Whale Submersible Pump issues

[MissLong]

Hello All,
When using our submersible pump to fill the on board tank, you press fill tank and it may or may not start to do this, if it does not then OH goes out touches the plug connector to the van and it starts, last weekend while away with my friend when i first filled aqua roll and asked it to fill tank done no problem, but when I refilled the aqua roll and asked again to fill tank nothing, went and touched jiggled said bit outside, tried the next day also and still nothing do you think i could need a new submersible pump? I do hear a click when i press the fill tank button.
And one more question do i need to fill the tank to have hot water or can i put the connector direct to taps? just i believed it would only then give me cold water, sorry not done this for years and my last van was ancient and 20 years ago!

 

[Brasso530]

Hi MissLong,welcome to the forum.I suspect you have a slightly dicky connection as you say.Theres two gold strips of metal on either side of th connection block( on end of blue flexi pipe-opposite end of pump)check to make sure these are clean and are making contact with corresponding metal strips in caravan block,if not gently prise outward,retry,and jobs a good en.I don't think it's pump as pumps tend to just go,and yours is intermittent.
As for mains filling ( where you connect to tap) please read some previous threads regarding this,as some like it,some/most prefer to use Aqua roll as if you have a problem you'll only empty an aqua roll,versus a caravan full to bursting of water,not literally but read previous posts as its been discussed a bit.
Hope this helps.

 

[DaveA1]

Only used inboard tank when weather was really cold, frost and snow rest of the time ran from Aqua-Roll no problems, on my old Swift.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello All,
When using our submersible pump to fill the on board tank, you press fill tank and it may or may not start to do this, if it does not then OH goes out touches the plug connector to the van and it starts, last weekend while away with my friend when i first filled aqua roll and asked it to fill tank done no problem, but when I refilled the aqua roll and asked again to fill tank nothing, went and touched jiggled said bit outside, tried the next day also and still nothing do you think i could need a new submersible pump? I do hear a click when i press the fill tank button.
And one more question do i need to fill the tank to have hot water or can i put the connector direct to taps? just i believed it would only then give me cold water, sorry not done this for years and my last van was ancient and 20 years ago!

Please less of the "ancient and 20 years ago!" hmy: Some of us go further back than that

As others have suggested it sound like teh electrical contacts in the submersible pump's plug may need cleaning and adjusting.

About your water heater, the detail will depend on what model of heater you have, but in general, provided you have a cold supply from either the outside pump or the internal cold water tank. the hot water should work., but there is a little preparation you need to do.

Do not turn on the water heater until you have ensured the water heaters tank is full. You do this by opening a HOT tap and keep it open until you get a continual flow of water, then close it. This makes sure the heaters tank is filled. You can now turn "on" the water heater. The heater will take about 30Min to completely heat the tank, but you can usually get warm water for washing hands after about 10 to 15Min.

I believe all the models of caravan water heater available since about 1990 will be storage system, and to get hot water out there must be a supply of cold water available to push teh hot water out. This also means that if you run out of cold water the heater's tank will remain full, and prevent the heater from being run dry.

It is vitally important you fully drain the heater and the rest of the water system if you are not using the caravan and the temperature is likely to fall to freezing or below. You should obtain a set of instructions for the caravan and its appliances that will tell you how to do this.

 

[MissLong]

Thank you everyone I am back up there in two weeks and will check this out,and see if i can run it off the other direct to taps connection rather then fill the on board tank, where it connects to the van the brass connector plates are green I believe it may be some corrosion on the brass, what is the best thing to clean this with?

Cheers ProfJohn for the advice to fill the tank first
I have alde heating if that is any help on the hot water advice, van is a 2013 Swift Conqueror 570 4 berth it has come with all the manuals and bits I have been using these as my reading material when up there, but feeling like a bit of a novice to be honest, it is slowly coming together just sad we have to put it away until March next year in a few weeks

 

[Whale]

Hello Miss Long,
Please contact our Customer Support Team who will do all they can to assist you with your query. Contact details below.
Tel: 02891 270531 (weekdays) or 0845 217 2933 (weekends)
Email: info@whalepumps.com
Alternatively send me the best number to get you on in a private message and I will get one of our team to give you a call.
Best wishes
Hayley

 

[Kiveton]

We have the same problem with our newly bought 2010 Swift Conqueror 480, although our external pump (from barrel to tank) is a Truma.
Can anyone explain exactly how the system works? PLEASE!
Many thanks in advance.

