Air lock

Good afternoon
Can anybody help filled up with water with the auto fill
Turned on pump and have no water.has happened before and took van for a quick drive  like before this time it has not cleared  it any other ideas please

No water at taps or no water in tank? Could be frost dump valve open, or not enough time for boiler to fill before water reaches taps, which model Auto sleeper do you have?

Mids wrote:Good afternoon
Can anybody help filled up with water with the auto fill
Turned on pump and have no water.has happened before and took van for a quick drive  like before this time it has not cleared  it any other ideas please

I have found that opening all of the taps and shower at the same time and moving each tap from hot to cold a few times helps in my van after a refill - lots of spluttering later good as it gets flow returns.....

We have autosleeper  eb 2019. Have tried everything  you have said with on joy.

Can you hear if the pump is actually running?

Yes  the pump is running

That use to be a problem I frequently had filling tank after draining. I cured it the same way as Carman mentioned,fitted a shurflo pump. Never looked back.

This has been a problem since before my 2017 van was converted.
I am not saying my solution will work for everyone but it works for me.
Part of the problem is the non return valve in the pressure control sticks when draining down - if care is not taken.
The suction effect when draining the fresh water tank makes this worse by sucking the diaphragm inside the inlet body of the pressure switch.


My Solution is this draining down procedure:.
Do not open the fresh water drain tap
Having drained the grey tank, leave the grey drain tap open.
Start the pump and open the kitchen sink cold tap with as much flow that will exit the plug hole.
Slowly open the fresh water drain valve until there is only a trickle of water.
Wait till the pump runs dry and switch it off.
Wait for both tanks to fully drain. close taps and reclip pipes.
Takes longer, but for me it avoids the pain of priming the system after refilling.

Baggiecamper wrote:This has been a problem since before my 2017 van was converted.
I am not saying my solution will work for everyone but it works for me.
Part of the problem is the non return valve in the pressure control sticks when draining down - if care is not taken.
The suction effect when draining the fresh water tank makes this worse by sucking the diaphragm inside the inlet body of the pressure switch.


My Solution is this draining down procedure:.
Do not open the fresh water drain tap
Having drained the grey tank, leave the grey drain tap open.
Start the pump and open the kitchen sink cold tap with as much flow that will exit the plug hole.
Slowly open the fresh water drain valve until there is only a trickle of water.
Wait till the pump runs dry and switch it off.
Wait for both tanks to fully drain. close taps and reclip pipes.
Takes longer, but for me it avoids the pain of priming the system after refilling.

The problem I see with this method is you will still have residual water in the boiler, all hot water pipes and cold pipes to bathroom. I have always drained my system to prevent water in pipes freezing during cold weather when van us laid up. Leaving water risks getting freezing, especially this far north with resulting cracking of pipes or taps due to ice forming. Worth the extra five minutes to drain all pipes and leave internal taps open.

Alternative for me is to use oil heater and keep can heated all winter

P. S. also have Shurflo fitted so priming system is easy.

Thanks everybody for this discussion andthe suggestions. Nice to know there are others looking for solutions. 

I've had this problem since the first drain down and refill on my 21 Symbol. Cured a couple of times by driving up a steep hill but that didn't work this time. Alternating between hot and cold at the shower with the pump running has solved it this time.  Looks like an alternative pump would be a more satisfactory solution.

I do have concerns about running the pump 'dry'', does anybody know if this may be an issue.

Caraman's comments regarding my post are correct. 

My post was not a "how to drain down the system for frost protection" it was how to prevent the pressure switch diaphragm sticking and therefore increase the likelihood of getting the water flowing in the van next time you fill up. 

However, if you read what I put carefully my method will enable the tanks and boiler to empty fully assuming the rest of the winterisation procedure is carried out. (taps open, boiler drained etc. 

I personally would not relay on a space heater for frost protection. What if there is a power cut at 3am, or you were on holiday. 

By the way I have just filled my water tank for a trip next week and the pump started OK. I always had trouble before my tank emptying procedure was implemented. The problem with the pressure switch diaphragm was discussed on here maybe 5 or 6 years ago.

When using my draining down method, I do indeed stop the pump as soon as it runs dry (tone changes) 

If anyone finds my method useful please post.

So here is a link to the previous discussion I took part in nearly 5 years ago

"Getting Water System To Pump After Drain Down"
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

The technical aspect of the pressure switch non return valve was explored in great technical detail by "Dare-devil-dennis"

Yes shower hose is probably better. 
Thinking about it, another thing I do is always fill the fresh tank to overflowing. To stop the hose blowing out I jam it in with another piece of hose. Because the system is full of air any slight pressure on the inlet side of the pump or pressure switch diaphragm will help to prime the pump and open the pressure switch non return valve. 
However, do not over pressure the cold tank like I did once on a site with very high flow tap. I blew out a tank sensor! It popped back in OK fortunately. 
So, maybe one of those filler caps that take a hose could be used to blow into a full tank instead of sucking out of the tank and empty pipe work and boiler would be more effective. 
Fingers crossed my method continues to works for me.

Hi just to say we have  moved site as planned.and the airlock

Has cleared thank you to all  who gave advice