Online water hose

[Cathryn1]

Hi there Just bought an online water hose, as we use the 'super' pitches alot. The problem is, when is was connected we had a wet carpet the next day. It's very difficult to find where the leak is coming from - all the jubilee clips on the pipes are tight and without actually taking the water heater out it's difficult to investigate further. Has anyone else had the same problem? After, when we reconnected the whale water pump/water hog there was no problem.

I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

 

[Cockovan]

Hi Cathryn, we had exactly the same problem the first time we tried to use the direct supply. Eventually we traced it to virtually every joint, even though the jubilee clips wouldn't tighten any more. I converted our aquaroll to take the supply thus there was no pressure on the joints except when the pump was running and that was fine again. We now have rigid plumbing in this van and it presents no problem and can stand the pressure of a permanently pressurised system.

 

[BeemerMal]

Cathryn...possibly the fault lies with the mains water pressure being too high. The normal half inch hose from the mains feed reduces to much narrower pipes within the caravan therefore the higher water pressure may be the cause of the leaks. I think you can purchase a pressure reducing valve that attaches to the water inlet point on the caravan. Or do as already suggested and fit an Aqua Roll cysten to fill the Aqua Roll from the mains supply. Then pump water as you would if you were not on the mains straight from the Aqua Roll...mal

 

[Cockovan]

Cathryn...possibly the fault lies with the mains water pressure being too high. The normal half inch hose from the mains feed reduces to much narrower pipes within the caravan therefore the higher water pressure may be the cause of the leaks. I think you can purchase a pressure reducing valve that attaches to the water inlet point on the caravan. Or do as already suggested and fit an Aqua Roll cysten to fill the Aqua Roll from the mains supply. Then pump water as you would if you were not on the mains straight from the Aqua Roll...mal

If you have the proper water pipe it has a pressure reducer already in it. Mine was the green box type fitting just before the attachment to the van, and still caused the same problem as you got. Alan

 

[Cathryn1]

Thanks both for your help - much appreciated

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Cathryn,

Caravan water systems are designed to only with stand about 20 pounds per square inch, (psi) or about 1.3Bar.

Domestic water supplies are easily capable of supplying pressures of up to 90 psi or 6Bar, so you can see that simply connecting a hose-pipe to a caravan will almost certainly cause leakage problems.

To combat this, the proprietary systems include a pressure reducer to prevent full mains pressure reaching the caravan.

The pressure reducer is not just a restriction in the pipe work, but it should genuinely reduce the supply pressure for all water flow rates between zero and full bore.

A simple restriction will have no effect on the water supply pressure when there is no flow. It will allow full pressure to develop in the pipe-work. Only when some flow is present with the pressure drop.

The solution of continuing to use a water carrier and pump and a float valve inside the carrier to control mains water inflow works well.

 

[chrisn7]

Cathryn

John is right. The pressure reducer is a spring loaded valve, which opens under mains pressure, when a tap is opened. Once all taps in the van are off, pressure builds up in the van pipework, and this, assisted by the spring shuts the valve. This allows a fixed pressure in the van, whatever mains pressure is encountered.

The drawback of this system is that the flow from the van taps will probably be lower than using the conventional pump, after an initial surge. This can be mitigated by using a different spring, but the downside is then an increase in pressure within the van, with the risk of more leaks!

If you have an onboard tank, use your hose to fill this, then pump as normal-this gives you the best convenience, no leaks, and good flow.