Water pump failure on site now - help!
Hoping for a quick response as on site right now….
the water pump 12v fuse has blown, and did so again on replacement. On checking the submersible pump (plugs into inlet on side of caravan), it seems to me the tiny rotating blades at the end of the submerged (in the water barrel) pump are stiff. I can turn them, but there seems a lot of resistance. Having never had this problem before, is this correct action, or should they spin freely? Would their stiffness have caused the fuse to blow?
If they should spin freely, easy solution is to buy a new pump. But other thoughts welcome.
thanks
Ian
Comments
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Morning
You probably won't get the quick response you're expecting at seven in the morning ITG
. As above could be cold weather. Try taking the pump indoors and pour a kettle of hot water on each end, if that doesn't work I'd say new pump. You could always see if you have a neighbour with a similar pump who'd lend it to you for five minutes just to check? If there isn't a caravan shop nearby, get one off of amazon as they always deliver next day.
JK
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Highly likely a frozen pump. Cure is to take it in at night, put back in morning. Lagging your barrel, get it up off the ground, and that will help. Old trick is to use an unwanted old coat. Put the pipe down the sleeve, wrap the barrel in the jacket. Fingers crossed for you that’s all it is🤞
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Amazon uses W3W for precise deliveries. I’ve had an order delivered 200miles from my home to a sainsburys car park. It works, Amazon works well remotely JK👍🏻
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Thanks all.
As I had to go out, I didn’t get to resolve this until this afternoon. Replaced the fuse again but I doubted if the cause was ice, as although there was a ground frost this morning, the water in the barrel was not frozen, but I did follow advice to immerse the pump in warm water - no different. The (temporary relief) warden did have a used identical pump, but couldn’t say if it worked or not. So I tried it, and it didn’t work, but interestingly did not blow the fuse.
A fellow camper I approached of course had a pump of a different make and fitting, and in the cold early dusk, not too many others strolling around who I could ask. This led me to take a risk to pop down 5 miles to the nearest caravan dealer who supplied a new pump for £59. He did assess the blades in my faulty one as tighter than they should be.
Fitted it, and bingo, first time ok. So don’t know what the underlying problem was, but at least we have running warm water again.Thanks again all.
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Ian, that's good to know. If you take my advice, the next thing I'd do, is pop back to that dealer and buy another pump! Yes, I know it's another £59 - but you will have the peace of mind that if it should happen again, you've got a spare to hand. I've always carried a spare because although you can get by if the pump fails, it's a bloomin' nuisance and it's always going to happen at the most inconvenient time
That way, you'll make sure it never fails again
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Glad you got your problem sorted eventually Ian. They are flakey pieces of kit, water pumps, we have one that works fine every trip, we also have a spare that works after fiddling with the pressure valve no reason why as nothing changes. Anyway, as Richardandros suggests always carry a spare.
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I must admit, that even though I'm lucky enough to have a frost proof on-board tank I carry a spare pump. I think the drop in type I need are only about £15/20.
Colin
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Do any manufacturers still design vans for 'outside' pumps these days? These toy town ones on the length of a hose always seem a bit flimsy to me.
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Not at all, ours was purchased in 2008 when van was new, replaced last year, bought the Whale x 2 which is Truma compatible, but looks to be better engineered. You can buy them for approx £65 and dont have to faff around to fit, bit of vaseline on the contacts and away you go
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Perhaps you could carefully dismantle the faulty pump to find the cause? It would be good to know if it can easily be rectified should another member have the same problem. It might be lack of lubrication in motor. And if you fix it you save the £59 for a spare.
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This has happened to me on two occasions whale pump said it was water in the pump, you wouldn’t believe it would you what is supposed to be in a water pump, it cost me a new pump and one replaced under warranty.
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We carry several spares so we can cover most eventualities.
We have an on board pump....we carry a spare
When we had an in the barrel pump, we carried a spare.
We carry a spare toilet pump.
We carry a battery charger that can replace the caravan charger.
We have a fan heater in case our Alde heating fails,
The only thing we cannot carry a spare for is the water heating.
Fortunately, when the Alde failed, in Germany, we were on a site with a decent disabled shower room for OH.
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Like KJ, I always carry spares for most things that could fail. I suppose it goes back to my yachting days when, if something goes wrong, it's bound to be when you're 100 miles offshore and it's blowing a stink! Water pumps are often the cause of problems and we have two - one external and one in the inboard tank. I have spares for both. I also carry a fan heater in case of heating failure and a selection of other bits and pieces that are kept in my 'just in case box'. OK, you can't cover every eventuality, but at least, having the most common items might tide you over until you can arrange a long-term solution.
Although I accept it's completely over the top, it's also the reason why I carry a full sized spare wheel for my car on a roof rack because there isn't room for one in the boot.
I was always taught to be cautious
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The issue I had with Whale and carrying a spare, which I do is that when you come to need it and it doesn’t work the warranty has run out and you are back paying another £59. I have found the whole Whale system very unreliable, the last caravan I had I had the ic unit system converted back to the old manual system and no problems then. Unfortunately I had already spent a fortune replacing every part on the ic unit system, lesson learned.
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The trouble with JIC stuff is that it all eats into your payload, gets shifted to the garage at home when the vehicle is changed and then doesn't fit the latest replacement.
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There are Amazon lockers in all sorts of locations so no need to have parcels delivered to a site.
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m/c we have owend have all been the larger separate pumps
