PURGE FRESHWATER SYSTEM

S.A.M. · Post by **S.A.M.** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:14 pm

We ran out of water on a recent 2 night outting and when I refilled the tank the cold water seems to have little air and on the hot water side it surges.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

gjrylands · Post by **gjrylands** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:31 pm

It sounds like, when you ran out of water, you got air in the system. Bleed it out by starting on the cold water side. When all outlets run without spitting close them and open the hot water outlets. It will take a bit longer, since air will need to be displaced in the water heater. Once the water run smoothly the system is bled and you can close the outlets on the hot water side.

If this doesn't fix the problem, you will have to check the pump. It may have sucked in some sediment from the water tank

S.A.M. · Post by **S.A.M.** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 3:30 pm

Thanks, was not sure whether to break the line after the pump and filter or just let it push thru the faucets.

randyp · Post by **randyp** » Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:25 pm

You have air in your hot water tank also. I usually fill the tank, let both faucets run to "burp" out all the air and then fill the tank again. My hot water tank is 11 gallons and the total fresh water tank capacity is 20 gallons so over 50% of my first fill is dedicated to filling the hot water tank. The only time I have to go through this routine is when I fill the empty tanks at the beginning of the season. I just top off and treat with bleach additive throughout the season.

Coach Z · Post by **Coach Z** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 1:42 am

Home water systems will usually do the same thing, when the pipes have really been drained... usually during repairs or remodels. It's the same process... let it work it's way out!.

RandyP As far as the bleach solution, are you adding just a teaspoon of bleach to 5 gal of water? or something different?

Thanks

Z

randyp · Post by **randyp** » Fri Sep 25, 2009 9:22 am

Correct. Usually (if I remember) I'll run a baking soda and water solution through the system at the start of the season. That also seems to help. Bottom line, I've found it's a good idea to refresh the water system every 1-2 weeks because it can get pretty funky if it lies there more than than.

aaronbocknek · Post by **aaronbocknek** » Sat Sep 26, 2009 6:35 am

with my water system, i have found that the commercial 'water tank refresheners' did nothing. zip. nada. so, i fell back on what my dad used to do on the tri cabin. one ounce of clorox in a 16 ounce bottle of water. shake to mix it up, pour into the tank and fill the tank with fresh water. as the water fills, it mixes up the bleach solution. then, turn on the hot water tap and let it run to get the solution into the HWH. let the solution sit for a day, then flush the pipes through for 5 minutes. i have also found that the hot water tank tends to get a little funkier than the cold tank so what i normally do is hookup the shore water, turn on the hot water tap and let it run for about 30 minutes cleaning out the system. then, i do the same for the cold tap...... this clears any thing out of the pipes. so far, so good this season.