Plumbing advice needed.
Hi, we've been caravanners and CAMC members for about 10 years, but this is my first post here.
We have a 2002 Sterling Europa. It's generally in very good condition for it's age, but has an annoying issue with the plumbing that's slowly getting worse and I can't seem to resolve.
The problem we have is that water is somehow draining back from the bathroom hot tap, so that when it is turned on you get a coughing/spluttering of air escape before the water flows. If the water hasn't been used for a few hours then we sometimes get a similar, but much less, effect from the kitchen hot tap. It never affects the cold taps, so there is obviously an issue somewhere in the hot water system. The pump is a submersible in the outside water carrier so the system is only pressurised when taps are turned on.
Air is obviously leaking in to the system somewhere, but I cannot find where. So far I have checked the pipework and joints for leaks. I also swapped the internals of the bathroom taps for new ones (I couldn't find a full replacement tap anywhere so bought a similar Whale mixer and swapped the internals). They turn on much smoother now, but the problem is completely unchanged.
I have noticed there is a T piece on the hot water outlet from the tank that appears to be a pressure release valve, with a clear pipe leading outside the van. Is it possible that this is leaking? Wouldn't that affect the kitchen tap to the same extent?
Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should be looking at?
Comments
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RAH, if there is no sign of leakage in the system I think that the problem may be with the pressure valve not the link to the clear pipe which drains to the outside. Your handbook should tell you how to adjust this (it is a white knob thing!); if not, I am certain there are 'How to ...' videos on your good friend Google. It is a simple 5 minute job.
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Do you keep your hot water heating on all the time when using the van?
Water being heated and then allowed to cool could draw in air.
However, I assume that this is a relatively recent problem, so something has changed from how it used to be?
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We don't keep it on all the time, just putting it on for an hour or so when we want it heated, but this is an issue that's been slowly getting worse over the last year or so.
When i changed the tap internals at the weekend, the water heater hadn't been used at all. I swapped the tap internals, then ran the water through and left it for a couple of hours. When I tried it again, without having heated the water at all, it had still drained back.
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We had that more than once on our caravan and it was caused by a bad seal in the submersible pump connection to the van. The remedy was to replace and lubricate (silicone grease) the O ring in the connector.
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i have had the same problem with the water heater in my elderly Abbey caravan. the heater took ages to fill from the aquaroll but no leaks were discovered when the system was checked for leaks..
Eventually I discovered that the water was draining back into the aquaroll when the pump was switched off.
The cause was a faulty one way/non return valve fitted to the inlet side of the heater.
I purchased a replacement from a local caravan dealer . Not a difficult job to fit and never had a problem since.
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If you have a TRUMA water inlet housing fitted with a blue cap to cover the filter unit it is more likely that the built in non return valve in the housing is allowing water to flow back into the aqua roll pulling air into the housing which causing the taps to splutter when first turned on I have had this happen twice to me best to fit a non return valve externally between thewater inlet and the first joint on the pipework It is not possible to repair the truma built in non return valve alternately you cold replace the complete housing unit at a cost of approx £66 as i have just had to do it takes about 25mins to do
hope this helps
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Thanks everyone for the advice. I changed the non-return valve and the problem is cured.
It wasn't quite as easy as I hoped, since there was a 10mm non-return valve fitted to the drain tap, and I could only find a 12mm replacement, meaning I had to juggle the pipework and connectors slightly to fit it, leading to a couple of seeping joints where I'd disturbed the existing pipework. I rejointed them with the addition of some plumber's jointing sealant and everything works now.
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I'm glad you have got everything sorted. Just goes to show this forum can be the source of useful information at times.
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