Help with water pump

emma1454
emma1454 Forum Participant Posts: 9
edited June 2016 in New to Caravanning & Touring #1

Hi,

We have recently upgraded to a 2014 Swift Challenger Sport from a 2004 Abbey Aventura. The water pump is significantly noisier, but we can live with that. My question was why it turns itself on when the aquaroll is empty, even when all of the taps are off
so we're not 'calling' for any water. Our old van didn't do this. Is it right?

Comments

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,303 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2016 #2

    Did your Abbey have an external pump operated by micro switches in the taps, ours did. Where as the pump you now describe as being noisy, is internal and works on pressure drop, like the one in our current Bailey. This certainly activates when the barrel is empty and taps closed. It also occasionally does a short burst when the barrel is full and taps closed. Presumably because the pressure has fallen below a set level. We always press the pump off button before leaving for the day.

  • Bob2112
    Bob2112 Forum Participant Posts: 276
    100 Comments
    edited June 2016 #3

    On the Vanmaster  we could fine tune the pressure switch so that it happened less often but it would still have a little burb now and again. The noise from the internal pump drove me mad and I eventually got it quietened down a bit with soft mountings, a
    smaller pump, rerouted and lagged pipework. It's been said many times before but why don't van designers and manufacturers spend a weekend in one of their creations.

  • emma1454
    emma1454 Forum Participant Posts: 9
    edited June 2016 #4

    Thanks for the replies, it is normal then. We'll have to get into the routine of turning it off regularly. I'm not sure how the Abbey system worked, but it was a lot quieter so it makes sense that the systems are different. We just turned it on when we arrived
    and off when we left, with no problems in between. I'd question whether the new system is really that much better tbh but shower is more powerful so I guess it is.

  • jennyc
    jennyc Forum Participant Posts: 957
    500 Comments
    edited June 2016 #5

    Your current pump is internal to the van as you know, and it's activated by a drop in water pressure caused by opening a tap.  When your barrel runs dry the pump can't generate enough water pressure to switch off ie it thinks that a tap is open and causing
    the pressure drop. Hence it runs continuously. You should have a water pump off switch on your control Panel. Use this until you have refilled your barrel.

  • Bakers2
    Bakers2 Forum Participant Posts: 8,195 ✭✭✭
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    edited June 2016 #6

    Interesting to read about this. Our pump, in a motorhome, gets switched on on arrival and off when we leave. As you did with you previous van emma1454.  If our water level gets low it'll be turned off until we've topped up but that's bad management!!

  • jennyc
    jennyc Forum Participant Posts: 957
    500 Comments
    edited June 2016 #7

    I'm afraid, Bakers, that caravans, lacking the higher capacity, onboard, water storage of most campervans, find that they have to refill their barrels more regularly. On the plus side, we can do so without resorting to taking our caravans to the tap, or topping up with a watering can. Of course it's possible with motor homes and caravans with onboard storage to fetch a barrel of water and pump it into the onboard tank. We don't refill part full barrels, preferring to use our modified water inlet plumbing to switch to a second, full, barrel as soon as the pump running empty whirring warns us of a deficit of water. How does this work? Well, we have two barrels permanently connected, with a changeover water valve under the front bunk. As soon as the  water stops flowing, we switch to the second barrel and vicsa versa. At our leisure we'll refil the empty barrel. Hence we have continuous water (save for switchover times) and the benefit of refilling completely empty barrels when it suits us. So we don't switch our pump off between arrival and departure either.

  • Bob2112
    Bob2112 Forum Participant Posts: 276
    100 Comments
    edited June 2016 #8

     I'd question whether the new system is really that much better tbh but shower is more powerful so I guess it is.

    Write your comments here... The down side of that is you have to cart more water about.The smaller pump was not only quieter but it used less water without any noticeable difference at the shower 

  • jennyc
    jennyc Forum Participant Posts: 957
    500 Comments
    edited June 2016 #9

     I'd question whether the new system is really that much better tbh but shower is more powerful so I guess it is.

    Write your comments here... The down side of that is you have to cart more water about.The smaller pump was not only quieter but it used less water without any noticeable difference at the shower 

    Write your comments here...

    The power of the pump is independent of the method of activating it - tap microswitches or water pressure sensors. The benefit of an inside pump is the elimination of fault prone electrical connections in the water barrel umbilical pipe. I certainly preferred
    tap microswitches (which can activate either an internal or external pump) in the past but have to confess that the current generation of pressure sensing switches are better than they were in the on the 1990s Conquerer we once had.

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