 

[Craigyoung]

Do you mean getting the hot water through ? if so make sure you have water coming through your system to the taps before you switch on the heating and water as if there is nothing in the tank to heat up it will just keep tripping

 

[MissLong]

Thank you very much Hayley,

I think i will give you guys a call tomorrow

 

[MissLong]

Hi Craig,

on the side of my van there is two connections for me to plug my aqua roll in, one says direct to taps and the other says fill tank, when the dealer done the hand over with me they just explained the system as to fill the tank method and failed to show me what happens if i put the connection in direct to taps, i was concerned i would only get cold water, but from what Prof said I will need to run the system and taps both hot and cold before turning on the heating system (alde), I believe from my own limited knowledge that i will need to switch a tap as well...... i'm sure there is a sticker on the inside of the seating cupboard door explaining that... fingers crossed.

Up there again not this weekend but next, and hoping to get my water issues sorted then I just have the awning to get for next season.....(there is always something else to buy at the moment!)as we are seasonal and it goes away end of Oct. Roll on March lol!

 

[MissLong]

Hi,

I am going to ring whale tomorrow and have a chat with them, at the moment i only know how to get the water on board by filling the tank when the submersible pump wants to work!! So sorry but until i have put some things into practice that i have already been advised on here I don't want to give you false information :dry:

 

[otherclive]

Hi Craig,

on the side of my van there is two connections for me to plug my aqua roll in, one says direct to taps and the other says fill tank, when the dealer done the hand over with me they just explained the system as to fill the tank method and failed to show me what happens if i put the connection in direct to taps, i was concerned i would only get cold water, but from what Prof said I will need to run the system and taps both hot and cold before turning on the heating system (alde), I believe from my own limited knowledge that i will need to switch a tap as well...... i'm sure there is a sticker on the inside of the seating cupboard door explaining that... fingers crossed.

Up there again not this weekend but next, and hoping to get my water issues sorted then I just have the awning to get for next season.....(there is always something else to buy at the moment!)as we are seasonal and it goes away end of Oct. Roll on March lol!

Doesn’t your owners manual give any help in fathoming out how the system operates? Or is it like some where it all becomes very clear once you have worked it out for yourself?

 

[MissLong]

The manual is written in the most confusing way ever lol, so I think your right its going to be more of when you have worked it out for yourself!

 

[MissLong]

Hello all,

Its been a while I know, I tried the water direct to tap and it worked!! Yay o/
Didn't bother doing it direct to tank, only question I now have is the pump is VERY noisy is this normal, like I am worried I am upsetting the people in tents using the water late, it runs after the tap is shut for about up to a min, is this normal am I being a bit precious, or do you think the pump could be on its way out?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello,

You have an inboard pump which will by the way you describe it is a positive displacement pump. These are usually controlled by a pressure switch, so they will run on after a tap is closed as the pump builds up pressure in the pipework. BUT it should only take a few seconds, so if it is running for a minute after the taps re closed then something is wrong.

Have you filled your water heater properly? becasue if not, the pump will be trying to re pressure the excess air in the hot tank and that will take longer air . To make sure the water heater is filled, open a hot tap, and let all the air come out until you get a steady stream of water. Now you heater is full and you can close the tap.

The pumps are inherently quite noisy, and when they are fixed direct to the wood inside a caravan they can cause the noise to resonate and sound even louder. Re mounting the pump onto a rubber sound deadening material may help.

With the number of technical issues you have brought to the forum, I do wonder if you should be considering having the systems checked out and service professionally. If you weer to engage a mobile engineer they could check all the appliances and ensure you know how to use them.

 

[MissLong]

Yes a service would be a good idea