Water inlet pipework.

[DiscoMark]

Hello, lads and ladies, I come to seek the words of the wise, if I may?

My good lady and I have just entered the world of caravanning with a 1984 Robin 2 berth. However, we are having a few.......issues.......getting to grips with certain parts, and we were hoping someone was able to point a couple of newbies in the right direction, please.

We have (what sounds like) a diaphragm pump inside and a water inlet by the door that accepts a normal garden hose size pipe. My questions are,
a) does this hose need to be a particular (potable water) grade and size,
b) does it need a filter on the end,
c) should it have a fitting on the end that connects to the inlet or does it just push on,
d) does it need a special fitting for the cap of the water carrier,
e) where could I get the correct equipment from? Is it the sort of thing they would sell in Go Outdoors?

I hope someone can help, thanks in advance for reading, and for any help you can offer!

Regards

Mark, Lucy, Forget-me-not the caravan and Olive the Disco!

**Moderators, if this is in the wrong category, please advise**

 

[colin-yorkshire]

hi. what you have there is the very early type [basic] fresh water delivery system. no electric pump but either a push foot pump or a hand pump [on the tap] not seen a proper inlet pipe for quite a while but they were sold at caravan accessory shops a long time after vans went to electric pumps and hot water.
hard to describe but simple to look at it's just a pipe [blue food grade] about 1 meter long with a wedged shaped rubber bung for the top of the container. no filter on it just a pipe going into the container.

 

[DiscoMark]

Hi Colin, and thank you for your assistance.
We have an electric pump that operates when the hot and cold taps are turned on. You can hear the microswitch click and then the pump kicks in. We also have a separate electric pump with a switch for waste.
Can I get that pipe from any major DIY chain or is it a caravan specific item?

 

[RayS]

One of the 'joys' of caravanning is that many of the fittings, pipe etc. is caravan ( or boat) specific in size and thus more expensive than you would expect.
If you have an on-board electric pump this was probably fitted by or for a previous owner and may well be plumbed in using the common 12mm semi rigid piping.
The fittings are push in rather than compression and generally work well so long as the ends are cut cleanly and square and the tube is good quality and concentric - i.e. not oval. The best tool for cutting is the rachet shear used to cut the plastic piping now widly used in domestic installations - or use a sharp stong craft knife if only the odd joint to make. Sawing is not recommended.
Fittings and pipe are widely available - e.g. from leisurelines.co.uk or leisureshopdirect.co.uk but many others too. It's worth shopping around.
As for the inlet from the outside container ideally food quality if there is any chance of you drinking it or even washing salad etc. Truma make a neat connection specifically for this purpose but you easily fabricate something simple from the various fitting available.
As for fillters, if your think you need one ( not a bad idea to protect the inlet of the pump from small gravel or other things which may damage the pump) you can either fit this inboard or on the end of the suction line. There are various makes available including Filtapac.