Pump Wiring

My water pump wasn't working, so i cut the wiring and tested it across the battery terminals and it works.
So the fault is with the wiring where it joins, a right mess or it could be the micro switch in the tap.

The power for the tap is from a 12v socket, has anyone any ideas on making the wiring tidier. thanks. Pete



[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

On an old freedom caravan I had, the pump plugged in from outside. There was a small socket to plug the wiring in and a socket for the water pipe to the pump. The rest of the wiring was permanant inside. however in a dandy, the inside wiring has to allow for the kitchen folding. The outside points were underneath.

The freedom had a foot switch on the floor which was easier than the microswitch in the tap. That would be possible in a dandy, then the only connections inside would be water & waste to the sink.

On my 2005 designer, the waste goes to a recessed connector in the side, so there is a connection inside to the sink and a separate short piece of pipe outside to the container.

I've put some cable tidy around both the wires and the water pipe, keeps it all looking neat and it was cheap enough. Also stops any tangling. We got ours from Ikea, looks a bit like a vaccum hose with a split along it .... our wiring is like yours with the snap connector ..... looks nice and tidy now though.

Thanks for the replies i like things to look nice and neat. Pete

Mine has 2 cores of flex with the 12v plug on. The pipe has the cable wrapped round it to the pump. There is a spade connector to connect it to the tap microswitch. Very fiddly. I leave it connected to the tap in the top compartment so all I do is connect the pipe to the sink, thread the pipe with cable wrapped round through the tube to outside and plug the plug into the socket in the bottom unit.

Pulling the pump back up the tube is a pain because it always catches.

I don't like dropping the pump through the tube because it lies on the ground picking up all sorts.

Not ideal but that's how it is. I will find a way to improve it one day.

I used a quick release hose coupler - like the fitting that you can screw onto an outdoor tap and push a garden hose onto - but designed to attach to another piece of hose.

I can't find a picture of one but I picked it up from B&Q or one of the other DIY places.

I put one side on a short piece of pipe from the pump and the the other on a longer piece that I could drop through the Dandy floor without touching the ground.

For the wiring I had a similar arrangement with bullet and receptacle crimp terminals. The wire from the camper was tied to the water pipe so it was just a case of pushing the pair through the floor and plugging in the short water and electric connections to the pump.

Wish I'd taken a photo of it now

Ours comes out of a hole in the back of the sink cupboard, we then drop it down behind the units and out of the Dandy through the velcro, the only hole we have in the floor is where we put the waste pipe We only undo the power to the pump and pull the pump and wires back up via the velcro and pop it all in a bag in the sink, we never undo the water pipe ..... only the waste

Helen wrote:Ours comes out of a hole in the back of the sink cupboard, we then drop it down behind the units and out of the Dandy through the velcro, the only hole we have in the floor is where we put the waste pipe We only undo the power to the pump and pull the pump and wires back up via the velcro and pop it all in a bag in the sink, we never undo the water pipe ..... only the waste

Our is the same, however I have thought of fitting a whale system

ours is a whale pump, it's never bothered us with the way it all works as it easy enough and conveniently drops right into the water container and is handy for the battery in the front box too. I did consider fitting one of those box things to push the pipe onto rather than go through the velcro area.

Can I just ask a very stupid question, if we want to run the water pump will we definitely need a leisure battery even if we are on hook up?

I'm not sure Jayne, I don't think Nick and Vicki's Designer had a battery ..... I may be wrong though

I've got a transformer unit which runs the 12v without a battery. it's not a charger and is the standard Riva fitment.

Also a grey plug which will plug into the car and run all the 12v on the car battery. One 8W tube and a pump aren't going to use much and the car battery will charge up next day.

You can also run a pump on two dry lantern batteries, the big 6v one here.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Connect them in series and you have 12v.

I use a 12v transformer, it will run my 4 main lights, 2 down lights and water pump without a problem.

It was a 10amp one of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], it sits in my bottom unit and feeds 5 12v plug sockets I have wired into the walls.

Have Dandys always had electric water pumps?

I recall that the first caravans we had when I was a kid had floor mounted manual foot pumps. I can also remember one major upgrade that was fitted with the all new Whale 'gusher' foot pump. This had an operating lever that protruded through the base of the kitchen unit. One operation of this lever delivered the same volume of water as around 10 operations of the older diaphragm type.

