like short-stubby "0-Tubes". Almost none of that valve is off the shelf hardware.
After about a week, it was back to dripping.

My bigger concern isn't so much that the pump does a very short charge-up boost a couple times an hour, it's the hot water heater.

Am I doing any damage by allowing the electric element to heat the water when the system isn't pressurized?

[HarryS]

As long as the tank is full, I can't see how it could cause damage.

[Scubawise]

Originally Posted by HarryS

As long as the tank is full, I can't see how it could cause damage.

We turn ours off just in case a leak occurs while away

[dkoldman]

Given that you don't have need for pressurized water and content with turning the pump off, why are you seemingly fixed to wanting to leave the Water Heater on?

I personally would replace the component that contains the leak and I would NOT want to buy another one of what you already know has failed.

It only about 10 min to heat up our 6 gal tank; so we don't hesitate to turn the water heater off unless we know we will use and that is normally in the mornings.

[EA37TS]

Have you contacted Anderson Brass about the Kant Leak parts?

As long as the hot water tank is full leave it on. The problem would come if someone used the hot water with the pump off and the tank drained while the water heater was turned on.

[Chateau_Nomad]

We are in the habit of turning things off when not using them. It's simple to anticipate water usage... it takes 5 seconds for our pump to pressurize the water system... 15 minutes for our "legacy" 6-gallon hot water tank to heat up.

For showers, turn on the water pump and hot water heater, wait 15 minutes and the shower is ready. Same for cooking meals and washing dishes. Then, turn both the pump and heater off. The water in the tank stays comfortably warm for hand washing several hours after turning off the heat - AND you save a lot of needlessly wasted propane/electric.

When we leave the campsite, I always check that EVERYTHING is off. Same for at night while sleeping. We both rarely get through the night without that "nocturnal tinkle trip". No big deal... keep the toilet seat closed... then turn on the water pump in the morning and flush.

[Travelin' Texans]

Sounds like the OP may found his problem with a small leak.
Although from my experience the pump can/may run occasionally due to the temperature variances in the water lines, they cool down & lose pressure.
Also if the goal is to conserve propane then reheating after the water has been off all night will use more propane to reheat 6-12 gallons than maintaining the temperature by leavinging it on.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Travelin' Texans

Sounds like the OP may found his problem with a small leak.
Although from my experience the pump can/may run occasionally due to the temperature variances in the water lines, they cool down & lose pressure.
Also if the goal is to conserve propane then reheating after the water has been off all night will use more propane to reheat 6-12 gallons than maintaining the temperature by leavinging it on.

Post 1. Using Electric not LP

[Travelin' Texans]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

Post 1. Using Electric not LP

LP or electric it requires more energy to reheat than to maintain!