russmorr
Brevard, NC
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Joined: 11/25/2007
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My wife and I recently purchased a barely used Gulf Stream 2009 BT Cruiser, model 5291G and this past week took it to Ocean Lakes near Myrtle Beach, SC. We had a great time but as expected found a few problems that need to get fixed (no heat in cab, poor video from DVD player, leak in shower, oil leak with generator, radio wired incorrectly.) I intend to take the RV to the dealer shortly to have these fixed since it is still under first year warrently.
My question is where is the water pump? I have been unsuccessful in finding it but by following water lines have concluded it must be under the bed. It appears that there is no access to this area except by hauling the mattress out of the way and removing part of the bed support. There is also supposed to be a hot water heater by pass system for winterizing but I can not find that either (it is not by the hot water heater). Do I really have to move the mattress and bed support to get to the pump so I can winterize my motorhome? This seems to be a lot of effort for a simple job.
Any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Fred
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alaskan-rver
Anchorage, AK
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Joined: 09/25/2005
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Fred,
First of all, welcome to RVing! Your questions sound general enough that I suspect that you may really benefit from have someone from the dealership give you the "new buyer walkthrough" on your unit.
I don't know the specifics of your rig, but here are some generalities:
Water pump. Typically not far from the water tank, mounted to the floor. If your water tank is under the bed, then very likely the pump will be as well. It has an on-off switch somewhere (you don't use it if you are hooked up to shore water). Does your unit have a switch panel, usually somewhere in the galley (kitchen) area? Does one of those switches say "pump"?
Water heater bypass. If you haven't found your water heater, look on the outside of your rig. The water heater is typically behind a panel, and have an exhaust vent coming out the side (other side-mounted exhaust vents will be for the back of your fridge, your furnace, and your range hood). The tank often is an aluminum cylinder encased in styrofoam. There will be two lines--one going in the bottom, and one coming out the top. On these lines there will be shutoff valves (most likely they are aligned with the tubes, meaning that they are open). Then, just on the other side of these valves, away from the water heater, will be a cross-connect line, with a valve in it as well. To bypass the water heater, close the two valves going into and out of the tank, and open the cross-connect one. THEN, REMEMBER TO DRAIN THE WATER OUT OF THE TANK!!! (Let's just say that I've learned the hard way about that last step...twice!)
Radio wiring. In many units, the in-dash radio is only powered from the chassis (engine-starting) battery, so you have to turn the key to "accessory" in order to play the radio when stopped (just like in a car). Yours MAY have a switch that lets you choose between the chassis and house batteries. If yours isn't working with the engine running, you may have a blown fuse to the radio.
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Brodie3Az
Chandler, Arizona
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Joined: 06/29/2007
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Hello Russmorr,
Since it appears that your bed is a slidout, I do not think it would be there.
Using my 5th as my baseline, the water pump is not necessarily going to be obvious. Mine is near the water heater and kitchen sink. I found a removeable panel under the sink. Behind it was the pump, it's electrical connections, and a bunch of water tubing and plastic compression fittings.
As noted by Alaskan-rver you should possibly have a status panel for your tank levels (fresh/gray/black) that might have a red switch on it. Something like this. That may be you water pump power switch. The pump will come on, build up pressure, then stop until pressure drops.
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Jsanner
Havelock, North Carolina
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Joined: 06/22/2007
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Greetings,
I have a 2008 BT Cruiser.
The water pump is under the bed - the bed can be lifted and supportted with a pole - the water pump is on the far wall side.
As far as the water bypass valve - Look at the opposite side in the first compartment right behind the shower in the warddrob - it is in a pannel marked no storage - it is hinged and the bypass valve is there.
Hope this helps.
2008 5291 BT Cruiser
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ron.dittmer
We Danced & Won, Check Out My Website
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Joined: 02/26/2007
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I never use the hot water by-pass, and honestly don't understand what purpose it serves. Why would you ever want to by-pass the hot water tank? When I use the RV, I want hot water too. Is there another benefit to by-pass?
I drain the hot water tank by removing it's plastic drain plug, and remove all water from the lines through the low-point pipe drains.
We Danced The Rumba.
Click on the link in my profile
to see a video & explanation below it.
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alaskan-rver
Anchorage, AK
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ron.dittmer wrote:I never use the hot water by-pass, and honestly don't understand what purpose it serves. Why would you ever want to by-pass the hot water tank? When I use the RV, I want hot water too. Is there another benefit to by-pass?
I drain the hot water tank by removing it's plastic drain plug, and remove all water from the lines through the low-point pipe drains.
The purpose of the hot water bypass is to save you 6-10 gallons of antifreeze when you winterize. Using the bypass isolates the heater (which you then empty), and thus you can direct the antifreeze just into the hot and cold water lines.
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russmorr
Brevard, NC
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Thanks for all your help. I found the hot water bypass as directed by Jsanner, on the side of the motorhome opposite from the heater. The manual provided by Gulf Stream for this motorhome is so generic as to be almost worthless in answering questions like this. Are other companys just as bad in providing needed information?
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vermont islands
champlaine islands vermont
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Joined: 09/30/2009
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WE HAVE A 2006 29 FOOT BT CRUISER. THE WATER PUMP IS UNDER THE BED. REMOVE THE BED AND THE CHEAP PLYWOOD/LUAN (SEVERAL SCREWS HOLD THIS ON THE FRAME) IN THE HALF NEAR THE SIDE WINDOW IS THE PUMP. THIS SETUP IS VERY INCONVENIENT TO ACCESS. THE WATER HEATER IS UNDER THE FRIDGE AND ACCESSED FROM AN OUTSIDE PANEL, AWNING SIDE.THE HOT WATER BYPASS IS UNDER THE WAEDROBE JUST TO THE RIGHT OF THE SHOWER STALL, KNELL DOWN AND OPEN THE FLOOR HEIGHT SHOE STORAGE CABINATE, CANT MISS THE LEVER INSIDE, ITS LABELED. SHOWER LEAKS BECAUSE OF POOR DESIGN, CAULK THE SEAM ON THE WALLS LOWER HALF.WE DID NOT FIND THE WINTERIZING BYPASS,HAD ONE INSTALLED NEXT TO WATER PUMP.THERE ARE OTHER FIXES FOR PROBLEMS THAT WILL COME UP SUCH AS DRAWERS FALLING APART, STERIO UNIT SLIDING OFF SHELF IN THE CABINATE.
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russmorr
Brevard, NC
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Vermont Islands, it sounds like you have some useful advice based on your experiences. Our shower also leaks. Other problems we have found so far are radio does not have memory, generator leaks oil, picture for DVD player is poor quality, all locks are difficult to operate, slight leak in one slide. We just took our Cruiser to the dealer to have these repaired (under dealer goodwill). If you have any experiences with these problems or know of any others I should look for, please let me know.
Regards,
Fred
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Jsanner
Havelock, North Carolina
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Joined: 06/22/2007
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We had leaks on our two front slides - we finally took it to Bill Plemmons RV World in Winston-Salem and they fixed everything under warrenty - they will know exactly where to look if you mention "Sanner BT Cruiser Leaks" - and they will cringe when they remember everything they had to do to fix the leaks.
Russ Carrol is the service guy who helped us!
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