Flojet triplex diaphragm water pump - 3426-500 12vdc

[Hotchy]

Hi Folks,

Could somebody please help, I have the above pump installed in my caravan and its worked fine for years. When we came to use it this time it would not turn on, and after investigation the 7.5amp fuse had blown, simple. But stupidly I tried to just change the fuse without isolating everything and as I did it shorted instead of just pushing in and and starting to work. So I now have an error code as E1, which I thing means something has shorted. If I take the fuse out the error message does not show. Now I have the task of finding what is causing this error and to try and get it working. I've read motor fail issues could be any of these, Loose wiring, pump circuit has no power, blown fuse, pressure switch failure, defective motor. Is there some other fuse on these things other than the standard one marked 'pump' on the standard fuse box.

Many thanks for any help

Hotchy.

 

[otherclive]

Hi Folks,

Could somebody please help, I have the above pump installed in my caravan and its worked fine for years. When we came to use it this time it would not turn on, and after investigation the 7.5amp fuse had blown, simple. But stupidly I tried to just change the fuse without isolating everything and as I did it shorted instead of just pushing in and and starting to work. So I now have an error code as E1, which I thing means something has shorted. If I take the fuse out the error message does not show. Now I have the task of finding what is causing this error and to try and get it working. I've read motor fail issues could be any of these, Loose wiring, pump circuit has no power, blown fuse, pressure switch failure, defective motor. Is there some other fuse on these things other than the standard one marked 'pump' on the standard fuse box.

Many thanks for any help

Hotchy.

My Flojet stopped working recently at a time it was pumping water. I did all of the checks including stripping it down and reassembling all to no avail. The only part you can’t get to is the motor other than look at it when the pump is stripped down. Caravan dealers will stock them but the prices were around £115. Caravan accessory specialists were only taking online orders and then offered to dispatch some days after receipt at their premises. They could not say when they were due stock in. So I got one from a pump supplier on EBay delivered 36 hours after ordering. Took all of a few minutes to install and have running water again.
See “Flojet pump not working“ thread . New one Supplied by TF pumps Direct on EBay less than half price of dealerships and have their own web page fir direct sales.

 

[Hotchy]

My Flojet stopped working recently at a time it was pumping water. I did all of the checks including stripping it down and reassembling all to no avail. The only part you can’t get to is the motor other than look at it when the pump is stripped down. Caravan dealers will stock them but the prices were around £115. Caravan accessory specialists were only taking online orders and then offered to dispatch some days after receipt at their premises. They could not say when they were due stock in. So I got one from a pump supplier on EBay delivered 36 hours after ordering. Took all of a few minutes to install and have running water again.
See “Flojet pump not working“ thread . New one Supplied by TF pumps Direct on EBay less than half price of dealerships and have their own web page fir direct sales.

Thanks Otherclive

 

[Hotchy]

Went to the Caravan last night for phase 2 of my checks, considering the above. I tried to see if power was reaching the pump, so I knew if this was in fact the issue. My battery would not show any life until I hooked up the car, and even then when I checked the power source to the pump with a multimeter nothing was coming through. Should the pump work without being on mains is the first question, I've read somewhere it should. If this is the case it may well be the PCB at the back of the fuse box in this one area (the 7.5amp fuse F9 for pump). Has it 'arched' I think when I tried to put the fuse in. I guess this means I need an engineer boo hoo. Or should I hook up to the mains and try again.

 

[otherclive]

Went to the Caravan last night for phase 2 of my checks, considering the above. I tried to see if power was reaching the pump, so I knew if this was in fact the issue. My battery would not show any life until I hooked up the car, and even then when I checked the power source to the pump with a multimeter nothing was coming through. Should the pump work without being on mains is the first question, I've read somewhere it should. If this is the case it may well be the PCB at the back of the fuse box in this one area (the 7.5amp fuse F9 for pump). Has it 'arched' I think when I tried to put the fuse in. I guess this means I need an engineer boo hoo. Or should I hook up to the mains and try again.

