returning to the caravan about an hour ago the pump was making a very low running noise after turning the the pump on and off at the control and yurning a tap on and off it is now back to normal what should put the pump in this mode in the first place, by the way it is vety nice weayher down here in Dorsrt.
pump running
- Thread starter camel
- Start date
always well to check that the pump drops to the bottom of the aquaroll and hasn't floated up to the top of the water level. Taking the actions might have just caused it to sink as clearly the aquaroll was not empty. That being the case the noise you heard would be the same as you get when the barrel has run out (a dreaded occurrence if you have just lathered up in the shower!). Weather in the midlands rather fine after a cloudy start to yesterday and today!
Hello Camel,
I assume you have a submersible pump in a water barrel and not an in board pump.
The majority of caravans use a pressure switched system to tell the pump to run, and if the master switch is left on, if the pressure in the pipe work drops, it will start the pump. If for any reason the pump has lost water and collected some air, it will be unable to develop enough pressure to turn the pressure switch off, so it will just keep running.
A submersible left running dry is likely to damage the pump, as it needs water to both lubricate the motor shaft seals, and the water passing through the pump to cool the motor. Without water, the motor shaft will heat up and deteriorate the shaft seals reducing the time to seal failure. And without water flow the motor will also heat up and has been known to cause the plastic moulding of the pump body to become soft and distort which will allow water into the motor housing, after which the motor will not last very long.
I suggest it may be wise to keep a spare pump, so that if your present one fails in teh near future you wont be left stranded without water..
I assume you have a submersible pump in a water barrel and not an in board pump.
The majority of caravans use a pressure switched system to tell the pump to run, and if the master switch is left on, if the pressure in the pipe work drops, it will start the pump. If for any reason the pump has lost water and collected some air, it will be unable to develop enough pressure to turn the pressure switch off, so it will just keep running.
A submersible left running dry is likely to damage the pump, as it needs water to both lubricate the motor shaft seals, and the water passing through the pump to cool the motor. Without water, the motor shaft will heat up and deteriorate the shaft seals reducing the time to seal failure. And without water flow the motor will also heat up and has been known to cause the plastic moulding of the pump body to become soft and distort which will allow water into the motor housing, after which the motor will not last very long.
I suggest it may be wise to keep a spare pump, so that if your present one fails in teh near future you wont be left stranded without water..
Sometimes the pump can continue to run if the pressure switch needs adjusting. This can be done by adjusting the control on the back of the water inlet. If you have a Whale Watermaster pressure switch socket, you can retrofit their IC (Intelligent Control) Pump Controller. This fits at the back of the water inlet and will, once calibrated, automatically adjust the pressure switch. It also detects when the water has run dry and turns the pump off.
Sorry chaps should of been more explicit , I have an on board pump, just checking a couple of things out and on reflection I think I had an air lock because since my last post I have run the taps and they started spitting and then cleared, this morning i did fill the water butt before we jogged off to Poole. lovely sunny evening here at Hunters Moon.
For anyone (still lucky enough?) to have the older system controlled by micro-switches in the taps, can I suggest that you consider fitting a relay (ideally close to the pump connection). The current draw of the pump is pushing the micro-switches to their limit, and a cheap relay might save a lot of aggravation later. (You might even find that your pump performs a bit better due to less resistance in the circuit)
VicMallows said:
Vic, not being anywhere near as knowledgeable as you are on electrics; does your suggestion apply to external submersible pumps?
(I have the Whale system.)
If so, I would really appreciate how to go about your suggested modification.
Thanks,
John
Anseo said:
Sorry for the delayed response .... post had dropped down the list and I didn't notice it.
Yes, the suggestion will work with any system based on micro-switches in the taps.
You need a standard automotive relay, something like THIS They are nice and easy to mount, and you only need some spade crimps to connect. (You only really need a SP relay rated greater than 10A, but just buy the cheapest easily available).
Disconnect the existing wires to the external pump connection, and connect them to the relay coil. You can use the same existing negative connection to supply the pump negative.
You will need to 'pick-up' a separate positive feed to supply one side of the normally-open relay contacts. For electrical 'neatness' this would ideally be the switched side of the pump on/off switch, assuming you have one. ( However if more convenient, I would consider picking up a suitably rated permanent live feed from elsewhere, remembering to re-label the circuit appropriately!). The other option is a new positive feed with suitable (10A) fuse.
Finally, the other side of the NO contact of course goes to the external pump socket.
(I did mine in Spain when I realised a micro-switch was getting lazy, and it took a lot less time than typing this
)just going back to my original post I think it was human error , my fault, i actually did not run the hot water side of the system to fill the water heater,
Hutch, I have not used the hot water side of the system, but what I think the problem was the water in take into the caravan was not fully home and I do mean by a mil or two so I could of ben pulling air in to the system when opening taps, it seems to be ok now after reseating.
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