Blowing out lines with air.

[Butcher]

I purchased a '20 29RS and I'm blowing out the lines to get ready for the cold blast that will be here in a couple days. I've done this before with other 5th wheels but for some reason, I'm perplexed with this one.

With the system pressurized with air, I get air coming out of the bathroom sink, but after the water was pushed through the shower and kitchen, I do not hear any air coming out of them.

Any ideas?

[Redapple63]

That’s correct, you are not pressurizing the lines, you want the pressure to push all the water out. You may need to do a few bursts between each valve opening. The pressure in the lines will push the air out of the lines and the fixtures when they are opened.

[Butcher]

I'm confused.

I am pressurizing the lines. All the faucets are closed. When I open the bathroom sink faucet, I hear the air coming out. I close that valve and open the kitchen faucet, no air noises. I close that. I open the shower faucet, I hear no air.

It's only when I open the bathroom faucet that I hear air coming out. I do hear air coming out of the outdoor quick release hose they give you.

I can pressurize the system and open the kitchen or shower and hear nothing and the system will hold air pressure. I am using 40-50 psi of air pressure.

[Redapple63]

That’s what I tried very badly to explain. My apologies. You are doing it right, but everytime you open a faucet the line pressure pushes the water out where you opened it, so, you need to repressurize each time to build it back up.

I hope that helps.

[Butcher]

Yes, I understand that.

The system is pressurized with 40psi. Hooked up to an air compressor regulated to 40psi. Open the bathroom, I got air. Close it. Open the kitchen, I have no air. Close it. Open the shower, I have no air, close it. The outside sprayers both have air pressure.

The entire water pressure side of the plumbing is pressurized with air. Just no air going to the kitchen/shower. The entire system is holding pressure too. No leaks elsewhere.

Is it possible that I should depressurize the entire system, then recheck it? Kinda like a propane tank. Where there is a large flow, a valve closes. Once the system normalizes, it will flow propane again. I did not depressurize the system.

[Redapple63]

Yes, I understand that.

The system is pressurized with 40psi. Hooked up to an air compressor regulated to 40psi. Open the bathroom, I got air. Close it. Open the kitchen, I have no air. Close it. Open the shower, I have no air, close it. The outside sprayers both have air pressure.

The entire water pressure side of the plumbing is pressurized with air. Just no air going to the kitchen/shower. The entire system is holding pressure too. No leaks elsewhere.

Is it possible that I should depressurize the entire system, then recheck it? Kinda like a propane tank. Where there is a large flow, a valve closes. Once the system normalizes, it will flow propane again. I did not depressurize the system.

How is Nautilus set? I believe it should be set on city water.

[FT4NOW]

For the shower, did you make sure the sprayer on/off valve was open (not the hot and cold handles, but the part on the sprayer).

If your kitchen is one of those sprayer faucets, could it also be off? Other possibility is just not enough air pressure to come out of the sprayer.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Butcher]

Yup, Nautilus using the city water settings, Yup, nozzle not off on the shower head, yup, kitchen faucet head is on.

When I first bled the system, I did get water coming out of all the places, some air did go through, and then, it just seemed to stop out of those two places. I think I mentioned that I did not relieve the pressure and maybe that may be the cause. I will recheck this today and report back.

[Redapple63]

Buddy, I don’t have an answer. Wish I did. I will say however, Merry Christmas.

On edit:
Do you have your wh in bypass?

Thanks,
Bill

[Butcher]

I rechecked it today with no pressure in the lines [opened up the bathroom faucet to relieve the pressure]. With all the pressure out, I pressurized the system at 20psi [was at 40-50psi yesterday]. Still no air coming out of the kitchen or shower. I forgot to bleed the toilet yesterday, so I did that today, yes, air comes out of that.

One thing I do not like about the Nautilus system is that you really do not know what you are doing. Without a doubt, it's idiot proof but those that like to know what you are doing, it's worthless. I do believe I tried every conceivable way with the valves and that could not be the problem. Of course, if I knew that the problem was I would not be asking.

It just seems odd that if all the water comes from one hose, then if one of the lines is pressurized, then they all should be. If I got pressure at the bathroom faucet, toilet, outside quick release fittings, and outside drains, then there has got to be pressure to the kitchen and shower. Sounds easy and it probably is but I'm not gutting the storage bay to visually see how things are routed.

I guess we will find out in the spring if I got issues. Within 24 hours, I suspect the temperature will be down 15F from where it is now. Sucks to not know and I guess it happens when you wait till the last minute. I always have good intentions but sometimes what gets to the top of the list is what is most pressing.

Anyway, prime rib is in the oven and drinks will be served soon so it's time to celebrate Christmas dinner with the family.

Thanks for all the help and I will update this if I ever find the root cause.