Kitchen Tap Fail
In out Elddis Xplore 302 the kitchen tap failed to produce anything more than a trickle of water - essentially it was not activating the pump. The bathroom and shower taps are working fine - in fact we found the shower hose was long enough to reach round a fill the kitchen sink for washing up!
As you can hopefully see from the picture there are no microswitches so works on pressure. As the line (as I believe) is from the hot water and cold water tanks to the bathroom and then further round to the kitchen it must be something between the bathroom and kitchen or something in the tap?
It worked last on a trip back in the mid December. Then it was sat on our drive for a few week until we went away last Monday (21st) for 2 nights. There is a water filter in line, not sure if that could cause the issue?
We brought the van at the beginning of November so don't know the full history.
Thoughts:
-Why is there a water filter - I don't drink from the kitchen tap in the van, use bottle water for drinking so can it just be removed?
-The bathroom tap and kitchen tap are the same model. While the design works well on the kitchen, the spout is far to long for the bathroom sink (design fault, I assume to save money) so I was going to swap the kitchen and bathroom taps to see if the fault followed the tap. If so I would then fit a more suitable sized tap for the bathroom sink.
-If not the tap, what else? Nothing has been done to the van to suggest a kink in the pipe.
Would love to hear some suggestions.
I am competent enough to do a bit of tap swapping and basic plumbing, but is there anything I need to be aware of when buying a replacement tap? Do I need a caravan specialist or can I get a suitable one from the likes of ScrewFix etc?
Thanks,
Paul
Comments
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Hi,
Firstly I would check to see if there is a filter or grid on the end of the tap spout, it maybe blocked. see if it unscrews for cleaning.
Some do use the tap water for drinking so regularly change filters, I use a separate 5l water bottle for kettle and drinking.
The filter could be removed if not needed
Can't see a problem with a suitable shorter tap if the fitting is compatible
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Before even swapping the taps I would slightly undo the union on the non performing tap and find out if water was emitted and the pump cut in. If not, the fault is in the piping. If it flows, the tap is the fault location.
The flexible plastic pipe used in caravans is not indestructable - in fact the inner lining can collapse and give a fault similar to what is afflicting your caravan.
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First check the fawcett filter as Burgundy said. Caravan taps are usually fitted with a cartridge which is replaceable, so check what brand of tap you have and try the cartridge. You may be able to dismantle the tap in situ for this. All plumbing is now semi rigid tubing and push fit John Guest connectors and these cannot be loosened (you disconnect or not, but no half measures!) Caravan taps are typically fitted with quite long tails which are swaged into the tap, so the tap becomes expensive and may only be available from the dealer (expensive and possible difficult to get). Accessing the kitchen tap and plumbing can be tricky, possibly even removing the oven and it's gas connection to get at the water connections (as ours did) I fitted Screwfix taps to our Swift kitchen and washroom, but it was not a small job.
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Thanks for the tips all.
I removed the tap filter and the water flowed :-)
On inspection the tap filter was full of limescale and carbon (from what I assume to be a failing water filter!).
Anyway, pack of 3 from the internet soon came for a few quid. Now replaced and sorted.On a side note the kitchen tap fittings are have remarkable easy access and looking at the push fit connectors should not be too big a job (famous last words) to remove the water filter entirely. The water filter has a fitting date on it from 7 years ago so would be good to remove!
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