Pump problem

[Mel]

Whale water pump. Pressurised whale water system. Pump works as normal when any tap is turned to the cold position and opened but doesn’t work when the tap is turned to the hot position and opened. Any ideas. Thanks in advance.
Mel

 

[Damian]

Is this the same on each tap or just one?

 

[Mel]

But if an update. May not be a problem. Looks like the hot water tank was full and if you leave the hot water tap open the pump goes on and off intermittently. Not like this on my Valencia, could this be normal on this water system?
Thanks Damien. Yes it is the same on all taps.
Mel

 

[Damian]

Hi Mel,
If you think about the two systems, hot and cold, the cold is a direct link through the pump, so when you open a tap you should get instant water followed almost instantly by the pump running.

The hot side is different as the water has to go via the water heater which when in use creates a pressure inside the hot tank which when you open the hot tap has to diminish before the pump runs.

If you get instant water flow from the hot tap when you open it then it would appear to be working OK, but if there is a long delay in the pump running, then it would indicate a restriction in the pipework or tap.

If the pump cycles on and off when drawing hot water then that indicates that the pump is pressurising the system faster than the draw off.

 

[Mel]

Thank you Damien. That is really helpful. I have passed this on.
Mel

 

[Woodentop]

The other possibility if the caravan is not so new and it has been used in a hard water area - like France! - it could be that the hot tank is caked up with limescale. There are a number of descaling products on the market that will shift it - we have found HG to be very good.

 

[Damian]

The other possibility if the caravan is not so new and it has been used in a hard water area - like France! - it could be that the hot tank is caked up with limescale. There are a number of descaling products on the market that will shift it - we have found HG to be very good.

BEWARE of using any other descaling method other than that given by the appliance maker.
Use of non approved chemicals will invalidate any warranty on the product being descaled.

Also,most of the UK is a "Hard Water" area !!!!

 

[Anseo]

Perhaps worth a look for water hardness areas: (see map within)

https://www.divapor.com/water-hardness.php

 

[Woodentop]

Perhaps worth a look for water hardness areas: (see map within)

]https://www.divapor.com/water-hardness.php

https://www.divapor.com/water-hardness.php[/quote
Thanks for that post of support.
In fact as the map shows the majority of the UK has soft water. The SE and Anglia has hard(ish) water as most of it comes from the ground rather than reservoirs. I remember what it was like when we lived in Cambridge!

France it must be noted is, outside some Alpine areas, almost entirely hard water. You only need a months holiday and look at your kettle to prove that! Germany and the Benelux countries are mostly no better.

 

[Damian]

I agree that the map seems to show quite large areas of softer water, notably Scotland, Northern Ireland and most of Wales, but when you take population density there are not , in the grand scheme of things, that many people in Scotland etc compared to the harder water areas, ie the South East, Midlands, South, Anglia etc
However, any levels of calcium will scale up appliances, some areas taking longer than others.

The main point of my post was the warning about using non approved descaling chemicals and warranty conditions imposed by appliance makers.