# It just started dumping water.....



## 95205 (May 1, 2005)

So the husband & I are trying to learn how things work in our motorhome, not helped by a german manual & total lack of german.. and I found a switch/key in the bottom of the wardrobe that I turned a quarter turn then turned it back again straight away (honestly). By the time I came out of the van husband pointed out to me the water 'leaking' from the back of the van under where we believe the water heater for the van is. It was not coming from a pipe in a neat fashion but dripping out from quite a large area... My husband is convinced I've damaged goodness knows what & I'm hoping he's wrong... I've put a picture of the location of the switch in my album & hopefully attached an image to this posting. Any ideas what I did?? 
PS I was looking for gas isolation point in van - anyone know where that is too??
Thanks in advance for your time.


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## mangothemadmonk (Aug 6, 2006)

To me that looks like an electric isolation switch. When you turn it of does it isolate the 12v system?

Johnny F


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## 95205 (May 1, 2005)

I have no idea - how would I test that? I tried it twice in trying to convince husband it was an unfortunate coincidence with the water, but on both occasions water started falling out....


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi NissanNed

You have probably tripped the Truma safety valve. Designed to dump the water if it goes below freezing or a voltage drop occurs. I would be surprised if you have done any damage


stew


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## 95205 (May 1, 2005)

I think I found the truma safety valve in the garage - either 'up' or 'down' - with 'down' meaning it dumps.. so perhaps in switching the mystery switch, perhaps 12v change, I made the safety valve go 'down' and therefore dump water? does this sound like a possibility? I am a little surprised the water doesn't neatly pour out of some sort of pipe, but then I have so much to learn!!


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## artona (Jan 19, 2006)

Hi

Very likely, I wonder also if a pipe has dropped off somewhere.

stew


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## b6x (Feb 26, 2007)

I'm certain that you haven't broken anything. The switch you turned does indeed look like a 12v isolation switch, and the Truma (in the Adria Twin anyway) does dump it's contents if the voltage is lost. God knows why though.

As soon as I take delivery of my van I've been advised to connect a clothes peg to the valve to stop it dumping (just need to make sure it's empty when the weather is cold)

Only damage you may have done is by flooding the inside of the garage if there is no specific outlet pipe to divert the dumped water outside of the van.


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## 95205 (May 1, 2005)

I had heard about the dumping in cold weather, and the need for a clothes peg, although this new heater doesn't seem to allow for a clothes peg because of the electric safety valve that it has now... 
Hopefully the garage is OK as the water did leave via the underneath of the van, there is no water in the garage that I can see. 

For my next question ... does anyone (with a weinsberg or knaus sport ti) know where I re-fill the heating system ? I have the heating instruction manual in english (  ) but no idea how to access the parts I need to access in my van, as I believe I've mentioned already the van instructions are in german ... :roll:


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## 97734 (Feb 16, 2006)

That is an electric isolation switch and it is the dump valve that has released, No harm has been done and the point of the system is to stop an expensive item from being damaged in freezing conditions. 

Don't use a clothes peg to hold the switch open. It wont dump water unless the weather is so cold there is a risk of freezing.

To refill is easy - it happens automatically when you turn on the water pump in the van (as long as you have water in your tanks that is). It would pay to open your taps carefully after refilling as there are often air bubbles in the pipes and these can cause some rather forceful expulsions of water.


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## 95205 (May 1, 2005)

thanks so much for putting down the obvious about refilling the tank.. We will learn, and hopefully one day be able to help other folk out..


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## JimW (May 1, 2005)

*Water Dump*

Hi, thought I would add something to the last message re filling the heater again. I find it best to open all taps before you switch on the water pump. Then, as the pump pushes water and air through the system the air has an escape route. You can close off each tap as the water starts to flow. Same deal if you run out of water (ie empty the tank with the water pump running).

Last thought. Your Truma dumped the water because the power was taken away. Now the power is back on, you may still have to manually reset the dump valve (this is certainly the case on my Knaus). Otherwise more water on the garage floor!!

Jim


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## 95205 (May 1, 2005)

Now back from Ireland to play with new toy again, so thanks for the tip on checking the safety valve is in the right place again .. I'm sure this would have eventually been done, after more water, more posts on the forum and more helpful replies .... :roll:


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## taildj (Jun 4, 2006)

Just one additional matter to reassure you. You mention that when the water comes out it is more like a waterfall than seeming to come neatly from a specific pipe. This is quite normal - so don't worry about it


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