Low power at water pump
 

Hi all,

Just arrived on a campsite for our summer holiday, connected up the water (whale submersible pump on a crystal mk2 inlet) but it's not working. The 'pump running' light that normally illuminates very bright when you open the tap is very dim and the pump is not doing anything. I took the housing out and I'm only getting 1.6 volts across the terminals, I assume it should be the full 12 volts there. I have no idea where to start with this and I only have basic tools with me but I thought I would post a quick question on here in case anyone has any ideas before I start looking for a local mobile caravan repairer in the area.

Also, if anyone knows a good mobile caravan repairer around the Great Yarmouth area please let me know!

Thanks,

Mike

Sounds to me like a high resistance connection somewhere on the current path.

Is yours a pressure switched water system or micro-switches on the taps?

If micro-switches does using a different tap make any difference?

If pressure sensor switched try temporarily shorting the pressure switch on the pressure sensor to localise the fault. If that allows full water flow the pressure sensor switch is faulty.

Do you have a multi-meter with you?

HTH Colin

Thanks for the reply. It has microswitches on the taps, first thing I did was try the other taps but it made no difference unfortunately. I do have a multi meter with me, I used it to check the connections on the back of the water inlet housing. Only 1.5 volts going to pump. Could just be a bad connection somewhere but I've no idea where the wiring goes or how to access it.

I've emailed a local mobile caravan mechanic to see what his hourly rate is. I'm hoping it might just be a case of running some new wires through to get us back in business.

Buy some wire and wire the pump direct to the battery.

If the pump now works do a temporary retire until you can get home.

Whale have a really good customer service desk even when out of warranty. It will be worth a phone call https://www.whalepumps.com/contact-us.aspx

I never considered phoning Whale, that's good to know, thanks.

Got it working again for now, I think the 1.5 volts on the terminals at the back of the housing was a bit of a red herring. It seems the terminals in the housing had been pushed out of place by the pump connector as I plugged it in. I had to plug the pump in first and then push the connectors in the housing back on from the back of the housing. Once the connection was secure I screwed the housing back on to the caravan. I Need to figure out why the connectors in the housing are moving but at least it's working for now. Not sure why I was only getting 1.5 volts on the terminals yesterday but I'm not going to worry about that too much.

Well done. Now you can relax and have a great holiday.

It's part of the joy of caravan holidays fixing these problems and being a local hero for a day or so!

Thanks Whyman. Yes, it's all good fun and wouldn't be a holiday without something going wrong! So far we've had our own water fail and now fixed, helped another camper fix a leak on the top of their motorhome and tackled a large grass fire with the rest of the campsite on the first night! I like a bit of adventure but ready to relax for the rest of the trip now! :laughing-smiley-003

When you have done your good deeds for the day it is time to sit down a glass or two as your just rewards.

Happy holiday.