Given the excitement this caused, I'm glad that Dad didn't buy something with an electric water pump - I suspect Mum might have suffered a coronary

The early Dandy's had foot pumps, my parents old caravan had one and as kids we loved to fill the sink ..... it was a novelty

In our 6 we use a whale pump, the wires we cable tied to the water pipe for neatness. We put this through the access pipe in the floor without dropping it on the ground and then put it in the aquaroll. We use a piece of pipe lagging round the pipe and wire where it goes into the aquaroll to stop any bugs etc getting in. For quick fitting together inside the sink cupboard we used TV aerial couplers Male and Female. Instead of using a micro switch or floor switch, Mrs P has trouble with her right leg (long story) we used a doorbell switch mounted on the back of the sink unit. Push the button you get water.

We run this and our lights off a battery or when on hook up a battery charger.

Phoenix has an old type pump up tap.

Our first caravan had gas lighting. Had a sink but no running water. A 1955 Palladin. Dad bought it off some chap who said it towed like a dream. It did when he delivered it in his 6 litre Daimler Conquest Century.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Not so good on Dad's old Hillman Minx though.

Have Dandys always had electric water pumps?

Early Dandys didn't even have a sink. Cazz and Waynes 60's 5 has a plastic (perspex?) sink of some form and my Green Un, notionally from the 70's has a stainless steel sink with no tap of any form.

Didn't know about the foot pump being a standard feature I think they have a lot to commend them.

12V wiring. Phoenix's coax connector is neat but superseal connectors are a bit more butch.


[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

naver unless you had a perfectly cylindrical bag of the right diameter a bag might impede the pumps progress through the pipe but what about placing something beneath the hole to catch the pump?

Tow Itch wrote:

naver unless you had a perfectly cylindrical bag of the right diameter a bag might impede the pumps progress through the pipe but what about placing something beneath the hole to catch the pump?

The wife might come in handy for that

The Admiral wrote:Can I just ask a very stupid question, if we want to run the water pump will we definitely need a leisure battery even if we are on hook up?

Jayne

Your pump and 12v light definately work with or without a battery. Here's some info quoted by manufacturer, Steve.

Introduction
The New Ranger PA10 has been designed to provide a DIRECT Power Supply to the 12V Services in a caravan or boat when fed from a 220/240v mains supply. It’s a toroidal transformer made to BS3535, has an output of about 120 watts max. The RANGER’S 12v output is sufficiently smoothed to enable it to operate the fluorescent lights, water pump and other 12v services efficiently. If a battery is installed the RANGER will charge the battery at a variable rate depending on the power demand being required of the 12v system. It will not overcharge a battery in good condition. The RANGER will automatically reduce to a trickle charge, as the battery charges up.

stevie9398 wrote:

The Admiral wrote:Can I just ask a very stupid question, if we want to run the water pump will we definitely need a leisure battery even if we are on hook up?

Jayne

Your pump and 12v light definately work with or without a battery. Here's some info quoted by manufacturer, Steve.

Introduction
The New Ranger PA10 has been designed to provide a DIRECT Power Supply to the 12V Services in a caravan or boat when fed from a 220/240v mains supply. It’s a toroidal transformer made to BS3535, has an output of about 120 watts max. The RANGER’S 12v output is sufficiently smoothed to enable it to operate the fluorescent lights, water pump and other 12v services efficiently. If a battery is installed the RANGER will charge the battery at a variable rate depending on the power demand being required of the 12v system. It will not overcharge a battery in good condition. The RANGER will automatically reduce to a trickle charge, as the battery charges up.

Thanks very much Steve, I wasn't sure because we never had a pump for Minnie (or a kitchen come to that) and we haven't had a good look at it yet so I haven't a clue how it works. Most of the time we're on EHU anyway so I don't think I'll bother getting a leisure battery at the moment if we don't need one..

I'll bet you've already got a mains transformer fitted. You have 12v sockets just below the fridge, in your video. My transformer is a black box under the seat to the left of the kitchen. When I plug in mains, the 12v sockets work and I simply plug in the pump. I have no battery.

I've seen the sockets because we use the one for the overhead shelf light, so the other one is for the pump then, I wondered if it was? We're away next weekend so will have a closer look then, thanks everyone for the advice.

navver wrote:Our first caravan had gas lighting...

Ah yes, I remember the gas lights. A few potholes on the journey and the mantles were knackered.

I loved crumbling the old ones up into dust. Didn't realise at the time it was radioactive dust

Water pump worked like a dream, set up the aquaroll put in the pump plugged it in to the socket outside the Dandy connected everything up inside plugged it in to the 2nd 12 volt socket turned on the tap and hey presto - water!!