Club 80-90 Forums

Bit of a long shot but,,,
Does anyone have one of these fitted..?
Got my van back from the fitters and this pump is fitted, but the water flow is pretty poor..
Has approx 5ft of hose to pump through before the tap..

Well to be frank I was surprised to see the image when I googled it as I have a similar pump running in my van. I bought it from our local caravan spares shop in circa 2006 and carry a spare. I have it dangling into the water tank via the filler stack (custom made tank) and have not needed to change it since then. I also use one in my boat on a float switch to keep the hull dry from rain or when crashing through the waves. 

I think mine might be marketed by Whale but there are several on t'[nternet. starting at £9.99. I would check for kinks, obstruction or simply inadequate supply tubing diameter - I'd suggest circa 10 mm. Don't necessarily be put off by the different manufacturer as they are often identical inside. Google "caravan immersion type water pumps" and see for yourself.

Also worth a check: A leak may allow air to be drawn in alongside the water and produce surging at the tap. Each time dumping  the remnants somewhere along the way and rotting your van over time so check for leaks by closing one end and applying suction. To apply pressure may blow a joint in an inaccessible place!

Thanks..

10mm pipe used, no kinks in the pipe..
Doesn’t seem to be drawing in air, it is just low pressure..

Odd

It’s an odd question, and i think it doesn’t matter, but can this be wired incorrectly?
I didn’t wire it up.
It operates fine from the micro switch on the tap, so presume it’s wired correctly?

Considering the longish cable run you might be getting voltage drop between the battery and the pump due to a bad joint or inadequate cable thickness. If you have a multi meter check the voltage (at the relevant battery) and then at the pump with the switch activated (with the pump connected and in the water of course). At a guess I would certainly expect less than one volt difference. There will possibly be a filter at the end of the pump so check that is quite clear. Or check the pump independently of the van by dangling it in a bucket of water. You should get a soaking . although remember that if the tank is under the van a more powerful pump may be required but my one works fine and will splash us if care not taken. If it turns into a fiasco you might need to just buy a cheap pump and do a substitution test. Handy to tuck away somewhere as a spare.
Good luck with it anyway.
 

Thanks...

Pump seems fine, tested with a short hose outlet fitted and seems a decent flow..
Am not sure the tap is okay, removed the pipe to it and blew down the pipe to the tap, there seems to be some resistance to the air flow, even with the end of tap filter removed.
Is this normal?
Definitely the tap which is restricting the flow somewhat.
I can live with it, but it’s like many things on these vans it just irks a little !!

Sort of a dumb question but just in case. Is it a new tap as well? Have you turned the tap on fully? I've got a super novo single tap and that is variable flow, has several click stops. Not sure if all makes are all like this mind!!

just a thought...

Regards

M
 

Yep, tap on full...

Quick update to close this one...

Bought a more powerful pump, made a slight difference.
Noticed that the previous pump hose connection had been over tightened, causing the outlet to be cracked.
Removed the tap, noticed a piece of plastic had broken in the tap, they really are so cheaply made, and it’s a comet tap most fitted to smev sinks..
Also, and probably the main culprit, the end of tap filter/aerator had 4 ‘filters’ hidden within.... removed 3 and the flow was, unsurprisingly, better..
More to self, never presume anything has been fitted correctly!!

Doh
Perseverance prevailed then.