Air in water lines

[ngblive]

Hi all,

I just de-winterized my 395m. I was able to get steady water flow when hooked up to the city water and having my nautilus set to ‘city water’ however when I turn the system to dry camping and turn of the land line my cold water begins to sputter and my hot water stops working entirely. I have done the following:

- ran all faucets to remove the air
- released my hot water tank check valve to get air out.
- open my lowpointa again to drain air
- released the pressure a couple of times on my outdoor shower setup
- moves back and forth between city and dry camping setting with the same results
- I have had some success using dry camping while keeping those hose connected and pressurized. When I do this my hot water doesn’t work.

I am somehow getting air in my lines and it is very frustrating. Any guidance is welcome.

Thanks

Nick

[ngblive]

Thanks for the info.

[backtrack2015]

Is the water pump running when you switch to dry camping mode?

[ngblive]

It is running. Since I posted my water heater has started working as well but if I disconnect the landline hose I go back to a sputtering faucet.

Do you know how I could check if my intake valve is somehow leaking? That would make the most sense because when I keep water pressure on the intake it solves the airflow issue.

[Second Chance]

We don't winterize, but if the tank has run dry or the pump has sucked air, we often have to run the water on the tank/pump quite a while to get all the air out. I start with the outlet closest to the valve system (in our case, the outside shower), then the bathroom and, finally, the kitchen. It may take a while, but it's always finally cleared all the air.

Rob

[J&J___]

I have to ask the obvious, did you fill yor fresh water tank? Dry camping does not need your water hose hooked up. Put water in your fresh water tank, power fill setting. Disconnect the hose. Open a water faucet to relieve system pressure. Change the nautilus valves to dry camp. Turn on the water pump. You should be able to hear the pump pressurize the system then shut off. Open a water faucet and you should get water. If there is air in the line it will sputter until the air is out. Close the faucet and the pump should shut off.

[ngblive]

Fair point on running it for a while. I am going to keep at it today to see if time cures the ailment.

[ngblive]

Fair question. I did fill it up to full. I am going to run through the entire process again.

[J&J___]

You don’t need the water tank full. Use the search box in top right of page to look for posts on water pumps. Make sure the pump is primed.

Sometimes they are a real pain. If it keeps sucking air then there may be a bad connection letting air in after the fresh water tank and before the pump or in the nautilus system. The pump could only be partially primed or have a bad diaphragm. There should be a filter screen right before the pump which needs to be clean. Make sure all the levers are set correctly on the nautilus panel.

Make sure the pump is working. Take off the input line and put a hose of the same size into a bucket of water and see if the water pump will pump from a bucket. If it does then you need to look up stream from the pump for an air leak.

You might also do the steps for winterizing but use a bucket of water instead of antifreeze and see if the pump works. I have not winterized so not sure if this will work.

Sounds like a project. Good luck. First thing to do is make sure the pump is primed.

[WhittleBurner]

I have heard of people when winterizing turn the screen around in the water fill to be able to get the antifreeze in. If you forget to turn it back around it can cause problems.