Escapees May-June 2024

mark, my words

Your RV Questions By MARK NEMETH #45776, Escapees Technical Advisor Send your questions via e-mail to techquestions@escapees.com

Electric Steps Q. When my motorhome is parked at home, should I leave the electric steps out or retracted over some time? Dr. Jack A. It doesn’t matter, do whatever feels right to you. I leave my Kwikee electric steps extended at all times when the RV is parked and only retract them for travel. There is no downside to doing that, as the steps are designed to be used that way. Once I am parked, and my steps are extended, I turn off the power to them with a switch. This will keep them extended regardless of door position. When the engine is started, my steps automatically retract even if that switch is off, so there’s no chance of forgetting them and driving off. I suspect your steps work similarly.

WaterPump Q. We have a leisure time van on a sprinter chassis. Our water fl ows fi newhen we are hooked up to the faucet, but will not “draw” when we are underway, even when we know the water tank is full. Possible troubleshooting short of “the pump is burned out?” What might cause the pump to burn out? Corinne A. First, disconnect the RV from city water and make sure you have water in your freshwater tank. Then the fi rst thing to check is: does the pump run at all? Locate the water pump (it may be in a cabinet or under a couch or bed inside, or in an outside compartment). Once you fi nd it, open a faucet in the RV and turn the pump switch on. Does the pump run? If it does, but no water fl ows make sure the hose that comes from the water tank to the inlet of the pump is not kinked or blocked. Disconnect the inlet hose from the pump and make sure water runs through it from the freshwater tank. Also, check the hose connected to the outlet of the pump for any obstructions. If the pump runs and the hoses are OK, but it still doesn’t move any water, there may be a failure in the pump itself, and it is probably time for a new one. If the pump doesn’t run with the switch on, check to make sure the pump has 12V power coming to it by measuring the voltage at the 2 wires that supply power to the pump. If you have power, and the pump still doesn’t run, it may either be a faulty pressure switch on the pump, a disconnected wire at the pressure switch, or the pump is “burned out.” Those pumps are pretty tough, and it’s hard to do anything that will burn it out, but they do fail internally from time to time. Thankfully, a new pump isn’t all that expensive, and they’re usually really easy to swap out.

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ESCAPEES Magazine May/June 2024