Yes the pump will work when you are not on mains. It uses the 12v battery.

 

[Hotchy]

Yes the pump will work when you are not on mains. It uses the 12v battery.

Mmmh something is amiss then, no supply by the looks. It may have been easier if it was the pump, found one for £59.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Went to the Caravan last night for phase 2 of my checks, considering the above. I tried to see if power was reaching the pump, so I knew if this was in fact the issue. My battery would not show any life until I hooked up the car, ...

This reads as though your caravan battery is flat!

...and even then when I checked the power source to the pump with a multimeter nothing was coming through. Should the pump work without being on mains is the first question, I've read somewhere it should. If this is the case it may well be the PCB at the back of the fuse box in this one area (the 7.5amp fuse F9 for pump). Has it 'arched' I think when I tried to put the fuse in. I guess this means I need an engineer boo hoo. Or should I hook up to the mains and try again.

Modern caravans have what is called a habitation relay, and this is designed to turn of the caravans internal 12V circuits when the car is connected and charging the battery and running the 12V cooling of the fridge. This would mean that if the car was connected then the 12V for the pump would be disconnected! That could be why you do not see any power at the pump.

To make the pump work, you need to disconnect the car, and make sure your caravan battery is charged, or possibly run the caravan of the mains hook up.

This of course does not discount a problem with the pump, after all it had blown a fuse, and the cause of that blowing does need to be checked. and of course we don't know what damage may have been caused when you tried to replace the fuse and by the sounds of it caused a short.

I think it's time to bite the bullet and get the fuse box/ control panel checked, and the pump.

Sorry

 

[Hotchy]

Hi chaps,

I'm back again. I hooked the caravan up to the mains and checked the supply again to the pump it read 29.2 volts (when set at 200). I took the pump off the wall and took off the pressure switch, touched the connections together to see if i could
by- pass it and get the pump to crank over quickly (dry). It did nothing. It now looks in my naive opinion that it's the pump that's at fault, could anybody tell me please how I can test to see if it is the pump? I have the pump sat in front of me, but do not know how to connect it to test. I've read a 9v PP9 may work if I connect via some wire, is this correct please? Cheers folks.

 

[Guzzilazz]

That pump label shows the pump rated at 12V, if it's had 30V at the supply, then it's likely that the pump is toast. I used to have a Flojet pump on my boat for fresh water, and IMHO they are junk. Mine was leaking and even installing a repair kit and removing limescale from the body faces I couldn't get it to seal. I replaced it with a Jabsco ParMax, which in the day was less than half the price of the Flojet. I did the replacement in 2006 and that pump is still running fine! The water connections are exactly the same

The current is also shown as 2.2A, I'd be assuming the fuse should be 5A... A PP9 battery should be able to just crank the pump if it's OK

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi chaps,

I'm back again. I hooked the caravan up to the mains and checked the supply again to the pump it read 29.2 volts (when set at 200). I took the pump off the wall and took off the pressure switch, touched the connections together to see if i could
by- pass it and get the pump to crank over quickly (dry). It did nothing. It now looks in my naive opinion that it's the pump that's at fault, could anybody tell me please how I can test to see if it is the pump? I have the pump sat in front of me, but do not know how to connect it to test. I've read a 9v PP9 may work if I connect via some wire, is this correct please? Cheers folks.

Hello Hotchy,

Please don't take this the wrong way, but the information you have given us, clearly have not started alarm bells going for you, and frankly they should.

29.2V where at most you should see is 13.8V when the charger system is working, clearly shows there is something very much amis with your power supply. Turn it all off, and call in a professional caravan engineer to establish whats gone wrong and how to resolve it.

Contrary to Gizzilazz's last comment I seriously doubt that a PP9 battery will have enough peak current capacity to operate a 12V diaphragm pump.

Get a professional, before you do more damage.